Grandstream UCM call accounting – costs per extension and department

The call list in the UCM is just a list. Price, cost centres and private calls are not in it.

What the UCM does not tell you about calls

Grandstream UCM systems (UCM61xx, UCM62xx, UCM63xx, UCM6510) offer a call list and simple statistics in their interface, but the price of a call at your carrier's tariff, subtotals per cost centre and a private-call report are not among them. Tarifon is a call accounting program for Grandstream UCM that connects over the CDR API of the PBX and runs on an ordinary Windows PC in the office.

How Tarifon connects to the UCM

Over the CDR API of the PBX (HTTPS, port 8443 by default). The records come in the Asterisk layout including trunk names, so matching a call to a trunk and a tariff is automatic. The API also serves older calls – on first run Tarifon pulls the history for the months you choose, and after a connection outage it re-imports the missing calls. Newer firmware (from 1.0.16.20) requires digest authentication; Tarifon supports it, older firmware needs only basic – the program tries both.

What you get beyond the CDR in the UCM

The price of every call at your carrier's tariff including VAT, rounding as on the invoice, free minutes and flat rates – separately for VoIP, a GSM gateway and the fixed line.
Billing per extension and department with a monthly Excel report that arrives by e-mail automatically.
Marking private calls with one click and a separate report for payroll.
Limits per extension with a warning at 80 % and 100 %.
Protection against PBX toll fraud – six rules watch calls to premium-rate and satellite numbers, night traffic and unusual call volume, and send an e-mail within minutes.
Finding any call by number, extension or date – even six months back, including who picked it up.

Setup step by step

In the PBX enable the API: Value-added Features → API Configuration (depending on firmware, „CDR API“) and create a user for CDR (typically cdrapi) with a password.
Allow access from the IP address of the computer running Tarifon.
In the Tarifon wizard choose Grandstream UCM and enter the PBX address, the port (8443), the user and the password. If the PBX has its own certificate, turn on „do not verify“.
Load your carrier tariff, assign trunks to tariffs and extensions to departments; choose how many months of history to pull.

Frequently asked questions about Grandstream UCM

Which models are supported?

UCM61xx, UCM62xx, UCM63xx and UCM6510 – all of them with the CDR API.

Do I have to buy any add-on for the PBX?

No, the CDR API is part of the firmware.

What if the connection drops?

The calls are re-imported over the API and the history stays complete.

What does it cost?

A perpetual licence from €249 for up to 24 extensions, with no monthly fees; 30 days free in the full version.

Try free for 30 days

The full version, no card needed. When the trial ends the program keeps collecting calls – once you buy a licence, no history is lost.