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Call detail record data

 

A call detail record (CDR) is a data record generated by telecommunications or network equipment that documents the details of a telecommunication transaction or call. In a software context, CDR data is often used for billing, network performance monitoring, analytics, or troubleshooting. For voice calls, these records contain structured information formats such as JSON, CSV, or relational databases for easy querying and analysis. 

Call detail record data typically includes:

  • Timestamp: When the call was initiated or terminated
  • Caller ID: The phone number or identifier of the calling party
  • Recipient ID: The phone number or identifier of the receiving party
  • Call duration: The length of the call in seconds or minutes
  • Call type: The type of call (e.g., voice, SMS, data)
  • Call status: Whether the call was answered, missed, or failed
  • Billing information: Cost of the call or data session, if applicable
  • Network details: Information about the network elements involved, such as cell towers or routing paths

SMS records could also be considered call detail record data. Depending on the type of telecommunication service (voice, SMS, data), the fields in a CDR can vary.

There are many use cases for CDR data, including:

  • Analyzing patterns to understand customer behavior and preferences
  • Calculating customer charges based on usage
  • Monitoring anomalies in CDR patterns for fraudulent activity
  • Identifying call drops, latency, or other performance issues

Handling CDR data might involve adherence to data privacy and regulatory requirements (for example, GDPR or CCPA).

Before looking at documentation for specific data sources, review the Splunk Docs information on general data ingestion: 

Use cases for the Splunk platform