Calls Tracking and the Communication Center in Orcatec: A Complete Beginner's Guide

Reading time: ~7 min

The Communication Center is Orcatec's built-in business phone system. It gives your team business calling, SMS, call recording, routing and call history directly inside Orcatec, so calls sit next to the customers, properties and jobs they belong to.

This guide is for office managers, dispatchers and owners. It covers the phone plans, the Calls page, finding missed calls, recordings, phone number setup and tracking calls by marketing source.

Before you start: the Communication Center plans

The Communication Center is a separate paid phone plan, not part of the base subscription. You can see the current plans in Settings > Communication Center > Pricing, on the page titled Phone & Messaging.

The plans as of November 2026:

Settings > Communication Center > Pricing page showing the Phone & Messaging plans

What about texting registration? Optional

To send business texts, US carriers require business texting registration (often called A2P 10DLC). The FAQ on the Pricing page explains the Brand and Campaign registration steps. The Customer Texts and Automatic Reminders guide covers texting setup in detail.

The Calls page: every call in one list

The Calls page is the log of every inbound and outbound call on your Orcatec numbers. To open it, click Calls Tracking in the top menu. On a narrower screen it moves under More. The page title reads Calls Tracking.

The top menu. Calls Tracking sits in the main bar, and on a narrower screen it moves under More.

Each row is one call. Here is what each column shows:

Use the search box to find calls by name or number. The fullscreen icon expands the table, and the settings icon lets you choose which columns to show.

Calls page with Date / time, Direction, From, To, Status, Sources, Forward, Forwarded to, Hangup by, Durations and Recording columns

Known contacts and unknown numbers

When a caller's number is saved on a contact, the From column shows the contact's name. A "+N" next to the name means the number is saved on N more contacts, for example a family sharing one phone, so check which contact the call was about. Click the +N to see every contact saved with that number and pick which one the call belongs to.

Clicking +17 in the From column lists every contact saved with that phone number, so you can pick the right one.

When the From column shows only a phone number, the caller is not in your contacts yet. That is often a new lead. After you call back, add them as a contact so their next call shows a name. The Contacts guide shows how.

You can also review calls from the customer's side: open the contact and select the Calls tab to see the calls with that customer, as shown in the Contacts guide.

Finding missed calls with the Status filter

The Status column tells you what happened on each call. Filtering by status is the fastest way to find calls nobody answered.

The status filter lists Completed, Missed, Cancelled and Unknown. For missed calls, the one you need is Missed.

To see missed calls:

1. Open Calls Tracking.
2. Open the filter on the Status column.
3. Select Missed.
4. Work through the list, starting with the oldest missed call.

Status column filter open on the Calls page. Tick Missed and click OK to see only missed calls.

Playing call recordings

Recordings let you check what a customer asked for, settle a pricing question or coach a new team member on the phone. Call recording is one of the core Communication Center features.

To play a recording, find the call on the Calls page and press the play button in the Recording column. It also shows the length of the recording. The download icon next to it saves the recording file.

Recording column with a play button, the recording length and a download icon for each call.

Call recording and consent Advanced

Some states require every person on a call to agree before it is recorded. California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington clearly require all-party consent, and several other states have their own rules, according to the Justia 50-state survey. The simple, safe habit is a short announcement at the start of each call, such as "This call may be recorded." This is general information, not legal advice, and rules vary by state, so check yours.

Setting up phone numbers in Settings

Your phone numbers live in Settings > Communication Center. The left side of this page has three sections: Phone Numbers, Users and Groups and Pricing.

Settings > Communication Center with Phone Numbers, Users and Groups and Pricing on the left

Buying a number

1. Go to Settings > Communication Center > Phone Numbers.
2. Click Buy a New Number.
3. Follow the on-screen steps to choose and confirm your number.

Configuring a number

Click any number in the Phone Numbers list to open its settings. Each number has these fields:

Phone number settings: Friendly Name (Alias), Source, call and SMS capabilities and the users who have access to the number

On the number settings screen you can edit Friendly Name (Alias) and Source, switch Incoming Calls, Outgoing Calls and SMS on or off, set Forward calls to another number, No-answer fallback and call recording, and manage the users who have access to the number.

The other sections are Users and Groups, for the people and groups you assign numbers to, and Pricing, for the phone plans. Call history is on the Calls Tracking page.

Tracking calls by marketing source

Call tracking means using a different phone number for each place you advertise, so you know which ads make the phone ring. Call tracking is included in the Phone Growth plan and is a $20 add-on on the Starter and Team plans, as of November 2026.

Here is how a typical setup looks:

Set the Source on each number. When a call comes in on that number, the Sources column on the Calls page shows where it came from.

Sources filter open on the Calls page. Type a name in the search box, tick the sources you need and click OK.

For example, an electrical contractor can compare the truck wrap line with the website line, and a locksmith can see how many lockout calls come from the Google Business Profile line. Once a tracking number is live on a wrap or listing, keep it, because old magnets and stickers stay in customers' drawers for years.

A daily missed-call routine

A missed call is often a missed job, especially for lockouts, leaks and no-heat calls where the caller simply dials the next company. This routine takes about 10 minutes, twice a day.

1. At mid-morning and mid-afternoon, open Calls Tracking.
2. Filter Status by Missed, then by Cancelled.
3. Skip anyone who already called back and got through.
4. Call back the rest, starting with the oldest missed call.
5. If nobody answers, send a short text from Messaging: "Sorry we missed your call. How can we help? Reply here or call us back at [number]."
6. Add any new callers as contacts.

A short text-back message typed in the Messaging composer for a missed caller (shown here as a draft, not sent).

Frequently asked questions

How do I see only missed calls?

Open Calls Tracking, open the filter on the Status column and choose Missed. Check Cancelled too, since those callers also did not reach you.

Where do I listen to a call recording?

On the Calls Tracking page, find the call and press the play button in the Recording column. The download icon next to it saves the recording file.

Is the Communication Center included in my Orcatec subscription?

No. It is a separate paid phone plan. You can compare the plans in Settings > Communication Center > Pricing.

Can I track which ad a call came from?

Yes, by giving each ad or listing its own number and setting the Source on that number. Calls to it show that source in the Sources column. Call tracking is included in the Phone Growth and Phone Business plans and is a $20 add-on on Starter and Team.

Checklist for your first week with Calls Tracking

• Pick a plan in Settings > Communication Center > Pricing that has enough numbers for your sources.
• Buy your numbers with Buy a New Number.
• Give each number a Friendly Name and set its Source.
• Assign each number to the right users or groups.
• Add a "This call may be recorded" line to your greeting.
• Open Calls Tracking and filter Missed twice a day.
• Call back missed callers and text anyone you cannot reach.
• Save new callers as contacts.

For the business side of missed calls, including what they cost and how to win them back, read Missed Calls Are Missed Jobs: How to Find Them and Win Them Back.