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Ravi Sharda's Weblog [BETA]: Telecom OSS/BSS: An Overview

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FRIDAY , MARCH 19, 2010

S EAR CH T H I S B LO G

Telecom OSS/BSS: An Overview

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1.Introduction
Beforetheinitial1970s,mostofthesupportactivitiesinatelephone

A B O UT ME
RAVI SH ARDA

companysuchastakingorders,maintainingnetworkinventory,
provisioningservices(forexample,lineassignmentandtesting),

My linked in profile is

configuringnetworkcomponents,managingfaultsandcollectingpayments

here.

wereperformedmanually.Itwasrealizedthatmanyoftheseactivities

V I EW MY C O MP LET E

couldbereplacedbycomputers.Inthenextfewyears,anumberof

P R O FI LE

computersystemsandsoftwareapplicationswerecreatedtoautomate
theseactivities.ExamplesincludeTIRKS,RMAS,SES,etc.Thuscamethe
termOperationsSupportSystems(OSS).

BLOG ARCHIVE

2012 (1)
OSSarenetworksystemsdealingwiththecommunicationsnetworkand
supportingprocessessuchasmaintainingnetworkinventory,provisioning
services,configuringnetworkcomponents,managingfaults.

2011 (5)
2010 (33)
November (2)

BusinessSupportSystems(BSS)isanewertermandtypicallyrefersto

October (1)

businesssystemsdealingwithcustomersandsupportprocessessuchas

September (2)

takingorders,processingbills,collectingpayments,salesandmarketing,

August (2)

supportingcustomercareagentsinresponsetoservicerequests,trouble
reportingandbillinginquiries,etc.
http://ravisharda.blogspot.ae/2010/03/telecom-ossbss-overview.html

July (3)
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June (1)
OSSandBSSsystemstogetherareoftenabbreviatedasBSS/OSSor
B/OSS.ThetermOSSwashistoricallyusedtoincludebothnetworkand
businesssystems.Someindustryanalysts,systemintegratorsandservice
providersstillusethetermOSStoincludebothnetworkandbusiness
systems,whichsometimescausesconfusion.
ThisarticleprovidesanoverviewofsomeofthecoreareasinOSSand

May (3)
April (3)
March (7)
REST in practice and
Richardson's RESTful
maturity...

BSSsuchasOrderFulfillment,ServiceAssuranceandBillingsystems.The

Telecom OSS/BSS: An Overview

followingBSS/OSSsystemsarecovered:

Colin Powell on leadership

OrderFulfillmentOrderManagement,ServiceProvisioningand
InventoryManagement
ServiceAssuranceFault&TroubleManagement,Network
PerformanceManagement,Topology&ConfigurationManagement,
Planning&Testing
BillingBillingMediation,Rating,BillingSystems,Interconnection
Billing,RevenueAssurance
Thearticleexplainssomeofthebasicfunctionsofthesesystems.
However,thisarticledoesn'tintendtoprovideextensivedetails.Foran
extensiveoverviewofbusinessactivities,businessprocessandfunctions,

A proof that Microsoft

refertostandardssuchaseTOMandTAMathttp://www.tmforum.org/.

2009 (7)

2.TheRealmofOSS/BSSinOrder
Fulfillment,AssuranceandBilling

2005 (7)

2.1OrderFulfillment
Communicationsproducts/servicescouldrangefromVoiceservicestoIP
andDataservicestoHostingandCPEservices.Someoftheexamplesof

2004 (5)

S UB S C R I B E T O

Posts
Comments

communicationsproducts/servicesare:
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Ravi Sharda's Weblog [BETA]: Telecom OSS/BSS: An Overview

VoiceBasictelephony,longdistance,tollfree,VoiceoverIP
(VoIP),ContactCenter,LocalAccess,etc.
InternetProtocol(IP)InternetAccess,VPN,ContactCenter,VoIP,

Enter your email address:

RemoteAccess,etc.
DataLayer1WideAreaNetwork(WAN)ServicessuchasSONET,
Layer2WANservicessuchasATM,FrameRelay,PrivateLines,
Layer2VPNandMetroEthernet,etc.
HostingCustomApplicationEnvironments,DisasterRecovery,

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Delivered by FeedBurner

ManagedServicessuchasstorage,securityandnetworkservices,
WebSiteHosting,etc.
OrderFulfillmentfunctionsareacriticalsetofactivitiesperformedinorder

There was an error in this gadget

tofulfillcustomerordersforservicesinaCommunicationsService
Provider(CSP)environment.
Thefollowingfigureshowsaveryhighlevelviewofactivitiesperformedin
atypicalCSPenvironment.

LAB ELS

Complexity (1)
Management (1)
OSS/BSS (2)
Software Architecture and Design (5)
Software Engineering (3)

B LO G S I R EAD

GartnerBlogNetwork
AmazonWebServicesBlog
GoogleResearchBlog
LatestNewsfromCloud
ComputingJournal
Afterorderentry,validationandsubmission,ordersaredecomposedand

UdiDahanTheSoftware
Simplist

sentforprovisioning.Uponfulfillingthedecomposedordersand

SchneieronSecurity

appropriatetestingofthecircuits,theordersareputintoinventory.The
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followingsubsectionsexplaintheOrderFulfillmentrelatedfunctionsand
OSS/BSSsystems.

Dr.Dobb'sArchitecture&
DesignArticles
TheOfficialGoogleBlog

2.1.1OrderManagement

JoelonSoftware

OrderManagementsystemsarecomplexsystemsthatallowcustomeror

SoftwareEngineering
InstituteTechnical
Publications

customerservicerepresentativestocaptureandprocessneworders,
modifyexistingorders,processcustomermovesandchanges,pricequotes
andorders,validateorders,etc.,whilesupportingmultiplechannelssuch
asWeb,Ordertemplatedocumentsandpartnerapplicationsaswellas
multiplelinesofbusinesses.
OrderManagementincludesthefollowingareas:
OrderEntryandvalidationTheOrderEntryprocesscaptures

BillInmonData
WarehousingChannel
TheJava(tm)Specialists'
Newsletter
JamesBachsBlog
Alistair.Cockburn.usRss
Feed

orderdetailssuchaspackageorplan,serviceaddress,service

PaulGraham:Essays

details,customeraccounts,relevantcontactsandapplicable

CTOBlog

contracts.DataenteredduringOrderEntryisalsovalidatedagainst
predeterminedrules.
Orderscanbevalidatedasthedataisenteredand/orvalidationafter
allthedatahasbeenentered.Products/solutionsthatvalidateorder

GaryHamelsManagement
2.0
SEMATblog

dataastheyareenteredandwalktheuserthroughtheproduct

RalphJohnsonBlog

configurationprocessareknownasProductConfigurators.Oneof

Softwarearchitecture,
softwareengineering,and
RenaissanceJazz

suchtoolsavailableinthemarketisSelecticaCOnfigurator.
OrderDecompositionAsinglecustomerordercanbedecomposed
intooneormoreservicerequests,typicallybasedonservicetypes

MartinFowler

orquantities,inordertobeabletofulfillanorder.

DonSmith

Forexample,ifacustomerordercontainsbothaVoIPorderanda
phonelineorder,twoservicerequestswouldbecreated,oneeach

JamesGosling:ontheJava
Road

forVoIPandthephoneline,eachofwhichwouldbesenttothe

PlanetSun

appropriateprovisioningsystems.

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CraigMcClanahan'sWeblog
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Oneofthemajorproblemsserviceprovidersoftengrapplewithisthat,as

ArticlesbyDavidLinthicum

newservicesareaddedtotheofferings,ledbydifferentbusinessunits,the

GradyBoochsweblog

lackofflexibleordermanagementplatformresultsinproduct/service
specificOSS/BSSapplications.Theseinturnresultinhighertimeto
marketaswellasincreasedcostsofmaintainingmanydifferent

BobbyWoolfsweblog
DavidGeary'sWeblog

applicationsandsystems.ProductcatalogbasedOrderManagement
solutionsattempttosolvetheseproblemsbystoringandprocessing
qualificationrulesforservicesbasedoncustomerprofiles,ordering
channels,servicelocations,productinterdependencies,availability,
customereligibilityandotherbusinessconstraints.
2.1.2ServiceProvisioning
ServiceProvisioningsystemsaresystemsusedtosetupproducts/services
forthecustomerafteranorderfortheserviceshasbeencreatedand
acceptedbytheCSP.
Serviceprovisioningactivitiesincludespecifyingthepiecesofequipment
andpartsofthenetworktofulfilltheservice,configuringthecustomers
routingpath,allocationofbandwidthinthetransportnetwork,settingupof
wiringandtransmission,etc.
Someofthesystemsthatconstituteprovisioningsystemsare:Circuit
Design&AssignmentTools,Activationsystems,andFieldService
Managementsystems.
Circuitdesignreferstospecifyingwhetherfacilitiesexisttoprovidethe
serviceandwhichpiecesofthenetworkequipmentandroutestheservice
shallutilize.
OneofthemostwidelyusedsystemsprovidingCircuitDesignfacilityis
TelcordiaTIRKS.ApartfromCircuitDesignsupport,italsoprovidescircuit
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ordercontrol,inventoryrecordmaintenance,selectionandassignmentof
componentsfrominventory,andpreparationanddistributionofcircuit
workorders.TheordercontrolmoduleinTIRKSworkswithacircuit
provisioningsystemandoperatesinconjunctionwithotherTIRKS
componentstoassignfacilityandequipmentinformationforcircuitorders
anddesigncircuits.TIRKScanthenprovideautomateddesigncriteriafor
certaincircuitorders.ThecircuitdesigngeneratedinTIRKSisthen
communicatedtofieldoperationsorautomatedactivationsystemsfor
implementation.
CircuitDesignandAssignmenttoolsthesedaysoftenhavegraphicaltools
thatallowausertocreateservicesonanetworkmapusingmouseclicks
anddraganddropratherthandrawingmapsbyhandorusinganabstract
setofequipmentidentifiersdisplayedinatable.
Afteraserviceisdesignedbasedontheexistingequipmentandcircuit
inventory,itisreadytobeactivated.Ifnewequipmentorlinesneedtobe
configuredmanually,aFieldServiceManagement(FSM)systemisnotified
whichinturndispatchestechnicians.
Moreover,certainactivationscanbeperformedautomatically.For
example,issuingcommandstoATMorcircuitswitchestoprovisioncircuits,
toSONETterminalstoallocatebandwidth,andtoawidearrayofaccess
devicessuchasDSLAMS,DigitalLoopCarriers(DLC),orcablemodems.
Forsuchactivations,ServiceActivationsystemspassthedevicespecific
commandsandconfigurationchangestothenetworkelements,Element
ManagementSystems(EMS),NetworkManagementSystems(NMS)or
applicationhosts.
EMSsaredesignedtoreceiveandexecutecommandssentbyactivation
systemsonthedevices.EMSscanalsofeedequipmentstatusdatabackto
networkandtroublemanagementsystems.EMSsuseprotocolssuchas
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CommonManagementInformationprotocol(CMIP)orTransactionLanguage
(TL)orSimpleNetworkManagementProtocol(SNMP)tocommunicatewith
activationandothersystems.
Activationsystemsoftencomprisealibraryofadapterstovariousnetwork
systems.Theyusuallyalsosupporttransactioncontrol,i.e.thecapability
torollbackoperationsalreadyperformed,incaseanerroroccurs.
ItshouldbenotedthatProvisioningsystemsinteractwiththeInventory
systems,bothtoverifythattherequirednetworkelementsandother
facilitiesareavailable,andoncetheresourcesareprovisionedtoreflect
thechangedonlineconfigurationofthefacilities.Therefore,provisioning
systemshaveclosechannelswithinventorysystems.Asaresult,some
vendorshavecombinedworkflowcapabilitieswithinventorymanagement
capabilitiesintheirproducts.
2.3InventoryManagement
Trackinginventoryinvolvestrackingequipment,facilitiesandcircuits.
Someexamplesofinformationtrackedare:thelocationandquantitiesof
theequipment,howapieceofequipmentisconfiguredanditsstatus,etc.
InventoryManagementSystemstrackboththephysicalnetworkassets
(suchasequipmentanddevices)aswellaslogicalinventory(suchas
activeports,circuitids,IPaddresses,etc.),althoughnotallsupportboth.
Byrelatingusageofnetworkassetstospecificcustomersandservices,an
inventorysystemcanhelpnetworkoperationsdeterminethenetwork
usageandavailablecapacityaswellasenableautomatednetworkdesign
andplanning.InventoryManagementSystemsalsoenableService
Assurancesystemstofindtheimpactofanetworkfaultonthecustomers
circuits.

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Sometoolsalsohaveautodiscoveryfeaturestoautomaticallycheck
physicalnetworkassetsandmatchtheresultswiththeinformationheldin
theinventory.However,theseworkonlywithsomeofthenewerintelligent
networkelements.

2.2ServiceAssurance
Communicationsserviceproviders(CSP)strivetodifferentiatethemselves
fromtheircompetitorsbyimplementingattractiveServiceLevel
Agreements(SLA).SLAsareformalcontractswherethelevelofservice
deliveredbytheCSPtohiscustomerisstipulated.AnSLAmayspecify
levelsofserviceavailability,performance,operation,etc.aswellas
penaltiesuponviolationoftheSLA.
OfferingSLAsimpliesthattheserviceproviderhastheabilitytomonitor,
actandreportthelevelofservice,inordertoassurethequalityof
servicesdeliveredtothecustomers.ServiceAssurancereferstoallthe
activitiesperformedforsuchanassurance.ThegoalofServiceAssurance
istoprovideanoptimalcustomerexperience,thathelpsretainexisting
customers,attractnewcustomersandpreventpenaltiesarisingoutof
violationofSLAs.
Thefollowingsubsectionsintroducesomeofthecommonservice
Assurancesystems.
2.2.1FaultandTroubleManagement
FaultManagementSystemsaredesignedfordetection,isolationand
correctionofmalfunctionsinacommunicationsnetwork.Theymonitorand
processnetworkalarmsgeneratedbynetworkelements(routers,switches,
gateways,etc.).Analarm*isapersistentindicationofafaultthatis
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clearedonlywhenthetriggeringconditionisresolved.
Examplesoftroubleorfaultinanetworkaredamagetoanopticalfiber
line,switchfailure,etc.Suchaprobleminthenetworkcanresultina
chainreactionwheremanynetworkelementsinacertainpathproduce
alarms*.
FaultManagementSystemsmaybeeitheracomponentwithinNetwork
ManagementSystemsorasastandalonesetofsystemandapplication
software.
Thefollowingfigureillustrateshowfaultmanagementworks.

