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Telecom Management
The pictures in this chapter marked with For the teacher are not meant to be
shown for the students. The students dont even have these pictures in their
material. It is an extra information for the teacher to get a deeper understandingof the subjects, and in case of questions from the students to be able to answer
them. There is not enough lesson time to use this information.
Exercises are marked as a picture Exercise.
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Objectives: Telecom Management
After this part, you will be able to:
realise the importance of telecom management in a competitiveenvironment
state the most important standards within the area
describe the historical evolution of telecom management systems
state the application areas of telecom management
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Reference model
Network intelligence
Access
Transport
Network management
Access
Figure A.8.1
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Chapter contents
Telecom management standards
Telecom management systems
Telecom management application areas
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Telecom Management, an introduction
PSTN
PLMN
Internet
Most operators work in a deregulated market with aggressive competitors,
demanding customers and many different networks and technologies (PSTN,
PLMN, ATM and IP switches/routers as well as thousands of access and transportnetwork elements). This is a very tricky situation, and IT support is vital.
Incumbent operators have in many cases in-house developed telecom
management systems (Telia, for example, had some 120 different systems in
1998) which makes it more difficult for them to change services. Intruder
operators have more flexible and modern systems.
In a competitive market, an operator must position himself compared to his
competitors. An operator who is perceived as giving the best customer care has a
valuable position, and to achieve this he must have well working management
systems (and probably a good call center solution connected to this).
Example with Swedish mobile operators:
Telia - best coverage
Comviq - cheapest
Europolitan - best customer care
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The operators wish
Fault-free network => high quality of services
High call-completion rate => high revenue
Happy and faithful customers => low churn rate
Low costs for operation and maintenance
Information at your finger tip => you know what is goingon; quality, customer habits, popularity of different services
Common management systems for all types of service
mobile
fixed
data
Network management affects the result both on the cost and revenue side.
Operators requirements for a management system
Towards the network: (cost side)
cheap
easy to use
little operating staff
save network costs
Towards the end-user: (revenue side)
retain the customer
connecting new customers
add new revenue-generating services
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Centralized O&M
OSS
Sales Billing
SCP
SSP
BSC
MSC
DXC
DXC
LT R
IN
PDH
Mobile
SDH
NE
+ less employees+ gathered competence+ broadcast
new
new
new
11
10
12
MUX13
10
10
5
3
8
7
46
4
1
9
2
6
Talk shortly of of how an operator can cut costs for operation and maintenance
with OSSs (Operation Support Systems), see fig. A.8.3-A.8.7 and the text below.
Some typical cost related figures are: O&M 15 %, billing 12% and customer care15% of the total expenses (except for taxes etc).
Overview of the development:
1. Dedicated staff in each exchange has been the case in more than 100 years.
2. With thousands of exchanges operation and maintenance will be very
expensive if this staffing is retained.
3. With the introduction of centralized O&M there is a lot to gain. OSS
(Operation Support System) is the general name for a system used for centralized
O&M.
4. The exchanges can now be operated and maintained from the OSS, and do nothave to be manned any more.
5. Less employees are needed, the competence is gathered in one place and
software can be updated as broadcast.
6. Except exchanges there is also transmission equipment in the network.
Traditional equipment is PDH including e.g. multiplexers, line terminals and
repeaters. There is an important difference between the exchanges and the PDH
transmission equipment. Exchanges has their own intelligence and can report to
the OSS when they are faulty. A repeater has no intelligence and can not report
any faults, it has to be tested from the OSS.
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7. PSTN/ISDN exchanges and the PDH transmission equipment are all by now
traditional equipment in the network, but new equipment have come the last
years. SDH transmission equipment with e.g. DXC is quite new in the network.
8. Mobile equipment is also quite new in the network, as well as IN equipment.
9. In the Next generation network IP and possibly ATM equipment will be
abundant.
10. All this new equipment has to be taken care of by the OSS.
11. There is a wish to connect the computer of the sales department to the OSS so
that it will be possible to register the subscriber just once. The right exchange will
be automatically updated.
12. There is also a wish to connect the billing department to the OSS. The bills
could be collected centralized in the billing computer.
13. Any equipment in the network that is supervised from the OSS is called a
Network Element.
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Centralised Operation and Maintenance
Reduce costs with OMC, Operation and Maintenance Centre
Create overview with NMC, Network Management Centre
NMC
OMCOMCOMC
OSS
OSS OSS OSS
DXC
PSTN PLMN
Transportnetwork
Figure A.8.25
Networkmanagement
Elementmanagement
OSS OperationSupportSystem
This is what the operator can do to cut costs. Fig. A.8.17-A.8.25.
Daily operation is handled locally. This staff works normal working hours.
