telecom oss_bss_overview

7/30/2014 Ravi Sharda's Weblog [BETA]: Telecom OSS/BSS: An Overview

http://ravisharda.blogspot.ae/2010/03/telecom-ossbss-overview.html 1/27

F R I D A Y , M A R C H 1 9 , 2 0 1 0

Telecom OSS/BSS: An Overview1.IntroductionBeforetheinitial1970s,mostofthesupportactivitiesinatelephonecompanysuchastakingorders,maintainingnetworkinventory,provisioningservices(forexample,lineassignmentandtesting),configuringnetworkcomponents,managingfaultsandcollectingpaymentswereperformedmanually.Itwasrealizedthatmanyoftheseactivitiescouldbereplacedbycomputers.Inthenextfewyears,anumberofcomputersystemsandsoftwareapplicationswerecreatedtoautomatetheseactivities.ExamplesincludeTIRKS,RMAS,SES,etc.ThuscamethetermOperationsSupportSystems(OSS).

OSSarenetworksystemsdealingwiththecommunicationsnetworkandsupportingprocessessuchasmaintainingnetworkinventory,provisioningservices,configuringnetworkcomponents,managingfaults.

BusinessSupportSystems(BSS)isanewertermandtypicallyreferstobusinesssystemsdealingwithcustomersandsupportprocessessuchastakingorders,processingbills,collectingpayments,salesandmarketing,supportingcustomercareagentsinresponsetoservicerequests,troublereportingandbillinginquiries,etc.

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OSSandBSSsystemstogetherareoftenabbreviatedasBSS/OSSorB/OSS.ThetermOSSwashistoricallyusedtoincludebothnetworkandbusinesssystems.Someindustryanalysts,systemintegratorsandserviceprovidersstillusethetermOSStoincludebothnetworkandbusinesssystems,whichsometimescausesconfusion.

ThisarticleprovidesanoverviewofsomeofthecoreareasinOSSandBSSsuchasOrderFulfillment,ServiceAssuranceandBillingsystems.ThefollowingBSS/OSSsystemsarecovered:

OrderFulfillmentOrderManagement,ServiceProvisioningandInventoryManagementServiceAssuranceFault&TroubleManagement,NetworkPerformanceManagement,Topology&ConfigurationManagement,Planning&TestingBillingBillingMediation,Rating,BillingSystems,InterconnectionBilling,RevenueAssurance

Thearticleexplainssomeofthebasicfunctionsofthesesystems.However,thisarticledoesn'tintendtoprovideextensivedetails.Foranextensiveoverviewofbusinessactivities,businessprocessandfunctions,refertostandardssuchaseTOMandTAMathttp://www.tmforum.org/.

2.TheRealmofOSS/BSSinOrderFulfillment,AssuranceandBilling2.1OrderFulfillment

Communicationsproducts/servicescouldrangefromVoiceservicestoIPandDataservicestoHostingandCPEservices.Someoftheexamplesofcommunicationsproducts/servicesare:

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VoiceBasictelephony,longdistance,tollfree,VoiceoverIP(VoIP),ContactCenter,LocalAccess,etc.InternetProtocol(IP)InternetAccess,VPN,ContactCenter,VoIP,RemoteAccess,etc.DataLayer1WideAreaNetwork(WAN)ServicessuchasSONET,Layer2WANservicessuchasATM,FrameRelay,PrivateLines,Layer2VPNandMetroEthernet,etc.HostingCustomApplicationEnvironments,DisasterRecovery,ManagedServicessuchasstorage,securityandnetworkservices,WebSiteHosting,etc.

OrderFulfillmentfunctionsareacriticalsetofactivitiesperformedinordertofulfillcustomerordersforservicesinaCommunicationsServiceProvider(CSP)environment.ThefollowingfigureshowsaveryhighlevelviewofactivitiesperformedinatypicalCSPenvironment.

Afterorderentry,validationandsubmission,ordersaredecomposedandsentforprovisioning.Uponfulfillingthedecomposedordersandappropriatetestingofthecircuits,theordersareputintoinventory.The

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followingsubsectionsexplaintheOrderFulfillmentrelatedfunctionsandOSS/BSSsystems.

