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(2024.1) Calls Imports

Owned by Brian Dixon
Last updated: Mar 28, 2024
6 min read

Capability

This Import enters all Calls into the system and associates them with their respective Service IDs. The Imported Calls will then be processed according to the Call Processing and Rating Logic.

The resulting calls will appear in the Call Details and Call Detail Errors grids.

Fields

Originating Number

Required

Datatype is String.

The From Number is sometimes looked up in VH Data table.

The following factors determine if and how this is done:

  •  

    • If the From City, State, and LATA are provided, the lookup is not done.

    • If the From Number length is not 4, 7, or 10, the From Number lookup is not done.

Dialed Number

Required

Datatype is String.

The To Number is sometimes looked up in VH Data table.

The following factors determine if and how this is done:

  •  

    • If the To City, State, and LATA are provided, the lookup is not done.

    • If the To Number starts with 011, the call is marked as International. Then, the VH lookup is not done.

    • If the Call Type has already been determined to be International, Emergency, Mexico, Toll-Free, or Info, the VH lookup is not done.

    • If the To Number is 11 digits long and starts with a 1, the 1 is removed before the lookup.

    • If the To Number length is not 4, 7, 10 or greater, the To Number lookup is not done.

Call Date

Required if Call Date/Time is not provided.

Datatype is Date.

Call Time

Required if Call Date/Time is not provided.

Datatype is Time.

Call Date/Time

Required if Call Date and Call Time are not provided.

Datatype is DateTime.

Default value is blank.

If this is assigned in Conditional Logic, then the value is expected to be in this format: "MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS", or a number of seconds since Jan 1, 1970.

If separate Date and Time field values are provided, as well as the single Date/Time field value, then the Date/Time value will be used, and the separate fields will be ignored.

Call Duration

Required

Datatype is Duration.

If the Duration is assigned in Conditional Logic, the value is expected to be in Seconds.

Auth Code

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

Service Host

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

The Call Rating needs to know the Service Host to use to assign Call Type and to Rate the call.  By default, the Service Host of the Service will be used.

This field allows you to override the Service's Service Host value. 

Service ID

Required

Datatype is String.

You can provide a formatted or unformatted value for this field. If you provide a formatted value, it must match the formatted value in the Service table. For example, "555-123-4567" will not match "(555) 123-4567".

You can also provide an Alias value of an existing Service. The provided Alias value must exactly match the format in the Alias record.

The Service ID must exist in the Service table as a Phone, an Authcode, or a Trunk. The other Service Types are not considered in the Service ID lookup.

The Call will be billed to the Service ID.

If a Service ID is not provided, then the Service ID will be set to the Authcode. If there is no Authcode, then the Service ID will be set to the Originating Number for Outgoing Calls or Dialed Number for Incoming Calls.

Bill Date

Datatype is Date.

Default value is Today's Date. 

Call Type

Datatype is String.

Must be one of the CALLTYPE List Type values.

Common values are Local, Incoming, Intrastate, Interstate, International as well as others.

Cost

Datatype is Number.

The Default value is $0.00.

This value will only be preserved in the Call if the Rating Method of the import is "Pass through cost in file". If the Rating Method is "Rate Tables" or "Flat Rate", then this Cost will get replaced when the Rating process runs.

Originating City

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

The value for this field may be filled in from the VHData lookup of the Originating Number. See the Originating Number field notes.

Originating State

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

The value for this field may be filled in from the VHData lookup of the Originating Number. See the Originating Number field notes.

Originating LATA

Datatype is String.

Default value is blank.

The value for this field may be filled in from the VHData lookup of the Originating Number. See the Originating Number field notes.

Dialed City

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

The value for this field may be filled in from the VHData lookup of the Dialed Number. See the Dialed Number field notes.

Dialed State

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

The value for this field may be filled in from the VHData lookup of the Dialed Number. See the Dialed Number field notes.

Dialed LATA

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

The value for this field may be filled in from the VHData lookup of the Dialed Number. See the Dialed Number field notes.

Incoming Trunk

Datatype is String.

The Default value is blank.

Outgoing Trunk

Datatype is String.

Default value is blank.

Rating Method Inputs

Rate Tables

Maps to given Rate Table defined in Admin.

The rate must be found in the Call Rates Table.

Pass through cost in file

The costs for the call will come from the file that is being imported.

Flat Rate

Adds additional dialogue to set a flat rate. 

The additional information comes from the fields in the Initial and Additional sections.

Errors

Because of the large volume of Imported data that can occur for Calls and Usage Imports, Error reporting is done very differently. For other Imports, if an Error happens, the Error is reported in the Imported Records grid. For Calls and Usage, the Error is stored as a code in the Call or Usage record. The available codes are in this list. This list is shared for Calls and Usage. Some of these are specifically for Calls and never happen for Usage.

After running a Calls import, you can go to the Call Details or Call Detail Errors grids, and these Error Codes will be under the "Error" column. If you use the Call Details grid, you will need to remove the default Filter on the Status column to see the records with errors.

Errors

An error occurred during the Import File Processing. This re-tries each night.



Unrecoverable Errors

An error occurred that cannot be fixed. It does not try again each night.



Rating Errors

An error during the rating process. This re-tries each night.



Billing Errors

Indicates an error occurred during the billing process.



Notes

  • The Call Date and Time can be provided by the separate Date and Time fields or by the combined DateTime field.

  • The Call Date and Time is considered invalid if it is more than 2 days in the future or if it is more than importFiles.ini.constants.CALL_MAX_AGE_DAYS old.

  • The internal Call Processing logic does not determine if a Call is Incoming. If the Call type is Incoming, it must be assigned in the Conditional Logic.

  • A Service must exist for each Call. The Service must exist as a Phone, an Authcode, or a Trunk. The other Service Types are not considered in the Service ID lookup.

  • If a Service ID is provided, that value must exist as a Service.

    • else if an Authcode is provided, the Authcode Service ID must exist.

    • else for Incoming Calls, the Dialed Number must exist as a Service ID.

    • else for all other Outgoing Calls, the From Number must exist as a Service ID.