Network planning issues and alarms outside office hours are handled more
centrally.
Advantages with centralized O&M:
A lot of functions will effectively be handled from a few points in the network.
It leads to a reduced personal staff, and is therefor cheaper for the operator.
A big number of functions can be automated.
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TMN
Networkelement
Networkelement
Networkelement
Networkelement
Networkelement
Telecommunications network
Data communication network
Q3
TMN Telecommunications Management network
OSSOSS OSSOSS
Figure A.8.11
The TMN standard was introduced as a model for operation and maintenance of
telecommunication networks for two important purposes:
-Functionality in a multi-vendor environment
-Optimization of network functionality
Networks with different types of network elements, made in different versions
and by different manufacturers, need:
-standardized interfaces in order to cooperate, defined management functions and
routines/processes
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Standards related to Telecom Management
TMN, telecommunications management network
OSS, operations support system
NE, network elements
Q3 interface
MO, managed objects
MIT, management information tree
CMIP, common management information protocol
FTAM, file transfer, access and management
Internet standards
SNMP, simple network management protocol
Web technology with HTTP and HTML
Standards from IT industry
CORBA, common object request broker architecture
EDI, electronic data interchange
TMN has not become what it was intended to be (it has never been fully
implemented). However, NE and Q3 are commonly used concepts. The element
management level with OMCs is the most real application. Show fig. A.8.8and A.8.11 from the book with notes, or write on the white board. (Figure A.8.12-
A.8.14 can also be studied)
CORBA is important for the new management systems, since it is well suited for
distributed systems running on different platforms (even written in different
languages). CORBA can be seen as a software bus used by clients and servers.
All CORBA objects are described in an interface specification enabling other
objects to communicate with them. A special language is used, Interface
Definition Language, giving input to a database with metadata of each interface.
CORBA is a standard for different software programs for the OSS-componentsregarding traffic measurements, charging etc.
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Evolution of management systems
AOM 101
an example of a large monolithic system
1977 => -86
TMOS
UNIX-based system on an Ericsson platform
1987 => -96
Standard IT systems
1997 =>
Extensive sourcing
Third-party suppliers specialised in one area (e.g. fault
management) Pre-integration made by Ericsson
The telephone network used to be built on one proprietary platform, such as
AXE, and the best management solution was a proprietary system connected to
this platform.Since then, much has changed. The network contains a mixture of systems from
many different vendors. At the same time the management area has become much
more standardized.
This means we (Ericsson) can (and must) source out much of the development
and concentrate on the integration that creates a total solution - both when
building networks and when building management systems.
The IT industry is increasingly entering the telecommunications area. Pure IT
companies are entering, like the German company SAP working with economy
systems.
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Telecom Management Application Areas
IT & systemmanagementIT & systemIT & system
managementmanagement
Telephony/ISDN Access
Transmission
Customernetwork
management
CustomerCustomernetworknetwork
managementmanagement
NetworkoperationNetworkNetwork
operationoperation
Serviceprovisioning
ServiceServiceprovisioningprovisioning
Datawarehousing
DataDatawarehousingwarehousing
Customer managementCustomer managementCustomer management
Data/IP
The various parts of the network will have their element management systems
(OMCs). We then need to integrate functionality in a number of areas, supporting
the sales office, billing office, large enterprise customers and, last but not least,the O&M staff.
(Of course there are also functions for the IT-support who install and maintain the
management system itself, as shown in the right-most area.)
Network operation: Here we have the NMC. Sweden uses one NMC for each
network. In California they use two NMCs for all networks.
Each network (the clouds): Different element management systems with OMCs.
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Network operation
Network traffic management
Multi-vendor and multi-service networks (voice, IP, ATM)
Monitor, supervise and control traffic in real time
Network fault management
Detect, manage and resolve disturbances
One system for faults = better customer service
Network performance management
Present trends and statistics
Find points of expansion/reduction
Multi-vendor, multi-technology (the PSTN and the Internet e.g.) and technical
convergence has made this area more difficult. For example, a router and an AXE
switch reacts differently to faults. This creates competence problems. Telecomoperators know the PSTN, and the Internet operators know the routers, but now
the telephone network and routers should be handled by the same staff.
The O&M staff are supported with the following functions:
Network Traffic Management -traffic analyses and supervision
A system for viewing, tracking and managing voice and data
communications across multi-vendor, multi-technology networks.
Network Fault Management:
Network Surveillance- fault localization
Presents and analyses network alarms (switching, transmission systems
and load conditions reported by the switches e.g. overload alarms).
Trouble Manager- fault correction
Supports the problem-resolution process. Fault management has become
more difficult as different network element behave differently (e.g. a
faulty router behaves differently from a faulty AXE exchange).
