What is the Difference Between OSS and BSS?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚The main difference between Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS) lies in their focus areas within the telecommunications industry. Here is a comparison of the two:
OSS (Operations Support Systems):
- Focuses on the operations and network side of the organization.
- Oversees technical and operations activities, such as network performance, inventory, fault management, and service provisioning.
- Supports network management functions and infrastructure.
- Mainly handled by backend staff, including employees, developers, or engineers.
- Helps maintain network inventory, management, and operations.
BSS (Business Support Systems):
- Focuses on the business and customer side of the organization.
- Covers activities within the organization, such as product management, customer management, revenue management, and order management.
- Handles orders, customer relationships, and billing management.
- Mainly handled by frontend staff, such as professionals who interact with customers.
- Essential to the overall customer experience and the success of modern telecommunications organizations.
While both OSS and BSS are essential for telecommunications companies, they focus on different aspects of the business. OSS deals with network management and operations, while BSS is more concerned with customer-facing functions and business activities.
Comparative Table: OSS vs BSS
OSS (Operations Support Systems) and BSS (Business Support Systems) are two IT systems that support various telecommunications services. They have distinct purposes and functionalities, as shown in the table below:
| Feature | OSS (Operations Support Systems) | BSS (Business Support Systems) |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Manage the technical aspects of telecommunication networks, such as network planning, inventory management, and network performance monitoring. | Handle business tasks such as billing, customer relationship management, and other processes that directly interact with customers. |
| Functionalities | Network planning, inventory management, network performance monitoring, and service activation and provisioning. | Customer billing, order management, product management, revenue management, customer management, and more. |
| Focus | Back-end support system for operational activities within telecommunication networks. | Front-end or customer-facing system that ensures customers have a great customer service experience. |
Both OSS and BSS are crucial for the efficient functioning of a telecommunications service provider. They ensure a great customer experience and add a layer of security to the network.