About Operations support system

Operations Support Systems (also called Operational Support Systems or OSS) are
computer systems used by telecommunications service providers. The term OSS most
frequently describes "network systems" dealing with the telecom network itself, supporting
processes such as maintaining network inventory, provisioning services, configuring network
components, and managing faults. The complementary term Business Support Systems or
BSS is a newer term and typically refers to "business systems" dealing with customers,
supporting processes such as taking orders, processing bills, and collecting payments. The
two systems together are often abbreviated BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS.

Different subdivisions of the BSS/OSS systems are made, depending on whether they follow
the TeleManagement Forum's diagrams and terminology, industry research institutions or
BSS/OSS vendors own view. Nevertheless in general, an OSS covers at least the application
areas:

 Network Management Systems

An operational support system (OSS) is a set of programs that help a communications service
provider monitor, control, analyse and manage a telephone or computer network. As the traditional
voice telephone systems converges with packet-oriented Internet traffic (including VoIP), broadband
applications such as teleconferencing and DSL, more sophisticated systems like OSS are needed
activities like ordering and tracking network components (including IP addresses), usage and traffic
patterns, billing and reporting.

Business support systems (BSS) are the components that a telephone operator or Telco uses to run
its business operations towards customer. BSS and OSS platforms are linked in the need to support
various end to end services. Each area has its own data and service responsibilities.

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 History and development of OSS

Before about 1970, many OSS activities were performed by manual administrative processes.
However, it became obvious that much of this activity could be replaced by computers. In the
next 5 years or so, the telephone companies created a number of computer systems (or
software applications) which automated much of this activity. This was one of the driving
factors for the development of the Unix operating system and the C programming language.
The Bell System purchased their own product line of PDP 11 computers from Digital
Equipment Corporation for a variety of OSS applications. OSS systems used in the Bell
System include AMATPS, CSOBS, EADAS, RMAS, SCCS, SES, TIRKS, and many more.
OSS systems from this era are described in the Bell System Technical Journal, Bell Labs
Record, and Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore) Special Report SR-2275, Telcordia
Notes on the Networks.

Many OSS systems were initially not linked to each other and often required manual
intervention. For example, consider the case where a customer wants to order a new
telephone service. The ordering system would take the customer's details and details of their
order, but would not be able to configure the telephone exchange directly - this would be
done by a switch management system. Details of the new service would need to be
transferred from the order handling system to the switch management system - and this would
normally be done by a technician re-keying the details from one screen into another - a
process often referred to as "swivel chair integration". This was clearly another source of
inefficiency, so the focus for the next few years was on creating automated interfaces
between the OSS applications - OSS integration. Cheap and simple OSS integration remains
a major goal of most telecom companies.

Operation, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning

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 Operation, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning (OAM&P) is a group of

management functions that provide system or network fault indication, performance

monitoring, security management, diagnostic functions, configuration and user provisioning.

It is a popular framework among service providers for their network management systems,

typically called OSS (Operations Support System) and BSS (Business Support System). The

two systems together are often abbreviated BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS.

A brief summary of the OAM&P functions are listed below:

 Operations: coordinates actions between administration, maintenance, and

provisioning.

 Administration: designing the network, processing orders, assigning addresses,

tracking usage, and accounting.

 Maintenance: diagnose and repair things which do not work as planned.

 Provisioning: installing equipment, setting parameters, verifying that the service is

operational, updating, and de-installation.

Some systems require only Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OA&M) functions

without extensive provisioning features. So the term OA&M is also popularly used for the

management systems.

The standard OAM&P architecture definitions were done by the ITU-T in its TMN

(Telecommunication Management Network) model, which established a 4-layer model of

TMN applicable within an OAM&P system:

 Business Management Level (BML)

 Service Management Level (SML)

 Network Management Level (NML)

 Element Management Level (EML)

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A more popular model to describe the management functions is called FCAPS: Fault,

Configuration, accounting, performance and security management. FCAPS is defined by ISO.

OAM&P: Operation, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning

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 Role of business support systems

Basically it deals with the taking of orders, payment issues, and revenues. The role of
business support systems in a service provider is to cover four main areas:

 Product management
 Customer management
 Revenue management
 Order management

Product management

Product management supports product development, the sales and management of products,
offers and bundles to businesses and mass-market customers. Product management regularly
includes offering cross-product discounts, appropriate pricing and customer loyalty
programmes.

Customer management

Service providers require a single view of the customer and regularly need to support
complex hierarchies across customer-facing applications (customer relationship
management). Customer management also covers requirements for partner management and
24x7 web-based customer self-service. Customer management can also be thought of a full-
fledge customer relationship management systems implemented to help customer care agents
handle the customers in a better and informed manner.

Revenue management

Revenue management is a BSS focus on billing, charging and settlement, that can handle any
combination of OSS services, products and offers. BSS revenue management supports OSS

Order management

Order management as a beginning of assurance is normally associated with Operational

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 Operations Support System (OSS) performs management, inventory, engineering, planning,

and repair functions for Tele-communications service providers and their networks.

For traditional telecom service providers, Operations Support Systems (OSSs) were

mainframe-based systems designed to support telephone company staff members to

automate their daily jobs such as order processing, line assignment, line testing and billing,

etc. The complementary term Business Support Systems (BSS) is a newer term and typically

refers to "business systems" dealing with customers, supporting processes such as taking

orders, processing bills, and collecting payments. The two systems together are often

abbreviated BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS. B/OSS plays a critical role to support operations of a

service provide and its increasing business services including voice, data, VOIP and multi-

media.

Functions of an OSS solution may include the following components:

 Order processing, accounting, billing and cost management

 Network inventory, service provision, design and assign

 Network discovery and reconciliation, trouble and fault management, capacity

management

 Network elements, asset and equipment management, field service management

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Most of the Operation Support Systems are designed based on the Telecommunications

Management Network (TMN) model. To better define OSS and BSS for future business and

technology development, the TeleManagement Forum is working on a newer model to

replace the aging TMN. This new model is called TOM (Telecoms Operations Map) or eTOM

(enhanced Telecom Operations Map).

OSS: Operations Support System