Call Record Databases

Call Record Databases contain from zero to over two billion call records. Each call record is very short (74 bytes) and therefore the total database should not take up very much space on your system. For example, 250,000 call records which is more than a firm of 50 people would make in a year, would be expected to take less than 20 megabytes of space. After 5 years in use the largest MonTel call record database is just over 1 million records.

This figure shows the PABX feeding data to the PABXSERV PC which stores it twice on the file server, for different user access rights.

The Main Call Record database is used to collect all (applicable) information used by a reporting system, or by users who have sufficient security clearance to use it. Those users should be few and carefully chosen, just the receptionist and perhaps the system administrator. The directory in which the main database lies should be protected by the network operating system, giving access rights only to those that need it and the MonTel system.

The database is built in sequence with the most recent record added at the end. Each record has an ID number, and over 27 million Call Records can be stored in the database. Each record is protected by a CRC-32 check, which will make casual altering of information extremely difficult. The records, while not encrypted, are stored in a compact form. Each record including an external link to another database and all the information extracted from the PABX is stored in just 74 bytes.

The User's Call Record databases are created either in the user's home directory (or in future versions the user's mail directory on Netware networks). These databases naturally can only be accessed by the user (if security has been correctly set up on the network) and by the MonTel system. The user can have complete control over them, including deleting the data. However, a record of the call still exists in the main database until the system administrator deletes that Call Record. This means that the users can alter their personal database without affecting the main database.