ing for a long time, it may show up on the Call Accounting report as a completed call, even though it will not appear on the bill. Many organizations distribute the reports to individuals us- ing company e-mail or make them available at a website, rather than generating the voluminous paper printouts of the past. These new methods of distribution facilitate more frequent reports, of- ten weekly instead of monthly, which keeps the information fresh and keeps the pressure on to manage expenses. The reports can be customized and automatically distributed to keep administra- tive costs down. Stand-Alone Call Accounting Systems There are two basic types of on-premise Call Accounting systems. The first is a Stand-Alone unit consisting of a preprogrammed piece of hardware incorporating a keyboard and display (usually housed in a small metal box with one or more printed circuit boards inside) and an associated printer. The Stand-Alone devices are low cost and have a limited 116 9 The Telecom Handbook CHAPTER 6 memory capacity. The reports available from them are basic and may include: Summary of calls made from each telephone Detail of calls made from each telephone Summary of calls made from a particular department Detail of calls made by each department Exception reports providing information such as all calls to a specific telephone number are generally not available from the Stand- Alone. These devices tend to be durable and require minimal management. Hotels and motels needing an easy method of charg- ing back the cost of calls to their overnight guests often use them. PC Based Call Accounting Systems The other type of on-premise Call Accounting is a software package that runs on a PC. This type of system provides the more comprehensive capabilities described in the rest of this chapter. Many Call Accounting systems are set up on a desktop PC connected to the office Local Area Network. It is not recom- mended that the Call Accounting system share the network server or another PC used for other purposes. Advice provi