NetworkElementsaredesignedtoprovidevariouslevelsofselfdiagnosis.
OlderNetworkElementsmightsimplysendanalarmnotifyingaproblem
whilenewerNetworkElementscanprovidemorepreciseanddetailed
messages.FaultManagementSystemsmaycollectalarmsviaSNMPtraps,
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CMIPeventsorproprietaryagents,viaEMS.Theyusecomplexfiltering
systemstoassignalarmstospecificseveritylevelsandcorrelatedifferent
alarmstolocatethesourceandcauseofaproblem.
Afteraproblemisidentified,theFMSthennotifiesappropriatenetwork
operatorsaswellaspasstheprobleminformationtoaTrouble
ManagementSystemthatinturnlogstheproblemandissuesatrouble
tickettostarttherepairprocess.
TheTroubleManagementSystemthensendscommandstoappropriate
systemssuchasFieldServiceManagementtoscheduleanddispatch
technicianstorepairtheequipmentand/ortoEMStoreroutenetwork
trafficaroundtheproblemareas.
TroubleManagementsystemsalsohandleautomaticescalation,suchas
progressionofaticketfromminortomajorormajortocritical,etc.,and
supportavarietyofnotificationmethodssuchaspaging,emails,synthesis
voicedialout.
FaultManagementsystemsusuallyprovidegraphicalnetworkdisplays
whichareprojectedonlargescreensattheNetworkOperationsCentres
(NOC).NOCoperatorscanseerolebasedviewsontheirconsoles,
shortcutstooperationstheyperformthemostaswellastoolstoquickly
makeconnectionstoEMStoperformanytestingordiagnosticoperation.
2.2.2NetworkPerformanceManagement
PerformanceManagementcomponentsinNMSandotherAlarmHandlers
monitorapplicationsandsystemsandcollectperformancevariablesof
interestatspecifiedintervals.Performancevariablesofinterestmaybe
serviceprovidernetworkedgeavailability,customerpremisesavailability,
responsetimes,packetdeliveryrate,packetlosses,latencies,jittersand
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outofsequencepacketreorder,etc.,tonameafew.
Onewaytocaptureperformancemetricsiscollectingeventlogs,CDRsand
otherperformancedatasuchascountersortimersthatthenetworkand
systemelementsmaintainaspartoftheirnormaloperation.Thisis
referredtoaspassivemeasurement.Performancedataiscapturedby
pollingMIBusingSNMPorusingsyslog,(I&II),FTP,EMSfeeds,etc.Most
passivemeasurementsreportonasinglenetworkelement.
Forexample,anEthernetSwitchmayhaveaMIBwhichprovidesinandout
datavolumesofeachport,histogramsofframesizes,numberandtypesof
erroneousframes,centralprocessingunit(CPU)busystatus.Associated
RemoteMonitoring(RMON)MIBtypedatacanthenlisttenmostactive
users,etc.PerformanceManagementtoolscanaccessthedatabyusing
SNMPtopolltheMIBsatpredefinedintervals.
Statisticsonperformancevariablescanalsobecapturedviadedicated
networkappliancesknownsuchasprobesandsniffersthatmonitoror
probecustomerslocalloopconnections,packetperformance,etc.This
formofperformancetestingisusuallyreferredtoasactivetesting.
PacketsnifferstypicallymonitorsignalingprotocolssuchasSIPandRTPby
inspectingpacketsonthewire/fiber,usingpings,DNS,FTP,HTTPfetches,
etc.ExamplesincludeWireSharkandGeoprobes.
ProbessuchasBrixNetworksBrixWorksVerifiersandTektronix/Minacom
IVRtoolstypicallyemulatecustomertrafficinordertotestorprobe
specificpathstomeasurethequalityoftheservicessupported.Probes
couldbeeitherplacedintothenetworkorcouldbebuiltintonetwork
elementssuchasinthecaseofCiscosIPServiceLevelAgreementstools.
Notethatactivemeasurementmeasuresaservice,suchasapplication
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responsetime,insteadoftheinternaloperationofanetworkelement.
Anexampleofactivenetworkperformancetestisinjectingping(short,
networklayerechopacket)intothenetworkaimedataremoteIPaddress.
Roundtriptimeismeasuredifthepingpacketreturns,andanerror
counterisincrementedifitdoesnt.
Performancestatisticscapturedbyactiveorpassiveperformancetests
arenormalizedandroutedtorelationaldatabasesand/ordatawarehouses.
AnalternativeistopasstheperformancedatadirectlytoPerformance
Managementtools.Forexample,ConcordeHealthcouldcollect
performancestatisticsfromNetcoolagentsviaSNMPpollsatapredefined
interval.
Performancestatisticsareinitiallyanalyzedtodeterminethenormal
(baseline)levels.Appropriatethresholdsaredeterminedforeachofthe
interestingperformancevariablesothatexceedingthethresholdsindicates
aproblem.
PerformanceManagementtoolsthenmeasuretheperformancevariables
againstSLAsdefinedasthresholdsperapplicationorservice,onanon
goingbasis.Incaseofexceptionstheyreportthemtoalarmhandlers.This
formofperformancemonitoringisreactiveperformancemonitoring.Some
toolsalsosupportproactivemonitoringbywayofprovidingsimulation
toolsthathelpsnetworkoperatorsprojecthowgrowthinnetworktraffic
willaffectperformancemetricsandplantotakeproactive
countermeasuressuchasincreasecapacity.
PerformanceManagementtoolsmayalsosupportrealtimeandhistorical
reporting.SomeCSPshavetakenperformancestatisticsofthenetwork
affectingcustomerscircuitstotheircustomerselfserviceportals.
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2.2.3.Topology&ConfigurationManagement
Oldernetworksandsystemswerestaticandthenetworkwiringwasfixed
inplace,andsometimesrequiredlongoutageswhilechangestothe
networkanditsconfigurationwerebeingmade.Anyerrororinconsistency
intheconfigurationfilesofdifferentnetworkdevicescausedproblem,and
thereforethesechangeswerewellcontrolled[3].
Accordingto[3],withtheriseofIPbased,dynamicallyroutednetworks,
networktopologiesstartedbecomingdynamic.Thetopologyofthenetwork
becamedynamicbecauseafewofroutersmightdecide,ontheirown,to
shiftroutingpatterns,orbecauseanetworkoperatorgroupmightadda
newrouterorswitchtothenetwork,possiblywithouteveryoneelseinthe
networkoperationscenterbeingawareofthechanges.Insteadofstatic
associationsbetweenusersandnetworkaddresses(aswassetintheold
hostsfile),DHCPandothertechniquesalloweduserstoappear,move,
anddisappearwithoutprovidingpriornoticetothenetworkadministration.
MostmajorNMSsthereforeprovidecapabilitiestoautomaticallydiscovera
networksactualtopology,whichiscriticaltounderstandnetwork
performanceorrootcauseofnetworkalarms,etc.
Probesareplacedintothenetworktoautomaticallyfinddevicesand
circuits.Also,mostnetworkelementsprovideMIBsthatcanbepolledvia
SNMPtodiscoverthenetwork,althoughdiscoveringthenetworktopology
initsentiretymaynotbeguaranteed.Backuppaths,virtualprivate
networks,MPLS,etc.,canmakeitverydifficulttodiscoveractualpaths,
throughmultiplexedlinks,patchpanels,andtestequipment[3].
Also,mostTopologyManagementSystemsallowthenetworkoperatorto
providehintssothatthesystem,forinstance,inorderthatthesystemcan
ignorecertainportionsofthenetwork.Thismakesiteasiertodiscover
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relevantportionsofthenetworkmoreaccurately.
Someserviceprovidersmayrunnetworkdiscoveryroutinesonadaily
basistodiscoveranyunauthorizedchangestothenetworktopologyasa
resultofsecurityintrusionsorunplannedinsertionofdevices.
Moreover,networkelementsandcomputersystemshaveavarietyof
versioninformationassociatedwiththem.Forexample,aworkstationmay
have:OperationSystem,version32,EthernetInterface,version5.4,
TCP/IPSoftware,version2.0andSNMPSoftware,version3.1.Since
multipleengineers/networkoperatorsworkonmakingchangestothe
networkequipment,trackingthechangesmanuallywouldbeverytedious
anderrorprone.ConfigurationManagementtoolshelpautomatesthe
trackingofthechanges.ConfigurationManagementsystemsstorethe
configurationsinadatabaseorLDAPserverforeasyaccess.
Theyalsoenablenetworkoperatorstochangeconfigurationsofthe
networkelementsaswellastorollbackachangetoaprevious
configuration,ifrequired.
Whenaprobleminthenetworkoccurs,networkoperatorsoftensearchthe
ConfigurationManagementdatabaseforcluesthatcanhelpsolvethe
problem.
2.2.4.Planning&Testing
NetworkPlanningsolutionshelpdeterminewhenacommunicationnetwork
needsanupgradeoradditionalequipmentaswellastopredicttheimpact
ofchangestoaserviceprovidersnetworkstopology,configuration,traffic
andtechnology.Theyprovidesimulationtoolsthathelpthenetwork
operatorstoprojecthowgrowthinnetworktrafficwillaffectthenetwork
performance.Basedontheresultsandotherplanningactivities,network
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operatorscantakecountermeasuressuchasincreasecapacity.
Testingisanimportantactivityinsettingupanetworkorcustomer
circuits.Forsimplicityinunderstandingthegamutoftestingactivities,let
usdividethemintothefollowing:
1.Testingofexistingnetworkorachange
2.Integrationtestingofservicesconfiguredforthecustomer
3.Endtoendtestingofservicesconfiguredforthecustomer
Testingtheentirenetworkplatformincludingtheequipment,servicesand
callqualityiscriticalforassessingthesystempriortodeploymentand
forserviceassuranceinproductionenvironments[4].
Networktestingtoolsusuallysimulateaproductionenvironmentand
generatesyntheticvoice,videoanddatatraffic,whichhelpsmeasure
call/dataquality,networkperformance,andtheaffectsofanychangesto
thenetworkorincreasingtrafficoraddingnewapplications.Thesetests
typicallyincludetestslikeDNS,HTTP,RTP,Ping,etc.Also,duringongoing
operations,thesetestingtoolsenableactivetestingoffacilities.
Anotherformoftestingisintegrationtestingofnetworksetupforthe
customer,i.e.,routes,circuits,etc.configuredforacustomer.Network
operatorsorfieldengineersperformintegrationtestingofservicesupon
completionofactivationsandotherprovisioningactivities.Fieldengineers
typicallyuseequipmentandnetworkelementspecificapplicationsto
performintegrationtesting.
Uponcompletionofintegrationtesting,fieldoperationsteamsarenotified
toperformendtoendtesting.Endtoendtestingincludestestingof
circuits,bothwithintheCSPsnetworkaswellaslocalaccesscircuits
betweentheCSPandthecustomerpremises.Someserviceprovidersuse
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craftaccesssystemsforthebenefitoffieldtechniciansaccesstotheir
internalsystemsthroughahandheldterminal[5].Thehandheldterminal
helpsthemtoaccesslooptestingsystemandtoviewthecompletetest
summaryfromremotelocations.

2.3Billing
IDC[6]definesBillingas:theprocessingandcompilingofchargesand
enablingofrevenuecollectionfornetworkusage,featuretransactions,and
accesschargesoftheservices.Mediationsystemscollectnetworkusage
datafromthenetworkelementsandconverttobillablestatistics.
ThefollowingfiguredepictsasimpleBillingflow:

Traditionally,forphonecalls,CallDetailRecords(CDR)havebeenusedto
recordthedetailsofthecircuitswitchedphonecall.CDRincludes
informationonstarttimeofcall,endtimeofcall,durationofcall,
originatingandterminationnumbers.CDRsarestoreduntilabillingcycle
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runs.ForIPBasedServices,anewstandardisgainingacceptancecalled
InternetProtocolDetailRecord(IPDR).IPDRsupportsbothvoiceanddata.
Billingsystemsusemediationoutputtodeterminechargesforthe
customers.Itisalsousedtofeedotherdownstreamapplicationssuchas
FraudandChurnManagement.
2.3.2Rating
Ratingsystemscalculatethechargeforanindividualcall,IPusageevent,
etc.usingtheCDRs/IPDRs.Ratingsystemsapplychargesbasedonpre
configuredpricingrules,applicablediscountsandrebatesfrompromotions.
Thisratingprocesshasgrownincreasinglycomplexinrecentyears.In
oldertimes,itwassolelyamatteroftakingthelengthofthecall,
assigningapricebasedonthemileageband(calculatedbycross
referencingtheprefixoftheoriginatingandterminatingnumbersinatable
ofvalues),andassigningdiscountsbasedonthetimeofday(peak,
evening,night),dayoftheweek,andholidays.
Modernratingsystemscanassigndiscountsbasedoncallingcircles,
provideflexibleratingplansbasedonsizeofaccountsandincrease
switchingcosts[2].Theseserveasstrategicmarketingtoolsbutcanbe
verycomplextoadministerandoperate.
2.3.3BillingSystems
Billingsystemsaggregateratedcalls,IP/datausageevents,etc.and
calculatecustomerinvoices.IntheUnitedStates,billingisusually
performedonceamonth.
Billingsystemscombineratedrecordswithpriorbalanceinformation,
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paymentrecords,recurringcharges(suchaslinerentals),onetimefees
(suchasinstallationandservicecharges),promotionsanddiscounts
associatedwiththecustomeraccount,taxesandcredits.Overnightbilling
batchjobsareamongthelargestbatchenvironmentataCSPsoperating
environment.Eachcustomerisassignedaspecificbillingcycle.
AccordingtoInsight[2],theholygrailsofthebillingindustryareunified
billingandconvergentbilling.Withunifiedbilling,acustomergetsasingle
billforallservicesprovided(orbilled)bytheserviceprovider,
appropriatelyrated,discounted,andtaxed,andasinglecontactfor
inquiriesandnegotiation.
2.3.4.InterconnectionBilling
Inthecompetitiveworldofcommunications,serviceprovidersoftentieup
withpartners,inordertobundletheirownproductswiththeirpartners.
Thishelpstheserviceproviderstoprovideattractivebundlesofproducts
andservices.However,inordertosuccessfullysettleinterconnectbilling
settlementsaneffectiveInterconnectionBillingisrequired.
InterconnectionBillingproductssupportinterworkingofaservice
providersbillingsystemswiththecorrespondingsystemsofanother
serviceprovider,basedoninterconnectagreementsandcontracts.
2.3.5.RevenueAssurance
RevenueAssurance&FraudManagementsystemsverifybilling,detectand
identifyunauthorizedusageofserviceprovidernetworkassets.Someof
thekindsoffraudsareUsageandSubscription.
UsageFraudmeansthatacustomerusesthetelecommunicationsnetwork
illegally.Thisisaccomplishedeitherbyobtainingaservicewithnointent
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topayorbyobtainingunauthorizedaccesstothenetwork(i.e.hacking
orcracking).
FraudManagementsystemstypicallydetectandpreventunauthorized
accesstoacommunicationsnetworkbyanalyzingtrafficpatternsonthe
network.Someexamplesareprovidedin[8]:

Onetechniqueinvolvesanalyzingtheaveragecalldurationorthe
numberofcallsplacedtoforeigncountriestodeterminewhetherthe
trafficpatternsareconsistentwithasubscriber'scallhistoryor
pattern.Ifacallisinconsistentwiththesubscriber'scallpattern
profile,thesubscriberisprovidedwithareportoftheabnormalcall
activity.
Othermethodsfordealingwiththeproblemofunauthorizeduse
involveautomaticallydenyingorblockingaccesstothenetwork
whenabnormaluseisdetectedtominimizethesubscriber'sfinancial
loss.
Subscriptionfraudmeansthatacustomerobtainsaserviceaccountby
givingafalseidentity(nameand/orSSN)orbygivingafalseaddressor
falsecreditworthiness.
Detectingsubscriptionfraudinvolvessearchingrecentorderandexisting
customerdataformultipleordersand/oraccountswiththesamecustomer
name,SSN,orserviceaddress.
Commonsubscriptionfraudpatternsinclude:
Changeofbillingaddresswithinafewweeksofopeninganaccount.
Substantialdeviationofusageprofileofanewuserfromanaverage
newuser.

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Commontechniquestocontrolsubscriptionbasedfraudincludethreshold
basedanalysis,inferencerulesanalysis,profilebasedanalysissuchas
habitualuserprofilesandneuralnetworks.
FraudManagementSystemstypicallyreadandstoreusagedatafromthe
serviceprovidersnetworkswitchingequipmentandallowsqueriestobe
executedagainstthedatathatdetectsuspicioususagepatterns.
Theyalsoallowoperatorstoreviewcustomeraccountsthathave
suspiciousactivity,totracktheirinvestigationandrecordthefinalcase
resolution.
Itshouldbenotedthatfraudisdifferentfromrevenueleakage.Revenue
leakageischaracterizedbythelossofrevenuesresultingfromoperational
ortechnicalloopholeswheretheresultinglossesaresometimes
recoverableandgenerallydetectedthroughauditsorsimilarprocedures
[1].Fraud,ontheotherhand,ischaracterizedwiththeftbydeception,
typicallycharacterizedbyevidenceofintentwheretheresultinglossesare
oftennotrecoverableandmaybedetectedbyanalysisofcallingpatterns.
AnotherimportantclassofRevenueAssurancetoolsincludesChurn
Managementtools.Churnmanagementisanimportantareaforservice
providersthathavesubscriptionbasedbusinessduetopricewars,
aggressivemarketingandpromotionsfromcompetingserviceproviders,
andcustomersexpectationsrelatedtocustomerservice.
ChurnManagementtoolsprovidefunctionssuchasautomatedbehavior
analysis,forecastingandsimulation,empiricalprofiling,churnmetrics
capture,thatenableserviceproviderstolearnwhichcustomersarelikely
toleaveandtakeappropriatecountermeasures.

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3.Conclusion
3.1Summary
OSS/BSSsystemsandapplicationsautomatemanyofthedaytoday
operationsperformedinacommunicationsserviceprovidersoperating
environment.Theyoptimizethetimetakentoperformtheseoperations
andmakethebusinessprocessesmoreefficient.
TherearenoallencompassingOSS/BSSsystemsthatcanbeinstalled,
integrated,testedandallowtheserviceproviderstoeasilymodernizetheir
endtoendoperationsfunctions.
Serviceproviders,therefore,useallthedifferentapproaches:bestof
breedinsomeareas,offtheshelfinsome,andhomegrowncustom
applicationsintheremainingareas,tomodernizeandoptimizetheir
operations.
Moreoftenthannot,manyoftheseOSS/BSSsystemsareintegratedwith
theothersinapointtopointfashion,aspartofdiscreteprojectsand
programs,sponsoredoutofdifferentbusinessunits.Thisleadstopointto
pointintegrationofOSS/BSSsystemsunlesstheprograms/projectsare
plannedwithastrategicgoal.
AsideeffectofthedifficultyinintegratingthevariousOSS/BSSsystemsis
manyoftheOSS/BSSsystemsinaserviceprovidersoperating
environmentmaynotbeintegratedatall.Forexample,itisnotunusualto
findthefollowingscenario:whenacustomerordersanewtelephoneline,
theorderingsystemtakesthedetailsofacustomersorder,butamanual
processispresenttoconfigurethetelephoneexchangeusingaswitch
managementsystem.DetailsoftheorderenteredintheOrderHandling
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systemisrekeyedmanuallybythetechnicianintotheSwitchManagement
SystemaprocessoftenreferredtoasSwivelChairIntegration.
ThearticleprovidedanoverviewofsomeofthecoreOSS/BSSareasin
OrderFulfillment,ServiceAssuranceandBilling.

3.2References
[1]WhoMakesWhat:OSS,http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?
doc_id=113052&print=true,LightReading,Dec2006
[2]The2007TelecommunicationsIndustryReview,TheInsightResearchCorp.,Dec2006
[3]EricSiegel,ArchitecturalOverviewofNetworkManagement,TheBurtonGroup,Oct2005
[4]ArindamBanerjee,NetworkManagementistheKeytotheSuccessofNextGeneration
Architecture,YankeeGroup,Jan2007
[5]SenthilK.Ramachandran,OrderFulfillmentCoreProcessesandPainAreas,TMFC2122White
paper
[6]SterlingPerrinetal.,IDC'sServiceProviderInfrastructureTaxonomy,2004,IDC
[7]LarsAndersson,OSSSolutionsforNetworkOperatorswhitepaper,2002
[8]TelecommunicationsFraudDetectionScheme,USPatent5504810,
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5504810/description.html,April1996
[9]OSSThroughJavaInitiative,OSS/JRoadmap,TeleManagementForum,Jan2007
[10]ElementManagementSystemsDefinitionandOverview,WebProForums,International
EngineeringConsortium(IEC)
[11]DivakaraK.Udapa,TMNTelecommunicationsManagementNetwork,McGrawHill,
ISBN:9780070658158,1999
[12]EnhancedTelecomOperationsmapeTOM:TheBusinessProcessLanguageofNGOSS,
TeleManagementForum
[13]Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_Support_Systems
[14]ElisabethRainge,NextGenerationOSSandBillingMarketTaxonomy,IDC,Oct2004
[15]Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_management
[16]Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_information_base
[17]NetworkManagementBasics,
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/internetworking/technology/handbook/NMBasics.html
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[18]Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_planning_and_design
[19]BalanNairetal.,Methodandsystemforplanningatelecommunicationsnetwork,United
StatesPatent5974127,http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5974127.html,Oct1999
[20]TelecommunicationsFraudDetectionScheme,USPatent5504810,
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5504810/description.html,April1996
[21]StephenBrown,TelecommunicationFraudManagement,Jan2005,
http://www.waveroad.ca/ressources/Whitepaper_SB_Janvier2005.pdf
[22]EricSiegel,MeasuringPerformanceofNetworksandApplications,TheBurtonGroup,Feb2007
[23]InternationalEngineeringConsortium(IEC),Tutorials,http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/
P O S T ED B Y R A V I S H A R DA A T 12: 05 P M
LA B ELS : O S S /B S S

19CO MMENTS:
Gateway2Africa said...
Nice information. I am RA consultant, i would like to know more on oss/bss. I
need more info from RA perspective.
4:33 P M
Ravi Sharda said...
Thanks.
TM Forum has an initiave on Revenue Assurance. Under the downloads section
(under the initiative) you can find some great documents on RA.
5 :1 9 P M
ETL...... said...
Simply very useful article.
Thanks Ravi :)
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3:1 0 A M
Janit said...
Hi Ravi,
Very nice, well detailed article. You have a nice blog here and would love to see
you post more often...:-)
5 :31 P M
Ravi Sharda said...
Thanks all!
7 :33 A M
Varun said...
Hi Ravi,
Awesome!
Varun Deshpande.
1 :1 8 P M
Roshan said...
Very nice article. Just what i was looking for an overview about OSS and BSS.
Information on the some of the current market products COTS for the different
areas of OSS and BSS would have been useful.
2:1 8 A M
Venkat said...
Good Work Ravi...thanks Mate!!! - Steve..
9:22 A M
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My-Blog-My-Life said...
Good Blog. Had an overview in <10 minutes.
1 :1 1 P M
Manoj said...
Good overview and nicely structured.Thanks.Manoj U P
1 2:22 P M
Sheryl said...
Hi Ravi,
Very useful articles. We have some relevant articles and speaker interviews on
OSS/BSS too. Please feel free to take a look, and use our materials, just as long as
you give our event Telecom IT Transformation the credits.
www.telecomittransformation.com
8 :35 A M
rahul.v said...
Ravi, thanks for sharing very useful article.........
1 0 :46 A M
Blackie... said...
really great for beginners... thanks man... great work..
9:48 P M
sekharbabu atmakuri said...
very nice article
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1 1 :1 9 P M
Shashank Mishra said...
hello ravi Sir,
you have written such a nice information for OSS/BSS i just started my carrier in
telecom domain and initially i was not knowing all the technical terms and after
going through your blog i am able to understand all the things slowly slowly so
again thanks for sharing valuable information.
and i want to know your valuable thoughts on MetaSolv and CRAMER systems.
3:0 5 P M
Shashank Mishra said...
hello ravi Sir,
you have written such a nice information for OSS/BSS i just started my carrier in
telecom domain and initially i was not knowing all the technical terms and after
going through your blog i am able to understand all the things slowly slowly so
again thanks for sharing valuable information.
and i want to know your valuable thoughts on MetaSolv and CRAMER systems.
3:0 8 P M
santosh baranwal said...
very nice article.
Thanks
1 2:29 P M
james k said...
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Thiscommenthasbeenremovedbytheauthor.
1 0 :47 P M
ashokgandu22 said...
very nice article.
7 :5 4 P M
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