Appendix A. Overview of Telco Operations Support Systems

Operations support systems (OSSs) are the brains of the network. Telecommunications networks are too vast and complex for a network operator to keep all the aspects in a persons head, or even on the pages of a notebook. OSSs are computer programs that manipulate specialized databases and communicate with many pieces of equipment in the network. The OSSs keep track of what equipment is in the network, how the equipment is configured, what equipment is associated with each customer's service, problems in the equipment operation, tracking of service provisioning and trouble repair, and billing the customer.