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Task1Introduction
Task2Running the report
Task3Creating the report
Task4The report's results

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The Busy Channels report allows you to break down each business day into half-hour periods, showing the maximum and average number of telephone lines in use in any particular for each half-hour period. This report is ideal useful for determining whether or not you have enough lines or if you have too many.

Running this report over longer periods increases the reliability of its results.You can opt to exclude weekends, when perhaps not many calls are being made or received, and so as not to distort the averages. You can also concentrate on only incoming or outgoing calls

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Running the report

On the Reports screen, click on select the Busy channels in the reports list and then press report from the left-hand pane and click the Select this report button.

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The following report selection criteria A new window will appear:, where you can set the parameters of your report.

Selecting the reporting period

Every report requires a period to run overFor each report, you must specify a time span that covers the calls you want the report to include. This is generally defined known as the "Reporting reporting period".

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There are several preset periods that can be selected from a drop-down list. The predefined periods are based on a standard Gregorian calendar and are defined as follows:

 

reporting periods available for selection, based on the standard Gregorian calendar. The following table describes how the start and end times are defined for each preset period:

PeriodDescription
TodayThe start and end dates are set to the current date. The start time is set to 00:00:00 and the end time to 23:59:59.
YesterdayThe start and end dates are set to the current date minus one day. The start time is set to 00:00:00 and the end time to 23:59:59.
This weekThe start date is set to the first day of the current week (normally Monday) of the current week. The end date is set to the current day. The start time is set to 00:00:00 and the end time to the current time.
Last weekThe start date is set to the date of the last Monday, and the end date is set to the start date plus seven days. The start time is set to 00:00:00 and the end time to 23:59:59.
This monthThe start date is set to the first day of the current month. The end date is set to the current day. The start time is set to 00:00:00 and the end time to the current time.
Last monthThe start date for this period is set in three stages. : The day is set to 01, the first day of the month. The month is set to the current month minus one, or in the case of January, it is set to 12previous month. The year is set to the current year, unless it is a new yearcurrently January, in which case, the previous year is reduced by oneused. The start and end times are set to 00:00:00 and 23:59:59 respectively.
This yearThe start date is set to the first day of the first month of the current year, whilst the end date is set to today's date. The start and end times are set to 00:00:00 and 23:59:59 respectively.
All callsThe start and end dates and times are set to the date dates and time times of the first and last call in the entire call database, respectively.
Custom periodEnter the start and end dates and times into the boxes below. The start and end times are linked to their respective dates.

If you want to be more specific, you can choose the Custom period from the drop-down list. This option will allow you to define the Start date and End date yourself, as well as the Start time and End time of the calls In addition to the presets described above, it is possible to specify a custom reporting period by choosing Custom period from the

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LabelPeriod
 drop-down list and specifying your own  
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LabelStart date
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LabelStart time
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LabelEnd date
 and 
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LabelEnd time
of the period you want to report on.

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When the report is executed, the reporting engine will substitute the start and end dates based on the current date or the relevant selection made by the user.

Once you have set the report's reporting period, click on the Next button to set more of the additional report 's parameters and options, or select the Finish button to run the report immediately.

Tip

NOTE: Running this report over longer periods increases the reliability of its resultsof time gives a more accurate picture of your telephone line usage.

Selecting the reporting entity

The reporting Reporting entity paramater parameter allows you to select which the part of your organisation you want to run the report for (site, extension group, channels or individual extensions)whose calls the report should include, e.g. a site, a group or an individual user.

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Site

TIM Plus will allow you to log information from up to five sites. If you want to To report on a particular site, select your preferred site it from the drop-down list , alternatively leave the default settings as or select All sites .

Reporting_filter
FilterSitesSite
ValueAll sites

 

Tip

The username and password you have been allocated might be restricted to a specific site or group. If you need additional permissions, please contact your system administrator.

Group

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Group

If a site has been selected, you are able to further limit the report's results by selecting a group from the drop-down list.

Reporting_filter
FilterGroupsGroup
ValueAll groups

Please note that the drop-down list for each group will appear only if a site has already been selected.

