Call detail recording is a feature of telephone systems that allows the service provider or call center to gather data about all incoming and outgoing calls as well as other important details of the telephonic transaction. This data is compiled into a Call Detail Record or CDR and all telecom service providers or call centers maintain this record for every single call. Some of the contents of a CDR are phone number of the calling party, phone number of the called party, starting time of the call, ending time of the call, call duration, type of call (voice call, video call etc), call status (hold, out of service, number busy), who disconnected the call and if any fault was observed on call.
Call detail recording is essentially done by all telecom service providers and call centers. Telecom service providers usually maintain CDR due to the law of the land and the call centers maintain this data to evaluate their performance as well as that of their call center agents. While call detail records help telecom service providers to generate revenue as they form the basis of bill generation, CDRs can also be used by law enforcement to identify suspects and carry out investigations.
