When you want to look for something very specific use ‘Equals’. It takes you literally. When you want something in the ball park use Matches, is has allowances.
Example 1: If you are running a report to look for a dialled number and you know what you are looking for use:
Dialled Number = 01702525130
If you know the call was to Southend but you are not sure what the full number was use:
Dialled Number matches 01702*
In this example, if you had used Dialled Number = 01702* the system would assume that you were looking for a dialled number of precisely that.
Example 2: When creating a Filter to look for, say, Party 2 = 3446, it is better to use ‘Matches’. This will track the extension even if it is Reassigned.