User

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User

If both a site and group has have been selected, you can also choose to report on further limit the report's results to include only calls involving a particular user, by selecting that user from the drop-down list, or you can leave the default setting as All users.

Reporting_filter
FilterUser
ValueAll users

Tip

If your web account is restricted to a specific site or group, only those entities to which you have access will be available in the drop-down lists.

Once you have set selected the scope of your report's entities, click  click on thethe Nextbutton  button to set more of the report's features or select theFinishbutton additional report parameters and options, or to run the report immediately, click the Finish button.

Selecting the report filters

This option allows you to filter out certain calls from your results, by selecting the values of the parameters. You can limit the results of your report by choosing one or more of the following filters:

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These filters allow you to be very specific, when deciding the call information you would like to display in the final report.If you do not want to select any filters, simply press theNextbutton to skip.

Please find a brief description of all filters below:

Account code

If you want to To produce a bill report consisting only of all chargeable calls that were made using a particular account code, enter this the account code in the field provided. 

Reporting_filter
FilterAccount code
Value0140

To report on more than one account code, you can use separate each code using a comma to separate the entries.

Call type

This filter allows you to define the type of call you would like want to report on. If you would like to report on all calls, leave the default setting as , in terms of where the call originated and where it was delivered, e.g. incoming, outgoing, internal etc.  To report on all types of call, set this to All calls.

Reporting_filter
FilterCall type
ValueAll calls

If you want to report on one call type in particular, expand the drop-down list and select from the available options.

Carrier

If you use more than one carrier, you can choose which carrier's calls to report on. To report on all calls from all carriers, leave the default setting as All carrierslimit the results to include only calls that were made using a specific carrier.

Reporting_filter
FilterCarrier
ValueAll carriers

Info

If you use only

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one carrier, there will be no drop-down list available and no option to choose a

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carrier.

CLI

The Caller Calling Line Identification (CLI) is a phone number that calls your organisation. This is sometimes withheld by the person making the call.You may choose to report on calls from a particular CLI or from numbers beginning with a particular CLI. For example, for the telephone number of the remote caller in an incoming call scenario.

You can report on calls that originate from a specific CLI or those whose CLI matches a particular pattern of digits. For example, to report on all incoming calls from Tri-Line, you would could enter 02072652600.

Reporting_filter
FilterCLI
Value02072652600

This filter accepts the comparison operators ! and * (e.g. You can use the ! symbol to explicitly exclude a CLI from the report's results, and/or the

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Label*
 symbol as a wildcard in digit pattern matching.  For example, to exclude calls from Tri-Line, but include all others, you would could use !020726526*). To report on more than one CLI, user use a comma to separate the entrieseach entry.

Cost

If you want to add a filter for call costs, type in the cost you wish to defineYou can define a cost filter to include calls above or below specific values by entering your criteria, as shown below:

Reporting_filter
FilterCost
Value<2.00

This filter allows you to You can specify a range (-) or use comparison operators (cost range by using the 

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Label-
 symbol; to specify limits, use the comparison operators, >, <, ! and *)and 
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Label!
 .

Destination

If you want to filter calls to a specific, known destination, you can type the name of the destination in the field text box provided. This filter accepts the comparison operators ! and * symbols for excluding values and specifying partial matches, respectively.

For example, if you want wanted to exclude all calls to France, you could enter

Keywordmacro
Label!France*
, as shown below:

Reporting_filter
FilterDestination
Value!France*

Dialled number

To filter calls to a specific dialled number, type the number that was dialled it in the text box provided. The dialled number can be a number that you dial out, or a DDI number within your organisation that someone dials in to get to a particular extensionis defined as the number that is dialled (in the case of an outbound call), or the DDI number that the remote party dialled to reach a particular extension or group (in the case of an inbound call).

To filter calls to a specific area, a partial number may can be entered (e.g. 0033, for  for calls to France). 

Reporting_filter
FilterDialled number
Value0033

This filter accepts the comparison operators ! and (e.g. to exclude calls to 0207 265, enter !0207265* ).You can use the ! symbol to explicitly exclude a dialled number from the report's results, and/or the 

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Label*
 symbol as a wildcard in digit pattern matching.  For example, to exclude calls to Tri-Line, but include all others, you could use !020726526*). To report on more than one dialled number, use a comma to separate each entry.

