The subject of Operation Support Systems (OSS) is a point of contention along regulatory, standardization, and strategic fronts given its strategic importance within the Competitive Telecommunications Industry. Its definition, however, is very simple. BellCore’s 15 year-old concept is defined as the interface in which data is verified, translated, and routed between networks and Business Support Systems (BSSs). Business Support Systems include network management, inventory control, billing, maintenance, service provisioning, data warehousing, customer care, trouble ticket reporting, and network surveillance.

By the year 2000, there will be more than 5,000 operating carriers in the telecommunications market place. The annual $3.5 billion domestic OSS trade will jump significantly in the near future to accommodate interaction between telephone and cable companies, access and wireless providers, and the hundreds of equipment manufacturers instated to deliver innumerable new services.

The discussion that follows will outline the changes being made —some forced, others anxiously created—as the industry attempts to address the growing challenge of maintaining service levels by providing seamless OSS integration.