My boss wants me to find out who is costing us so much on our phone bills. On our phone bill, we can only see the numbers that are dialed, obviously we can't see what extension dialed them. We've spoken to our phone company but they're no use really.

How do I connect my PC to our PBX? And what do I use to download the data? We have a PBX system (Panasonic KX TA 308) -- I've read that I can connect via a COM port and download call data using software. I have offered to code this myself, but my boss is worried it won't be worth the time it would take, so he would rather go with specialized software ready to use that doesn't require too much work to set up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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6 Answers

Just to follow on from tcv (get the manual from his answer). With the KX-TD and newer KX-TA Series (this includes the 308) you'll need to...

1. Go to the main console (extension 101) and put it to programming mode by moving the switch on the phone to programming position.
2. Press *#xxxx (where xxxx is the password for programming). This is usually 1234 (default), 0000, or 9999. If you don't know the password, ask the company who installed the PBX.
3. [800] - RS-232C Communication Parameters: CR+LF, 9600, 8 bits, mark parity, 1 stop bit.
4. [801] - Choose 0 (skip perforation) - unless you want holes in your PC ;-)
5. [802] - Incoming on and outgoing on
6. [803] - Choose to print the speed dialing
7. [805] - Choose account code report to be code or index.
8. [806] - Choose English language reporting
9. Move the programming switch to the original position

Now all you have to do is hook it up to your PC using a serial cable, and then the PBX can send SMDR (as bogdan mentioned). Remember that for other PBX models this process will be different, but you'll be aiming for basically the same goal. The manual will usually tell you how to set up SMDR.

Here's some SMDR data from the same model as the OP (Panasonic KX-TA308):

From Jon's comment...

You just need a serial cable, you might need a 25(?) pin to 9 pin converter though. 308 & 624 are designed to be programed through the first handset - typically 201 as mentioned. Newer systems do have USB programming In the UK at least these ones are called TEA 308 & TES824s)

Like Jon said, the newer ones can be programmed from a PC via USB (specifically, the KX-TDA series: KX-TDA30, KX-TDA50, KX-TDA100, KX-TDA200). In some cases we can also use the USB connection to receive SMDR data, but you'll need a 3rd party driver to do that. For the KX-TDA's, the program to use is the KX-TDA Maintenance Console (but for the OP's PBX, we must use the handset method as described at the start of this question).

As for the software to view the data, the term you're looking for is called 'call accounting' or 'call logging'. Something like PhoneJournal* should do the trick. Remember that call accounting/logging not to be confused with 'call recording', which is something completely different.

**Disclaimer: I work for a company that sells this product, so you should of course review other products.*

I feel your pain. I have been wrestling with a PBX system recently and they can be a pain to figure out if you've not been there for the installation.

I think your best shot to find a company in your area that services this particular PBX and see if they can get you the installation, user, and programming manuals.

You can find the User Manual online and it does seem to indicate that logs can be taken by the unit and retrieved later by an 'operator.' It doesn't go into great detail as to how to do that, however.

There's also some information about a software interface to the unit called the Programmator. (GROAN!) I'd post the link, but I don't have enough reputation points. I found it by Googling 'panasonic kx ta308 programming manual'. Perhaps that will help.

HTH

Wouldn't it be easier to ask the employees who's been calling the number or calling the number yourself and asking them who's been calling them? Every problem doesn't require a technical solution. Also, as others have said, contact a local vendor that services that brand PBX and ask them for assistance. They'll have the correct software and hardware and can help you set things up.

Using a Call Accounting Software it the right approach in this case. Look for one software that supports your model. Include 'SMDR' or 'CDR' keyboard in your search, these are the common names for call accounting logs you want to capture and parse.

Providing SMDR is turned on on the PBX... the PBX will dump each call record out of the com port - something along the lines of (and not necessarily in this order):

It's pretty self explanatory - Outgoing call that lasted about a minute from extension 205 to 01273... on line 2.

This was originally designed to go straight into a dot-matrix printer that spewed page after page on linefeed paper.

For very basic analysis you can capture the records using Hyper terminal or Putty and copy and paste into Excel. You can easily sort and sum each extension's usage and find your culprit.

If you have the chops you could easily knock up a program that does it for you or purchase a commercial call logging program such as Comms OfficeOak or for a fraction of the price there is always @Nick Bolton's plug above.

All of this is for nothing unless your PBX is sending out the SMDR - it's a trivial programming step to turn it on if you know how a search for KX-TA programming manuals on google might help you out, if your PBX isn't password protected... Or your friendly local Pana dealer could do it for a modest fee ;)

My disclaimer I used to work for a company that resold Comms Office and whilst it is a fine product it's hugely over the top for a 3x8 system just to find out who is racking up large bills (plus it costs upwards of £1,000 installed)

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