2.1.1OrderManagement

OrderManagementsystemsarecomplexsystemsthatallowcustomerorcustomerservicerepresentativestocaptureandprocessneworders,modifyexistingorders,processcustomermovesandchanges,pricequotesandorders,validateorders,etc.,whilesupportingmultiplechannelssuchasWeb,Ordertemplatedocumentsandpartnerapplicationsaswellasmultiplelinesofbusinesses.

OrderManagementincludesthefollowingareas:

OrderEntryandvalidationTheOrderEntryprocesscapturesorderdetailssuchaspackageorplan,serviceaddress,servicedetails,customeraccounts,relevantcontactsandapplicablecontracts.DataenteredduringOrderEntryisalsovalidatedagainstpredeterminedrules.Orderscanbevalidatedasthedataisenteredand/orvalidationafterallthedatahasbeenentered.Products/solutionsthatvalidateorderdataastheyareenteredandwalktheuserthroughtheproductconfigurationprocessareknownasProductConfigurators.OneofsuchtoolsavailableinthemarketisSelecticaCOnfigurator.OrderDecompositionAsinglecustomerordercanbedecomposedintooneormoreservicerequests,typicallybasedonservicetypesorquantities,inordertobeabletofulfillanorder.Forexample,ifacustomerordercontainsbothaVoIPorderandaphonelineorder,twoservicerequestswouldbecreated,oneeachforVoIPandthephoneline,eachofwhichwouldbesenttotheappropriateprovisioningsystems.

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Oneofthemajorproblemsserviceprovidersoftengrapplewithisthat,asnewservicesareaddedtotheofferings,ledbydifferentbusinessunits,thelackofflexibleordermanagementplatformresultsinproduct/servicespecificOSS/BSSapplications.Theseinturnresultinhighertimetomarketaswellasincreasedcostsofmaintainingmanydifferentapplicationsandsystems.ProductcatalogbasedOrderManagementsolutionsattempttosolvetheseproblemsbystoringandprocessingqualificationrulesforservicesbasedoncustomerprofiles,orderingchannels,servicelocations,productinterdependencies,availability,customereligibilityandotherbusinessconstraints.

2.1.2ServiceProvisioning

ServiceProvisioningsystemsaresystemsusedtosetupproducts/servicesforthecustomerafteranorderfortheserviceshasbeencreatedandacceptedbytheCSP.

Serviceprovisioningactivitiesincludespecifyingthepiecesofequipmentandpartsofthenetworktofulfilltheservice,configuringthecustomersroutingpath,allocationofbandwidthinthetransportnetwork,settingupofwiringandtransmission,etc.

Someofthesystemsthatconstituteprovisioningsystemsare:CircuitDesign&AssignmentTools,Activationsystems,andFieldServiceManagementsystems.

Circuitdesignreferstospecifyingwhetherfacilitiesexisttoprovidetheserviceandwhichpiecesofthenetworkequipmentandroutestheserviceshallutilize.

OneofthemostwidelyusedsystemsprovidingCircuitDesignfacilityisTelcordiaTIRKS.ApartfromCircuitDesignsupport,italsoprovidescircuit

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ordercontrol,inventoryrecordmaintenance,selectionandassignmentofcomponentsfrominventory,andpreparationanddistributionofcircuitworkorders.TheordercontrolmoduleinTIRKSworkswithacircuitprovisioningsystemandoperatesinconjunctionwithotherTIRKScomponentstoassignfacilityandequipmentinformationforcircuitordersanddesigncircuits.TIRKScanthenprovideautomateddesigncriteriaforcertaincircuitorders.ThecircuitdesigngeneratedinTIRKSisthencommunicatedtofieldoperationsorautomatedactivationsystemsforimplementation.

CircuitDesignandAssignmenttoolsthesedaysoftenhavegraphicaltoolsthatallowausertocreateservicesonanetworkmapusingmouseclicksanddraganddropratherthandrawingmapsbyhandorusinganabstractsetofequipmentidentifiersdisplayedinatable.

Afteraserviceisdesignedbasedontheexistingequipmentandcircuitinventory,itisreadytobeactivated.Ifnewequipmentorlinesneedtobeconfiguredmanually,aFieldServiceManagement(FSM)systemisnotifiedwhichinturndispatchestechnicians.

Moreover,certainactivationscanbeperformedautomatically.Forexample,issuingcommandstoATMorcircuitswitchestoprovisioncircuits,toSONETterminalstoallocatebandwidth,andtoawidearrayofaccessdevicessuchasDSLAMS,DigitalLoopCarriers(DLC),orcablemodems.Forsuchactivations,ServiceActivationsystemspassthedevicespecificcommandsandconfigurationchangestothenetworkelements,ElementManagementSystems(EMS),NetworkManagementSystems(NMS)orapplicationhosts.

EMSsaredesignedtoreceiveandexecutecommandssentbyactivationsystemsonthedevices.EMSscanalsofeedequipmentstatusdatabacktonetworkandtroublemanagementsystems.EMSsuseprotocolssuchas



CommonManagementInformationprotocol(CMIP)orTransactionLanguage(TL)orSimpleNetworkManagementProtocol(SNMP)tocommunicatewithactivationandothersystems.

Activationsystemsoftencomprisealibraryofadapterstovariousnetworksystems.Theyusuallyalsosupporttransactioncontrol,i.e.thecapabilitytorollbackoperationsalreadyperformed,incaseanerroroccurs.ItshouldbenotedthatProvisioningsystemsinteractwiththeInventorysystems,bothtoverifythattherequirednetworkelementsandotherfacilitiesareavailable,andoncetheresourcesareprovisionedtoreflectthechangedonlineconfigurationofthefacilities.Therefore,provisioningsystemshaveclosechannelswithinventorysystems.Asaresult,somevendorshavecombinedworkflowcapabilitieswithinventorymanagementcapabilitiesintheirproducts. 2.3InventoryManagement Trackinginventoryinvolvestrackingequipment,facilitiesandcircuits.

Someexamplesofinformationtrackedare:thelocationandquantitiesoftheequipment,howapieceofequipmentisconfiguredanditsstatus,etc.InventoryManagementSystemstrackboththephysicalnetworkassets(suchasequipmentanddevices)aswellaslogicalinventory(suchasactiveports,circuitids,IPaddresses,etc.),althoughnotallsupportboth.

Byrelatingusageofnetworkassetstospecificcustomersandservices,aninventorysystemcanhelpnetworkoperationsdeterminethenetworkusageandavailablecapacityaswellasenableautomatednetworkdesignandplanning.InventoryManagementSystemsalsoenableServiceAssurancesystemstofindtheimpactofanetworkfaultonthecustomerscircuits.



Sometoolsalsohaveautodiscoveryfeaturestoautomaticallycheckphysicalnetworkassetsandmatchtheresultswiththeinformationheldintheinventory.However,theseworkonlywithsomeofthenewerintelligentnetworkelements.

2.2ServiceAssurance

Communicationsserviceproviders(CSP)strivetodifferentiatethemselvesfromtheircompetitorsbyimplementingattractiveServiceLevelAgreements(SLA).SLAsareformalcontractswherethelevelofservicedeliveredbytheCSPtohiscustomerisstipulated.AnSLAmayspecifylevelsofserviceavailability,performance,operation,etc.aswellaspenaltiesuponviolationoftheSLA.

OfferingSLAsimpliesthattheserviceproviderhastheabilitytomonitor,actandreportthelevelofservice,inordertoassurethequalityofservicesdeliveredtothecustomers.ServiceAssurancereferstoalltheactivitiesperformedforsuchanassurance.ThegoalofServiceAssuranceistoprovideanoptimalcustomerexperience,thathelpsretainexistingcustomers,attractnewcustomersandpreventpenaltiesarisingoutofviolationofSLAs.

ThefollowingsubsectionsintroducesomeofthecommonserviceAssurancesystems.

2.2.1FaultandTroubleManagement

FaultManagementSystemsaredesignedfordetection,isolationandcorrectionofmalfunctionsinacommunicationsnetwork.Theymonitorandprocessnetworkalarmsgeneratedbynetworkelements(routers,switches,gateways,etc.).Analarm*isapersistentindicationofafaultthatis



clearedonlywhenthetriggeringconditionisresolved.

Examplesoftroubleorfaultinanetworkaredamagetoanopticalfiberline,switchfailure,etc.Suchaprobleminthenetworkcanresultinachainreactionwheremanynetworkelementsinacertainpathproducealarms*.

FaultManagementSystemsmaybeeitheracomponentwithinNetworkManagementSystemsorasastandalonesetofsystemandapplicationsoftware.

Thefollowingfigureillustrateshowfaultmanagementworks.

