 646, 917, 718, 914, 203, 860, 516, 972, 908 and 201 CLASS 4 = Local and Long Distance Calls to Continental US CLASS 5 = Local and Long Distance Calls to US and Canada Only CLASS 6 = Unrestricted - Can Call Anywhere in US or International systems have separate outside lines that, when used, will result in a lower cost for certain telephone calls. For example, your company may have a direct line (dedicated line) connecting you to a long distance carrier. When a call has been dialed from your telephone system, the ARS recognizes where the call is going and sends it over the lowest cost route, based upon how the sys- tem has been programmed. In the 1960's, '70's and '80's many companies had WATS lines (Wide Area Telephone Service). WATS lines were separate outside lines enabling calls to be placed at a discounted rate to specific geographic areas within the U.S. (Band 0 through Band 50 = The Telecom Handbook CHAPTER 2 5, as the areas were called.) It was during this period that the ARS was most important. Now the decisions are simpler. Telephone systems without ARS can get around this by assigning access codes to separate groups of outside lines called trunk groups. In this scenario, you may dial 9 for local calls and dial 8 for long distance calls to access a separate group of lines. Call Accounting Most telephone systems also have the capability to provide information on the calls being made through the system. This includes the time the call was placed, the duration of the call and the telephone number dialed. This is called SMDR (Station Mes- sage Detail Recording) output, Call Accounting output, CDR (Call Detail Recording) output, or AIOD (Automatic Identifica- tion of Outward Dialing), an out-of-date term seldom used. It's important to understand that the PBX provides the raw data only. In order to do anything with the data, it must be captured and processed into a usable format. In many organizations, the SMDR output is stored in a buffer device that then is polled by a call accounting system, usually on site