In a previous blog, we delved into the valuable insights that basic call trends can provide. However, as you closely monitor these trends, you might notice occasional spikes and irregularities. These anomalies warrant further investigation to determine their underlying causes. Are they business-driven fluctuations, or do they signal potential issues like routing glitches, inbound hacking attempts or fraud?

A sudden surge in inbound call volume could be a direct response to a recently launched marketing campaign. Customers, eager to capitalize on a new deal, flood the lines. On the flip side, inclement weather or unexpected service outages may trigger an influx of calls to customer service. Outbound calling campaigns orchestrated by the sales team can also cause call volume spikes. Whether planned (sales campaign) or unplanned (service outage), these spikes align with business operations.

Other spikes may indicate a problem, such as a configuration error or a robocall threat. As an example, the chart below shows the hourly trend for call terminations based on the clearing cause code provided by the switch platform. In “typical” hours, this client had less than 100 calls, then suddenly in the 11 AM hour on July 5 there was a spike of 1,589 calls.

The graphic below shows a subset of the call log for this hour, with numbers hidden for privacy. Drilling into the call detail, it shows that the same originating number was constantly pumping inbound calls into the enterprise. You can see calls every few seconds and at times multiple calls in the same second. The called numbers are not assigned on the switch so the “Unassigned Number” clearing cause is assigned.

As another example, the chart below shows a client that typically has approximately 600 calls per hour. Then suddenly in the 1 PM hour on January 5 there was a peak of over 4,000 calls. Similar to above scenario, this started as spam calls to a number in the client’s DID range. However, since the number was not configured in the home directory number table, the switch re-routed that call out to telco. Then the telco received the call and routed it back in as a new call and the cycle continued. The client saw up to 10 B-channels tied up from a single incoming call. By seeing this spike, the fix was to ensure every DID number is in the home directory number table.

Configuring call routing tables can be tedious. Enterprises would love to have nice, clean blocks of thousands of numbers, but in reality, that just does not often happen. Choppy number blocks and sophisticated routing plans can create a looping calls scenario as above. So, here is another example where data analytics can turn your raw data into actionable intelligence to manage your daily operations and improve network performance.

Do you know how many intrusion attempts are hitting your network? Do you know if your network had a significant spike this week like above customer examples? Are you missing key routing logic in your switch that might be costing you financially and/or consuming your call channels and dramatically impacting your call performance? As you analyze your call data, keep a keen eye on these spikes. Confirm their origin—whether they stem from strategic business decisions or unforeseen circumstances. By understanding the driving forces behind call fluctuations, you can optimize your response, enhance customer experience and ensure efficient call management.

Clearly See Your Call Trends and Performance with Optic

Optic for Voice Networks™ will give you a clear view into your network’s usage, trending and performance, both from high level trending dashboards to the ability to search for specific calls and see detailed metrics. Visibility will help you improve Total Caller Experience^® and streamline system administration.   Contact us today to learn more about proactively monitoring your voice network and gaining seamless visibility across your entire voice network activity and performance.