NetworkElementsaredesignedtoprovidevariouslevelsofselfdiagnosis.OlderNetworkElementsmightsimplysendanalarmnotifyingaproblemwhilenewerNetworkElementscanprovidemorepreciseanddetailedmessages.FaultManagementSystemsmaycollectalarmsviaSNMPtraps,



CMIPeventsorproprietaryagents,viaEMS.Theyusecomplexfilteringsystemstoassignalarmstospecificseveritylevelsandcorrelatedifferentalarmstolocatethesourceandcauseofaproblem.

Afteraproblemisidentified,theFMSthennotifiesappropriatenetworkoperatorsaswellaspasstheprobleminformationtoaTroubleManagementSystemthatinturnlogstheproblemandissuesatroubletickettostarttherepairprocess.

TheTroubleManagementSystemthensendscommandstoappropriatesystemssuchasFieldServiceManagementtoscheduleanddispatchtechnicianstorepairtheequipmentand/ortoEMStoreroutenetworktrafficaroundtheproblemareas.

TroubleManagementsystemsalsohandleautomaticescalation,suchasprogressionofaticketfromminortomajorormajortocritical,etc.,andsupportavarietyofnotificationmethodssuchaspaging,emails,synthesisvoicedialout.

FaultManagementsystemsusuallyprovidegraphicalnetworkdisplayswhichareprojectedonlargescreensattheNetworkOperationsCentres(NOC).NOCoperatorscanseerolebasedviewsontheirconsoles,shortcutstooperationstheyperformthemostaswellastoolstoquicklymakeconnectionstoEMStoperformanytestingordiagnosticoperation.

2.2.2NetworkPerformanceManagement

PerformanceManagementcomponentsinNMSandotherAlarmHandlersmonitorapplicationsandsystemsandcollectperformancevariablesofinterestatspecifiedintervals.Performancevariablesofinterestmaybeserviceprovidernetworkedgeavailability,customerpremisesavailability,responsetimes,packetdeliveryrate,packetlosses,latencies,jittersand



outofsequencepacketreorder,etc.,tonameafew.

Onewaytocaptureperformancemetricsiscollectingeventlogs,CDRsandotherperformancedatasuchascountersortimersthatthenetworkandsystemelementsmaintainaspartoftheirnormaloperation.Thisisreferredtoaspassivemeasurement.PerformancedataiscapturedbypollingMIBusingSNMPorusingsyslog,(I&II),FTP,EMSfeeds,etc.Mostpassivemeasurementsreportonasinglenetworkelement.

Forexample,anEthernetSwitchmayhaveaMIBwhichprovidesinandoutdatavolumesofeachport,histogramsofframesizes,numberandtypesoferroneousframes,centralprocessingunit(CPU)busystatus.AssociatedRemoteMonitoring(RMON)MIBtypedatacanthenlisttenmostactiveusers,etc.PerformanceManagementtoolscanaccessthedatabyusingSNMPtopolltheMIBsatpredefinedintervals.

Statisticsonperformancevariablescanalsobecapturedviadedicatednetworkappliancesknownsuchasprobesandsniffersthatmonitororprobecustomerslocalloopconnections,packetperformance,etc.Thisformofperformancetestingisusuallyreferredtoasactivetesting.

PacketsnifferstypicallymonitorsignalingprotocolssuchasSIPandRTPbyinspectingpacketsonthewire/fiber,usingpings,DNS,FTP,HTTPfetches,etc.ExamplesincludeWireSharkandGeoprobes.

ProbessuchasBrixNetworksBrixWorksVerifiersandTektronix/MinacomIVRtoolstypicallyemulatecustomertrafficinordertotestorprobespecificpathstomeasurethequalityoftheservicessupported.ProbescouldbeeitherplacedintothenetworkorcouldbebuiltintonetworkelementssuchasinthecaseofCiscosIPServiceLevelAgreementstools.

Notethatactivemeasurementmeasuresaservice,suchasapplication



responsetime,insteadoftheinternaloperationofanetworkelement.

Anexampleofactivenetworkperformancetestisinjectingping(short,networklayerechopacket)intothenetworkaimedataremoteIPaddress.Roundtriptimeismeasuredifthepingpacketreturns,andanerrorcounterisincrementedifitdoesnt.

