BSS vs OSS: What is the Difference?

In short…

• BSS solutions focus on revenue generation, customer satisfaction, and business growth.
• OSS solutions are responsible for network reliability, service quality, and operational efficiency.

In the telecom industry, BSS and OSS are two sets of systems that work hand-in-hand to manage a CSP’s entire infrastructure and business operations.

Although both BSS and OSS aim to optimise telecom operations, their roles, responsibilities, and areas of focus, differ significantly. While OSS is more concerned with the technical aspects of network management and ensuring the smooth operation of telecom infrastructure, BSS is primarily focused on the business side, handling customer interactions, billing, product management, and revenue generation.

To fully grasp the distinction between BSS and OSS, we need to examine their individual functions, how they are connected within the telecom ecosystem, and the broader impact they have on both the technical and business aspects of telecom operations.

What is BSS?

Business Support Systems (BSS) are responsible for managing the commercial and customer-facing aspects of a telecoms business, which includes the product catalogue, charging, billing, customer services, sales and order management. By using BSS effectively, telcos can differentiate their services, create personalised offers and improve customer satisfaction, which is critical in a highly competitive industry.

Modern BSS solutions ensure a seamless, omnichannel customer experience by ensuring that the customer journey, from Lead-to-Cash, is efficient, transparent and error-free.

BSS users: Customer services, sales, marketing and, finance teams
BSS buyers: CIO, CFO, CRO

Key features of BSS

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

CRM systems maintain comprehensive customer profiles, track service usage, handle complaints, and manage customer service interactions. They ensure that customer data is easily accessible and up-to-date, providing a “single source of the truth” for all:

• Customer data management

• Contact history

• Service requests and complaints handling

• Customer communication management

• Sales opportunity tracking

Product and service catalogue management

Telecom companies offer a wide array of services including voice, data and digital content, wholesale and retail services, and complex B2B solutions. Product catalogues are used to manage the creation, pricing and packaging of these services, helping CSPs to quickly introduce new products to the market and modify existing ones based on customer demand or competitive pressure.

Billing and revenue management 

CSPs deal with various pricing models such as prepaid, postpaid, and hybrid accounts, as well as B2C, B2B and B2B2X business models. BSS solutions ensure that services are accurately charged and billed based on rate plans and contractual terms. This includes handling complex billing procedures, such as convergent charging, prorated billing, discounts and roaming charges. BSS modules also provide revenue assurance, detect fraud and ensure compliance with financial regulations.

Sales and marketing

BSS solutions support sales and marketing automation efforts, such as promotional campaigns, lead and opportunity management, configure-price-quote (CPQ) and contract management, ensuring that the right offers are communicated to the appropriate audiences. These capabilities are all delivered seamlessly across multiple channels, including self-service portals, mobile apps, call centres and dealer outlets.

Order management

The BSS handles the complete lifecycle of a customer’s order, from order creation to service fulfilment on the network via the OSS (see below). This includes managing new service requests, upgrades, downgrades and cancellations. The order management system ensures that all business rules and processes are followed while providing customers with real-time updates on their order status.

What is OSS?

Operations Support Systems (OSS) are more technical, focusing on the operational and technical side of a telecoms business, managing the network infrastructure and optimising performance to ensure that the network is running smoothly.

OSS solutions are critical to a CSP’s reputation and bottom line, dealing with network planning, assurance and fault management, and ensuring that services are delivered without technical glitches.

OSS users: Network engineers, technical operations, maintenance teams
OSS buyers: CTO

Key features of OSS

Network management

OSS solutions oversee the performance and availability of telecoms networks. This includes monitoring network elements such as routers, switches, cell sites and other critical infrastructure. The OSS helps identify issues before they become major problems, ensuring minimal downtime and optimal service delivery. This involves real-time monitoring of the network to detect faults or inefficiencies.

Service assurance

Service assurance is one of the core functions of OSS, monitoring services to ensure they meet quality standards and agreed-upon Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Service assurance includes network performance management, fault management and configuration management. The OSS tracks the performance of network elements and services, ensuring that they are running within defined thresholds and SLAs.

Provisioning and activation

OSS solutions play a critical role in service provisioning and activation. When a customer orders a new service in the BSS, it’s the OSS which ensures that the necessary technical resources are available to deliver the service. This includes configuring network elements, allocating bandwidth and activating the service. Provisioning must be done quickly and accurately to ensure a seamless customer experience.

Network planning and optimisation

Another important OSS function is network planning, which includes capacity planning and optimisation. Network operators need to plan network expansions, upgrades and changes, based on projected demand. The OSS helps CSPs to design the most efficient network architecture and optimise network resources to avoid congestion and ensure smooth operations.

Inventory management

OSS solutions keep track of all the physical and virtual network resources, such as cables, servers, switches, base stations and spectrum. Accurate network inventory is essential for operational efficiency and helps avoid over-provisioning or underutilisation of network resources.

Examples of BSS and OSS in use

BSS and OSS systems are both essential components in various scenarios within telecom operations. Here are some practical examples of how they are used to automate business processes:

BSS Examples

• Billing and Payments: When a customer subscribes to a new broadband plan, the BSS calculates the charges, generates the monthly bill, and processes the payment, for both prepaid and postpaid account types.

• Sales and Promotions: A telecom provider launches a promotional campaign offering discounted bundles for families. The BSS manages customer segmentation, campaign execution and tracking of results.

• Customer Support: A customer contacts their service provider about a billing discrepancy. The BSS system provides the support agent with detailed customer information and billing history to resolve the issue efficiently.

OSS Examples

• Network Monitoring: A mobile telecom provider uses OSS to monitor its cell towers in real-time. If a fault is detected, the OSS alerts the technical team to resolve it before customers are impacted.

• Service Provisioning: When a customer orders a new mobile data plan, the OSS ensures the necessary network resources are configured and activated to provide the service.

• Network Optimisation: During a music festival, increased demand in a specific area means that network optimisation is needed. The OSS reallocates bandwidth and resources to ensure uninterrupted connectivity.

What are the key differences between BSS and OSS?

There are several key differences between BSS and OSS.

 BSS focuses on customer-facing activities like billing, sales, and service management, while OSS handles operational tasks such as network provisioning and maintenance. Together, they enable efficient service delivery and help to boost the customer experience.

Let’s explore the differences between BSS and OSS in more detail: