Instituting Billing and Reporting for WebRTC
17, Mar 2021
Instituting Billing and Reporting for WebRTC
Starting Monday, March 29, 2021, Telnyx is instituting billing and reporting for WebRTC usage. This release note outlines what this change means for customers, and how WebRTC calls are billed, reported, and invoiced.
Pricing Details for WebRTC Calls
The total cost for inbound and outbound calls initiated and answered on a Telnyx WebRTC browser client consists of two components:
- The per-minute usage cost of the WebRTC interface.
- The per-minute usage cost of any underlying SIP infrastructure used as part of the call.
WebRTC calls are priced at $0.002/minute, in addition to any cost associated with PSTN call legs.
Cost Computation for WebRTC Calls
Inbound Call to a Telnyx Phone Number connected to a WebRTC client:
Calls placed to a Telnyx phone number can be answered using a WebRTC client. The cost for such calls is as follows:
- $0.0035 / min to receive calls to a local Telnyx phone number in the US.
- $0.002 / min to receive inbound calls to a browser or app (in this case, the WebRTC client).
Thus the total cost of the call is $0.0035 + $0.002 = $0.0055 / min.
For example, on a 120-second call, the total charge is $0.0055 / min × 2 min = $0.011.
Outbound Call from a WebRTC client to a PSTN number:
A WebRTC client can be used to place calls to any phone number on the PSTN via Telnyx. The cost for such calls is as follows:
- $0.005 / min to place calls to a local phone number in the US. (Assuming the number is in Zone 1 of our destination-based pricing. This applies to most phone numbers in the lower 48 states.)
- $0.002 / min to place outbound calls from a browser or app (in this case, the WebRTC client).
Thus the total cost of the call is $0.005 + $0.002 = $0.007 / min.
For example, on a 120-second call, the total charge is $0.007 / min × 2 min = $0.014.
Call Detail Records (CDRs) for WebRTC Calls
Call Detail Records (CDRs) are available for WebRTC calls, just like regular Elastic SIP Trunking or Voice API calls.
An example CDR from a WebRTC call is shown below.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| cld | +1224xxxxxxx |
| cli | +1312xxxxxxx |
| start_timestamp | 2021-03-04 21:13:07 |
| end_timestamp | 2021-03-04 21:15:03 |
| billed_sec | 120 |
| cost | 0.004 |
| rate | 0.002 |
| direction | outbound |
| uuid | 6ae3XXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX |
| user_id | 246bXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX |
| call_sec | 102 |
| session_uuid | 6ae3XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX |
| connection_id | 1583XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX |
| billing_group | ABC Calling Services |
| tags |
Users may view CDRs associated with WebRTC usage in the Detail Requests tab of the Reporting section in the Portal, by selecting WebRTC as the Report Type.
Similarly, CDRs associated with SIP usage are available by selecting Calls as the Report Type.
Matching SIP CDRs and WebRTC CDRs
In the CDR example illustrated above, only the WebRTC component of the total cost of the call is shown. A separate CDR is created for the SIP Trunking usage component, showing the relevant rate for its usage.
Calls which contain a WebRTC component and a SIP Trunking component will thus have two separate CDRs describing the call and its costs. These CDRs will have an identical value in their uuid field, so that they can be easily matched. In future iterations of WebRTC billing and reporting, we plan to provide a unified reporting system which contains complete call information, inclusive of all billable components.
Invoicing for WebRTC Calls
Invoices will present information on SIP Trunking usage and WebRTC usage separately, even if calls are made that use both WebRTC and SIP Trunking.
Download a sample invoice illustrating WebRTC usage.
SIP Trunking usage is presented in the invoice in the Usage Charges - Voice and Data section under "Termination" and "Origination".
WebRTC usage is presented in the invoice in the Usage Charges - Voice and Data section under "WebRTC Termination" and "WebRTC Origination".
Coming Soon to Telnyx WebRTC
In the future, we will be adding even more functionality to WebRTC billing and reporting, including:
- Filtering by call source type in reports, so you can tell if calls came from a phone number or WebRTC client.
- Aggregated reporting for WebRTC calls.
- The ability to see unified call costs via our Portal or API, containing all of the cost components for any given call.
If you'd like to be the first to know about these new features, talk to our sales team about WebRTC.