Performancestatisticscapturedbyactiveorpassiveperformancetestsarenormalizedandroutedtorelationaldatabasesand/ordatawarehouses.AnalternativeistopasstheperformancedatadirectlytoPerformanceManagementtools.Forexample,ConcordeHealthcouldcollectperformancestatisticsfromNetcoolagentsviaSNMPpollsatapredefinedinterval.

Performancestatisticsareinitiallyanalyzedtodeterminethenormal(baseline)levels.Appropriatethresholdsaredeterminedforeachoftheinterestingperformancevariablesothatexceedingthethresholdsindicatesaproblem.

PerformanceManagementtoolsthenmeasuretheperformancevariablesagainstSLAsdefinedasthresholdsperapplicationorservice,onanongoingbasis.Incaseofexceptionstheyreportthemtoalarmhandlers.Thisformofperformancemonitoringisreactiveperformancemonitoring.Sometoolsalsosupportproactivemonitoringbywayofprovidingsimulationtoolsthathelpsnetworkoperatorsprojecthowgrowthinnetworktrafficwillaffectperformancemetricsandplantotakeproactivecountermeasuressuchasincreasecapacity.

PerformanceManagementtoolsmayalsosupportrealtimeandhistoricalreporting.SomeCSPshavetakenperformancestatisticsofthenetworkaffectingcustomerscircuitstotheircustomerselfserviceportals.



2.2.3.Topology&ConfigurationManagement

Oldernetworksandsystemswerestaticandthenetworkwiringwasfixedinplace,andsometimesrequiredlongoutageswhilechangestothenetworkanditsconfigurationwerebeingmade.Anyerrororinconsistencyintheconfigurationfilesofdifferentnetworkdevicescausedproblem,andthereforethesechangeswerewellcontrolled[3].

Accordingto[3],withtheriseofIPbased,dynamicallyroutednetworks,networktopologiesstartedbecomingdynamic.Thetopologyofthenetworkbecamedynamicbecauseafewofroutersmightdecide,ontheirown,toshiftroutingpatterns,orbecauseanetworkoperatorgroupmightaddanewrouterorswitchtothenetwork,possiblywithouteveryoneelseinthenetworkoperationscenterbeingawareofthechanges.Insteadofstaticassociationsbetweenusersandnetworkaddresses(aswassetintheoldhostsfile),DHCPandothertechniquesalloweduserstoappear,move,anddisappearwithoutprovidingpriornoticetothenetworkadministration.

MostmajorNMSsthereforeprovidecapabilitiestoautomaticallydiscoveranetworksactualtopology,whichiscriticaltounderstandnetworkperformanceorrootcauseofnetworkalarms,etc.

Probesareplacedintothenetworktoautomaticallyfinddevicesandcircuits.Also,mostnetworkelementsprovideMIBsthatcanbepolledviaSNMPtodiscoverthenetwork,althoughdiscoveringthenetworktopologyinitsentiretymaynotbeguaranteed.Backuppaths,virtualprivatenetworks,MPLS,etc.,canmakeitverydifficulttodiscoveractualpaths,throughmultiplexedlinks,patchpanels,andtestequipment[3].

Also,mostTopologyManagementSystemsallowthenetworkoperatortoprovidehintssothatthesystem,forinstance,inorderthatthesystemcanignorecertainportionsofthenetwork.Thismakesiteasiertodiscover



relevantportionsofthenetworkmoreaccurately.

Someserviceprovidersmayrunnetworkdiscoveryroutinesonadailybasistodiscoveranyunauthorizedchangestothenetworktopologyasaresultofsecurityintrusionsorunplannedinsertionofdevices.

Moreover,networkelementsandcomputersystemshaveavarietyofversioninformationassociatedwiththem.Forexample,aworkstationmayhave:OperationSystem,version32,EthernetInterface,version5.4,TCP/IPSoftware,version2.0andSNMPSoftware,version3.1.Sincemultipleengineers/networkoperatorsworkonmakingchangestothenetworkequipment,trackingthechangesmanuallywouldbeverytediousanderrorprone.ConfigurationManagementtoolshelpautomatesthetrackingofthechanges.ConfigurationManagementsystemsstoretheconfigurationsinadatabaseorLDAPserverforeasyaccess.

Theyalsoenablenetworkoperatorstochangeconfigurationsofthenetworkelementsaswellastorollbackachangetoapreviousconfiguration,ifrequired.

Whenaprobleminthenetworkoccurs,networkoperatorsoftensearchtheConfigurationManagementdatabaseforcluesthatcanhelpsolvetheproblem.

