Auto collection
Instead of manually uploading your CDR files, it's possible to set up auto collection to have them automatically uploaded from your provider, as long as they support FTP/SFTP.
To get started, click the Voice, Data & SMS menu item in the left-hand navigation, then under the Auto Collection sub-menu click Endpoints.
Setting up an endpoint
An endpoint is a set of instructions for Billingbooth that tell it where to get your CDR files from, who they come from, how often they should be collected and what types of file to retrieve.
To add a new endpoint from the Endpoints screen, click the Create Endpoint button at the top-right of the screen.
We'll now cover each of the fields on the Create new endpoint screen:
General
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | This is simply a means for you to easily identify where this endpoint goes to in the list of endpoints. |
| Protocol | Detirmines which protocol you wish to use to transfer files, the options being either FTP, FTPS or SFTP. If you're unsure, ask your provider which you'd need. |
| Server Address | This could either be the domain name of the server or its IP address. |
| Authentication | In the case of an SFTP site, the option exists to user password or private key encryption, depending on your provider's preferred authentication mechanism. |
| Username, Password | These two fields are how you authenticate with with file server. |
| Private Key, Key Password | In the case of an SFTP site with Private Key authentication, you can upload your private key in OpenSSH format here, along with the private key passphrase. |
| Port (Optional) | If your provider is using a port that isn't standard (21 for FTP, 22 for SFTP) you can enter it here. |
| Supplier | The supplier/provider of the CDR files. |
| Check Frequency | How often you'd like Billingbooth to check for new files. You can choose between Hourly and Daily. For monthly CDRs, we recommend Daily. |
| Trigger time (if Check Frequency set to Daily) | The time of day you want Billingbooth to check for new files from your provider. |
Paths
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Root Folder | The path on the server to where the CDR files are located. |
| File Pattern | You are able to specify comma-separated file patterns, which Billingbooth will use to detirmine which files in the target folder you wish to return. These can make use of wildcards (*) and precise wildcards (?). For example: *.csv - This would return any filename with a .CSV extension. Calls-*.txt - This would return a .TXT file where the filename begins with Calls- and the file has a .txt extension. CDR-???-????.csv - This would return a .CSV file, which starts with CDR- and then has 3 characters after it followed by a .csv extension. *.csv, *.txt - Returns any file with a .CSV or .TXT extension. |
| Include sub-folders | Checking this will have Billingbooth also look through any sub-folders within the folder specified by the Root Folder field to find files that match your File Pattern field. |
Once you're happy with your entered values, you can either click Create Endpoint to create the endpoint and return to the main Endpoints listing screen, or you can click Create Endpoint and edit to create the endpoint and immediately go to its corresponding Edit Endpoint screen.
Enabling or disabling an endpoint
To enable or disable an endpoint from the Endpoints screen, click a respective endpoint's Edit button.
On this screen you'll find the Enable field, where you can either disable or enable an endpoint.
If an endpoint is disabled, it will remain on Billingbooth but it will not retrieve any files.
When an endpoint is re-enabled, it will retrieve files from that point forward.
Viewing auto-collection file history
To view the history of files collected via auto-collection, you can click the Voice, Data & SMS menu item in the left-hand navigation, then under the Auto Collection sub-menu click History.
This will give you a listing of every file your Auto-collection endpoints have retrieved.
You can specify a single endpoint to view the history of by selecting it from the Endpoint filter at the top-left of the screen.
To see the history of all your endpoints, simply select Any from the Endpoint filter.
Alternatively, you can view the history of an endpoint by heading to Voice, Data & SMS in the left-hand navigation and then under the Auto Collection sub-menu clicking Endpoints.
From the Endpoints listing screen, you can then click the History icon next to each endpoint line item to see its corresponding history.