Tracking down long distance calls
Has anybody had this problem before? You open your phone bill and don't recognize half the calls listed. My wife always blames me for the expensive ones. I thought of a way to defend myself.
I created a database to keep track of all the long distance calls I make. The first fields in the database are for the date and time so that the calls are listed in order by date. This makes it easy to match up to my phone bill. (See Scr.4.)
Along with a field for the phone number, I've included fields for the name of the person I talked to, where they're located and where I'm calling from. In the category field I add whether the call was for business or personal and if I used my calling card. Another field is used to indicate the subject of the conversation. The Note section is used for any follow up information, further instructions and miscellaneous stuff.
I created a macro (Fn)(F5) to automate some of the data entry: {Copy}{More}b{F2}{Date}{Enter}{Time}{Enter}{Paste}{Enter}
When I'm making a long distance call from a number in my PhoneBook file, I just highlight the number and press (Fn)(F5). The number is copied to the clipboard, the database is opened and the date and time are stamped in the appropriate fields. Then the number is pasted into its field. Now I can fill in the rest of the fields as I wish, or close the database.
I have a nice list of the calls I made as "evidence" when the phone bill arrives, as well as more detailed contact information for future reference.
Jeffrey Short, M.D.
South Weymouth, MA
105264.1036@compuserve.com
This user's custom database helps him track his long distance calls.