2.2.4.Planning&Testing

NetworkPlanningsolutionshelpdeterminewhenacommunicationnetworkneedsanupgradeoradditionalequipmentaswellastopredicttheimpactofchangestoaserviceprovidersnetworkstopology,configuration,trafficandtechnology.Theyprovidesimulationtoolsthathelpthenetworkoperatorstoprojecthowgrowthinnetworktrafficwillaffectthenetworkperformance.Basedontheresultsandotherplanningactivities,network



operatorscantakecountermeasuressuchasincreasecapacity.

Testingisanimportantactivityinsettingupanetworkorcustomercircuits.Forsimplicityinunderstandingthegamutoftestingactivities,letusdividethemintothefollowing:

1.Testingofexistingnetworkorachange2.Integrationtestingofservicesconfiguredforthecustomer3.Endtoendtestingofservicesconfiguredforthecustomer

Testingtheentirenetworkplatformincludingtheequipment,servicesandcallqualityiscriticalforassessingthesystempriortodeploymentandforserviceassuranceinproductionenvironments[4].

Networktestingtoolsusuallysimulateaproductionenvironmentandgeneratesyntheticvoice,videoanddatatraffic,whichhelpsmeasurecall/dataquality,networkperformance,andtheaffectsofanychangestothenetworkorincreasingtrafficoraddingnewapplications.TheseteststypicallyincludetestslikeDNS,HTTP,RTP,Ping,etc.Also,duringongoingoperations,thesetestingtoolsenableactivetestingoffacilities.

Anotherformoftestingisintegrationtestingofnetworksetupforthecustomer,i.e.,routes,circuits,etc.configuredforacustomer.Networkoperatorsorfieldengineersperformintegrationtestingofservicesuponcompletionofactivationsandotherprovisioningactivities.Fieldengineerstypicallyuseequipmentandnetworkelementspecificapplicationstoperformintegrationtesting.

Uponcompletionofintegrationtesting,fieldoperationsteamsarenotifiedtoperformendtoendtesting.Endtoendtestingincludestestingofcircuits,bothwithintheCSPsnetworkaswellaslocalaccesscircuitsbetweentheCSPandthecustomerpremises.Someserviceprovidersuse



craftaccesssystemsforthebenefitoffieldtechniciansaccesstotheirinternalsystemsthroughahandheldterminal[5].Thehandheldterminalhelpsthemtoaccesslooptestingsystemandtoviewthecompletetestsummaryfromremotelocations.

2.3Billing

IDC[6]definesBillingas:theprocessingandcompilingofchargesandenablingofrevenuecollectionfornetworkusage,featuretransactions,andaccesschargesoftheservices.Mediationsystemscollectnetworkusagedatafromthenetworkelementsandconverttobillablestatistics.ThefollowingfiguredepictsasimpleBillingflow:

Traditionally,forphonecalls,CallDetailRecords(CDR)havebeenusedtorecordthedetailsofthecircuitswitchedphonecall.CDRincludesinformationonstarttimeofcall,endtimeofcall,durationofcall,originatingandterminationnumbers.CDRsarestoreduntilabillingcycle



runs.ForIPBasedServices,anewstandardisgainingacceptancecalledInternetProtocolDetailRecord(IPDR).IPDRsupportsbothvoiceanddata.

Billingsystemsusemediationoutputtodeterminechargesforthecustomers.ItisalsousedtofeedotherdownstreamapplicationssuchasFraudandChurnManagement.

2.3.2Rating

Ratingsystemscalculatethechargeforanindividualcall,IPusageevent,etc.usingtheCDRs/IPDRs.Ratingsystemsapplychargesbasedonpreconfiguredpricingrules,applicablediscountsandrebatesfrompromotions.

Thisratingprocesshasgrownincreasinglycomplexinrecentyears.Inoldertimes,itwassolelyamatteroftakingthelengthofthecall,assigningapricebasedonthemileageband(calculatedbycrossreferencingtheprefixoftheoriginatingandterminatingnumbersinatableofvalues),andassigningdiscountsbasedonthetimeofday(peak,evening,night),dayoftheweek,andholidays.

Modernratingsystemscanassigndiscountsbasedoncallingcircles,provideflexibleratingplansbasedonsizeofaccountsandincreaseswitchingcosts[2].Theseserveasstrategicmarketingtoolsbutcanbeverycomplextoadministerandoperate.

