In telecommunications, an IP Detail Record (IPDR) provides information about (IP)-based service usage and other activities that can be used by operations support systems (OSSes) and business support systems (BSSes). The content of the IPDR is determined by the service provider, network/service element vendor, or any other community of users with authority for specifying the particulars of IP-based services in a given context. The IPDR specifications were originally produced by the Internet Protocol Detail Record Organization, Inc. (aka IPDR.org). In 2007 the IPDR.org organization was acquired by the TM Forum, an industry association of more than 900 global members in over 160 countries from across the converging industries of telecom, cable, media and the Internet. The IPDR specifications include requirements for IPDR collection, encoding and transport protocols to exchange IPDR records, the IPDR service specification design guidance, and several sample IPDR Service Definition documents. The IPDR specs are maintained and continue to evolve at the TM Forum Interface Program. The President/COO of IPDR was Kelly Anderson and the technical team lead of IPDR from 2004 until it was folded into the TM Forum was Amit Kleinmann of Amdocs.
During the summer of 1999, while the communications industry was grappling with massive growth in the use of Internet Protocol-based networks for voice and data communications, a group of industry veterans formed the IPDR Organization to begin to establish standards for use in operational and business support systems used by the communications carriers. Originally formed as an informal confederation of about 60 industry experts from 20 companies, including Narus, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and others who were active in the industry, the organization quickly matured into a formal structure, tackling a range of technical issues associated with the deployment of systems to support the growth of IP-based communications services.
By 2002, the group was involving industry specific software development companies to perform interoperability testing and encompassed working forums around five distinct tracks of industry challenges, had hired a staff, and appointed Aron Heintz as President to guide the quickly growing body of technical work being conducted within the largely volunteer organization.