Duration

To filter calls above or below a particular duration, enter the number of seconds and the relevant symbol in the box provided. This filter allows you to specify a range (-) or use comparison operators (>, <, ! and *).

Reporting_filter
FilterDuration
Value>1800

desired duration in seconds.

Reporting_filter
FilterDuration
Value>1800

You can specify a duration range by using the 

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 symbol; to specify limits, use the comparison operators, ><, and 
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Label!
 .

In the above example, the filter report will look for return only calls longer than 1800 seconds (30 minutes). Alternatively, you may want to exclude calls below a certain threshold (e.g. below 3 seconds).

LCR code

If you are using To filter your results to include only calls that used a Least Cost Routing (LCR) , you may want to filter your results the by LCR code, in order to check a bill from your LCR provider. To do this, enter the LCR code enter it in the text box provided.

Reporting_filter
FilterLCR code
Value162

This filter accepts the comparison operators ! and * (e.g. to exclude a specific LCR code, add the code with the required operators !162*)

You can use the ! symbol to explicitly exclude a LCR code from the report's results, and/or the 

Referencemacro
Label*
 symbol as a wildcard in digit pattern matching.  For example, to exclude calls made using all LCR codes beginning
Referencemacro
Label162
, you could enter
Keywordmacro
Label!162*
To report on more than one LCR code, use a comma to separate each entry.

Response

This option allows you to filter calls based on their response time.The results will be filtered according to the , measured in seconds. Specify the desired response time threshold that you define in the text box provided field. The threshold you specify will be measured in seconds.

Reporting_filter
FilterResponse time
Value>10

In the above example, the search results will display calls that have a response time above greater than 10 seconds. 

You can specify a response time range by using the 

Referencemacro
Label-
 symbol and; to specify limits, use the comparison operators, ><, and 
Referencemacro
Label!
 .

Start time

This option allows you to filter calls based on the start time of the call , which is basically the time of day the call started. Enter your preferred Specify the start time in the field text box provided , using the following format the hh:mm:ss format.

For example, if you want your results to include only calls logged that began after 10 a.m. onlyam, you need to could enter 10:00:00 in the Start time field, as shown below:

Reporting_filter
FilterStart time
Value10:00:00

Trunk access code

If you want to filter your results by a trunk access code, enter this in the field provided.  For example, to exclude all calls with access code 9, add !9 in the filed your telephone system uses trunk access codes to connect calls using specific channels, you can limit your report's results to include only calls made using those codes. Specify the trunk access code in the text box provided.

Reporting_filter
FilterTrunk access code
Value9

This filter accepts the comparison operators ! and *.

You can use the ! symbol to explicitly exclude a trunk access code from the report's results, and/or the 

Referencemacro
Label*
 symbol as a wildcard in digit pattern matching. For example, to exclude calls made using the
Referencemacro
Label9
 trunk access code, you could enter 
Keywordmacro
Label!9
To report on more than one trunk access code, use a comma to separate each entry.

Selecting the report options

This section allows enables you to further narrow down your report results, by excluding certain types of calls or sorting the . It also allows you to sort the report's results in a particular manner.The filters are fairly self-explanatory. For example, if you would like to exclude weekend calls from the report, simply tick the option to exclude weekend calls. If you would like to ignore missed calls shorter than a specific duration, simply enter the duration in the box.

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Exclude weekends

If you would like to To exclude weekend calls from the search your report's results, simply select the tick-box to exclude weekend callsselect the 

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LabelExclude weekends
 option.

Reporting_option
OptionExclude weekends

Exclude transfers

Select this option if you would like to exclude transfers from the search results. For example if you want to see only how well calls were answered when first presented, you would choose to exclude transfersTo exclude transferred calls from your report's results, select the

Referencemacro
LabelExclude transfers
 option.

Reporting_option
OptionExclude transfers

Sort order

Expanding the drop-down list available, you can choose whether you would like Choose from the

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LabelSort order
 drop-down list whether you want the results of the report to appear in ascending or descending order.

