What are Call Detail Records?
Call Detail Records (abbreviation CDR) are the data records that are automatically produced by a phone system, telecoms exchange or other telecommunications equipment. CDR records are produced for every phone call that passes through the system and contains all the data pertaining to that call, ranging from time, date, duration, source number and destination number. Of course, modern technology has evolved and modern CDR records can be much more detailed than the above example and can included further information such as the to be billed number, call type (voice, SMS etc), call status (completed, dropped etc).
As such, CDR records are an excellent tool for documentating call information for the purpose of call logging, call analytics, wallboards, call volume forecasting and of course billing. In fact, the wikipedia entry for CDR mentions that Call Detail Records are the automated equivalent of the paper toll tickets that manual telephone exchange operators used to write for international calls.