2.3.3BillingSystems

Billingsystemsaggregateratedcalls,IP/datausageevents,etc.andcalculatecustomerinvoices.IntheUnitedStates,billingisusuallyperformedonceamonth.

Billingsystemscombineratedrecordswithpriorbalanceinformation,



paymentrecords,recurringcharges(suchaslinerentals),onetimefees(suchasinstallationandservicecharges),promotionsanddiscountsassociatedwiththecustomeraccount,taxesandcredits.OvernightbillingbatchjobsareamongthelargestbatchenvironmentataCSPsoperatingenvironment.Eachcustomerisassignedaspecificbillingcycle.

AccordingtoInsight[2],theholygrailsofthebillingindustryareunifiedbillingandconvergentbilling.Withunifiedbilling,acustomergetsasinglebillforallservicesprovided(orbilled)bytheserviceprovider,appropriatelyrated,discounted,andtaxed,andasinglecontactforinquiriesandnegotiation.

2.3.4.InterconnectionBilling

Inthecompetitiveworldofcommunications,serviceprovidersoftentieupwithpartners,inordertobundletheirownproductswiththeirpartners.Thishelpstheserviceproviderstoprovideattractivebundlesofproductsandservices.However,inordertosuccessfullysettleinterconnectbillingsettlementsaneffectiveInterconnectionBillingisrequired.

InterconnectionBillingproductssupportinterworkingofaserviceprovidersbillingsystemswiththecorrespondingsystemsofanotherserviceprovider,basedoninterconnectagreementsandcontracts.

2.3.5.RevenueAssurance

RevenueAssurance&FraudManagementsystemsverifybilling,detectandidentifyunauthorizedusageofserviceprovidernetworkassets.SomeofthekindsoffraudsareUsageandSubscription.

UsageFraudmeansthatacustomerusesthetelecommunicationsnetworkillegally.Thisisaccomplishedeitherbyobtainingaservicewithnointent



topayorbyobtainingunauthorizedaccesstothenetwork(i.e.hackingorcracking).

FraudManagementsystemstypicallydetectandpreventunauthorizedaccesstoacommunicationsnetworkbyanalyzingtrafficpatternsonthenetwork.Someexamplesareprovidedin[8]:

Onetechniqueinvolvesanalyzingtheaveragecalldurationorthenumberofcallsplacedtoforeigncountriestodeterminewhetherthetrafficpatternsareconsistentwithasubscriber'scallhistoryorpattern.Ifacallisinconsistentwiththesubscriber'scallpatternprofile,thesubscriberisprovidedwithareportoftheabnormalcallactivity.Othermethodsfordealingwiththeproblemofunauthorizeduseinvolveautomaticallydenyingorblockingaccesstothenetworkwhenabnormaluseisdetectedtominimizethesubscriber'sfinancialloss.

Subscriptionfraudmeansthatacustomerobtainsaserviceaccountbygivingafalseidentity(nameand/orSSN)orbygivingafalseaddressorfalsecreditworthiness.

Detectingsubscriptionfraudinvolvessearchingrecentorderandexistingcustomerdataformultipleordersand/oraccountswiththesamecustomername,SSN,orserviceaddress.

Commonsubscriptionfraudpatternsinclude:

Changeofbillingaddresswithinafewweeksofopeninganaccount.Substantialdeviationofusageprofileofanewuserfromanaveragenewuser.



Commontechniquestocontrolsubscriptionbasedfraudincludethresholdbasedanalysis,inferencerulesanalysis,profilebasedanalysissuchashabitualuserprofilesandneuralnetworks.

FraudManagementSystemstypicallyreadandstoreusagedatafromtheserviceprovidersnetworkswitchingequipmentandallowsqueriestobeexecutedagainstthedatathatdetectsuspicioususagepatterns.

Theyalsoallowoperatorstoreviewcustomeraccountsthathavesuspiciousactivity,totracktheirinvestigationandrecordthefinalcaseresolution.

Itshouldbenotedthatfraudisdifferentfromrevenueleakage.Revenueleakageischaracterizedbythelossofrevenuesresultingfromoperationalortechnicalloopholeswheretheresultinglossesaresometimesrecoverableandgenerallydetectedthroughauditsorsimilarprocedures[1].Fraud,ontheotherhand,ischaracterizedwiththeftbydeception,typicallycharacterizedbyevidenceofintentwheretheresultinglossesareoftennotrecoverableandmaybedetectedbyanalysisofcallingpatterns.

AnotherimportantclassofRevenueAssurancetoolsincludesChurnManagementtools.Churnmanagementisanimportantareaforserviceprovidersthathavesubscriptionbasedbusinessduetopricewars,aggressivemarketingandpromotionsfromcompetingserviceproviders,andcustomersexpectationsrelatedtocustomerservice.

ChurnManagementtoolsprovidefunctionssuchasautomatedbehavioranalysis,forecastingandsimulation,empiricalprofiling,churnmetricscapture,thatenableserviceproviderstolearnwhichcustomersarelikelytoleaveandtakeappropriatecountermeasures.



3.Conclusion

3.1Summary

OSS/BSSsystemsandapplicationsautomatemanyofthedaytodayoperationsperformedinacommunicationsserviceprovidersoperatingenvironment.Theyoptimizethetimetakentoperformtheseoperationsandmakethebusinessprocessesmoreefficient.

TherearenoallencompassingOSS/BSSsystemsthatcanbeinstalled,integrated,testedandallowtheserviceproviderstoeasilymodernizetheirendtoendoperationsfunctions.

Serviceproviders,therefore,useallthedifferentapproaches:bestofbreedinsomeareas,offtheshelfinsome,andhomegrowncustomapplicationsintheremainingareas,tomodernizeandoptimizetheiroperations.

Moreoftenthannot,manyoftheseOSS/BSSsystemsareintegratedwiththeothersinapointtopointfashion,aspartofdiscreteprojectsandprograms,sponsoredoutofdifferentbusinessunits.ThisleadstopointtopointintegrationofOSS/BSSsystemsunlesstheprograms/projectsareplannedwithastrategicgoal.

AsideeffectofthedifficultyinintegratingthevariousOSS/BSSsystemsismanyoftheOSS/BSSsystemsinaserviceprovidersoperatingenvironmentmaynotbeintegratedatall.Forexample,itisnotunusualtofindthefollowingscenario:whenacustomerordersanewtelephoneline,theorderingsystemtakesthedetailsofacustomersorder,butamanualprocessispresenttoconfigurethetelephoneexchangeusingaswitchmanagementsystem.DetailsoftheorderenteredintheOrderHandling



systemisrekeyedmanuallybythetechnicianintotheSwitchManagementSystemaprocessoftenreferredtoasSwivelChairIntegration.

ThearticleprovidedanoverviewofsomeofthecoreOSS/BSSareasinOrderFulfillment,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



[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/

POSTED BY RAVI SHARDA AT 12:05 PM LABELS: OSS/BSS

1 9 COMMENTS :

Gateway2Africa said...

Nice information. I am RA consultant, i would like to know more on oss/bss. Ineed more info from RA perspective.

4:33 PM

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 PM

ETL...... said...

Simply very useful article.

Thanks Ravi :)



3:1 0 A M

Janit said...

Hi Ravi,Very nice, well detailed article. You have a nice blog here and would love to seeyou post more often...:-)

5:31 PM

Ravi Sharda said...

Thanks all!

7 :33 A M

Varun said...

Hi Ravi,

Awesome!

Varun Deshpande.

1 :1 8 PM

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 differentareas 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



My-Blog-My-Life said...

Good Blog. Had an overview in



1 1 :1 9 PM

Shashank Mishra said...

hello ravi Sir,

you have written such a nice information for OSS/BSS i just started my carrier intelecom domain and initially i was not knowing all the technical terms and aftergoing through your blog i am able to understand all the things slowly slowly soagain thanks for sharing valuable information.

and i want to know your valuable thoughts on MetaSolv and CRAMER systems.

3:05 PM

Shashank Mishra said...

hello ravi Sir,

you have written such a nice information for OSS/BSS i just started my carrier intelecom domain and initially i was not knowing all the technical terms and aftergoing through your blog i am able to understand all the things slowly slowly soagain thanks for sharing valuable information.

and i want to know your valuable thoughts on MetaSolv and CRAMER systems.

3:08 PM

santosh baranwal said...

very nice article.Thanks

1 2:29 PM

james k said...



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ashokgandu22 said...

very nice article.

7 :54 PM

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