You can choose the order in which results are sorted by selecting the appropriate option from the list shown below:

Reporting_filter
FilterSort order
ValueAscending
OptionSort order

Sort results by

You may choose the order in which results are sorted by selecting the appropriate option from the list provided:To sort your report's results by a particular column, select it from the 

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LabelSort results by
 drop-down list.

Reporting_filter
FilterSort results by
ValueTime slot

Ignore short missed calls

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Missed calls below a certain duration can sometimes pollute the meaning of a report's results. To exclude such short calls from your report, enter the duration below which you'd like to ignore calls. If you would like to exclude very short calls (a duration threshold in the text box provided, e.g. to ignore calls below 3 seconds), simply enter the number enter 

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in the box provided: .

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This section allows you to choose the output media format of your completed report. To select the desired format, click on the drop-down list and choose from the available options: Web, PDF, Excel, CSV and XML. The formats available are 

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LabelCSV
 and 
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.

More details about each report format are available in the Setting the report format section above.

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Creating the report

When you have chosen selected a reporting period , and are happy with your selections, you have two options:

  • run the report now
  • schedule the report for future delivery

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If you click on the Run now button, the report will run instantly in your chosen format.

If you want to schedule the report to run at a later time, follow the instruction given in the Schedule a report section.and have chosen any filters and options, you can either run the report immediately by clicking on the

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LabelRun now
 button, or schedule it for future delivery.

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The report's results

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Web format

When selecting WEB as the output format, this report will appear as below:-Below is an example of this report's output in

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 format, displaying the activity of your telephone lines grouped in half-hour time slots:

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The

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format is the most interactive of all formats: all column headers are click-sortable and most graphical and tabular elements can be drilled down into, allowing deeper analysis of your results. By clicking on the About this report link at the top-right corner of the page, you can review any filters and options that have been applied to the report.

As with all reports , the header produced by TIM Plus, each page of the report includes the following information:

  • the report's title
  • the date and time of that the report was generated
  • the name of the report, if applicable

The

Referencemacro
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format allows for complete flexibility when viewing any report. All headers are clickable allowing you re-arrange the report layout in seconds, to sort the calls in ascending or decending order based on the header clicked. To view details of any filters or selection parameters used in creating this report, simply click on
Referencemacro
LabelAbout this report
on the top-right corner of the page.The main report body body of the report consists of a graph and a table.:

  • The graph is a quick and easy indication of your line usage, broken down into half-hour

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  • time slots. The percentage on the y-axis shows the number of lines utilised

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  • , and the x-axis shows

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  • each half-hour of the day. The bars on the graph

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  • coloured

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  • light-purple show the maximum number of busy trunks

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  • in each particular half-hour

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  • ,

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  • and the overlaid dark-purple ones show the average number of busy trunks

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  • in the same time period

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  • .
  • The table

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  • displays the actual data

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  • organised in columns for maximum and average busy lines and the total duration for each half-hour time slot. Each column is described below:
HeaderDescription
Time slotThe time of day in half-hour periods.
Total durationThe total time when trunks were busy, both incoming and outgoing combined.duration of all calls made or received within the time slot shown
Max busyShows the The maximum number of trunks in use during the time slot shown.
Average busyShows the The average number of trunks in use during the time slot shown.
Tip

NOTE: All column headers are clickable, allowing you to dynamically reorder the report as required.

The 

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at the beginning of the report is fairly self-explanatory, as you can see from the example below:

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results.

To modify your report to cover a larger organisational scope, click on an element of the breadcrumb as shown below:

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If you chose to run the report in

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format, the report will consist of three pages.

The first page shows the login name of the person who has prepared/scheduled the report, the entity you are reporting on, the period covered and any filters used in the report. 

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The second page has a graph depicting the average and maximum number of channels used, as shown below:

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The third page breaks this graph down into detailcontains a table of time slots, showing the time slots with the maximum and average number of busy channels and channels that were busy, along with the total duration of time spent on calls , for during each time slot depicted.

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XML format

If you choose to run the report in XML format, the output might be difficult to read, however, this output is ideal when you need to provide a call logging feed to other applications.

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CSV format

If you select the CSV option, this will output the report's results to a CSV file. This can be either opened immediately or saved for future use.

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