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Network Performance Management -measurement for statistics
Stores, analyses and presents historical data from the network. Used for
service and maintenance planning.
(The network Fault Management is presented in more detail further ahead)
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Customer management
Billing and call charges (e.g. discounts)
Payment management (credit card, prepaid etc.)
Inter-operator accounting
Customer order and work management
Help desk
Here we will find the Sales office and the Billing office.
Customer management is becoming more and more important in a competitive
market. Ordinary people find it difficult to differentiate and compare the servicesoffered by different networks. However, if you have to wait 30 minutes in the
Customer Care Center, it is easy to say something about the operator. Some
people claim that one dissatisfied customer conveys bad will to a large number
of other customers or potential customers in the ratio of 1 to 8 (the bad will
conveyed by one dissatisfied customer is equal to the goodwill created by eight
satisfied customers).
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Service provisioning
Service activation
One system for all types of service, if possible
Automatic, if possible
Real-time, if possible
By the customer, if possible (e.g. via Internet)
Service provisioning will be more and more important if many different services
are offered by the network (e.g. POTS, ISDN and ADSL).
NI service handling is included in this area (Service Management System)
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Local Exchange
On white board
Groupswitch
Subscriberswitch
LIC
ADSL
Connection changemade by an intelligentcross connector
An intelligent cross connector can be used by the operator to connect a subscriber
to a new line interface for e.g. ADSL or ISDN. In this way the subscriber gets his
new service faster. In the old way the operator had to shift the cables manually.This is one way of provide services for the customers in a shorter time (TTC).
.
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Service provisioning, example
OrderManual
Automatic
Manual work Service in operation
Serviceprovisioning
- $ + $
Order Service in operation
+ $
It is quite complicated to connect one subscriber to a network or a new service if
this involves setting up data in a number of systems (e.g. the access network,
local switch, billing database, IN-node, etc.).Being able to do this from one point creates a shorter TTC (faster Time-To-
Revenue) and a happier customer.
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Data warehousing
Fraud detection
Customer calling analysis
Monitoring of Quality of Service
Churn management
The term data warehousing means that lots of data is stored and post-processed to
find many particulars about the subscribers and the network. Usually, most of the
data originates from the Call Detail Record (CDR) used for charging. CDRanalysis can show many different things, such as fraud and many other
unsatisfactory conditions.
A lot is won if the operator can discover and act upon problems before the
customers or competing operators discover them.
This type of information, just as the customer data base (Customer management),
is business critical. Therefore it is normally not outsourced, but handled by the
operators themselves.
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Customer network management
Management of customers network
Centrex
Virtual private network
Real-time billing
Outsourcing of network management
Bandwidth management
Customer network management is used to support large business customers. For
example, Telia takes care of Ericssons ECN network, which requires efficient
tools. IT support is a key success factor for the company.Many large enterprises want to divide the management. For natural reasons
(competition between the end users, in this case the enterprises) they want to take
care of the business critical areas themselves. What areas that are business critical
depend on the enterprise, but it might include streamlining the connections,
managing a call center, monitoring things like the QoS or the call-completion
rate, etc.
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IT and systems management
Manages the support system
Supports distributed systems
should also support evolution from monolithicsystems to distributed systems
management of interfaces between systems
User-authorisation profiles
Upgrading of applications
Monitoring of computer resources
Just like in any other network environment there are also functions for managing
the management systems themselves.
Users can be defined and authorized to a certain user level, HW and SWinterfaces can be set up and the management applications can be installed and
maintained. This means there is an administrator user (super user) who has the
widest authorities and who can perform all these tasks.
The Telecom management system is built up by LAN, servers, disk systems and
executive systems like UNIX or Windows NT. For large operators much work
goes into supervising and updating all these entities.
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Example: Network fault management
NFM should minimise service downtime
Faults in a multi-vendor and multi-technology network isdifficult to handle
NFM should
detect faults
manage the fault resolution process
correct the fault
NFM consists of three main parts
Network surveillance: presents network alarms
Trouble manager: supports the problem-resolution process and
notifies other systems (e.g. customer management system)
Performance manager: stores, analyses and presents historicaldata (could be used for service planning)
The Network surveillance handles alarms and localizes faults.
The Trouble manager handles trouble ticketing, work orders and fault correction.
The Performance manager is used for preventive actions.
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Example: Network fault management
X.25 or TCP/IP
Data links
Alarm listAlarm log
Topologydatabase
Troublemanager
Networksurveillance
Performancemanager
Customermanagement
Notify
1. Xxx xxx2. Xxx xxx3. Xxx xxxStop
OSS
Q3interface
NE
The various network elements (switches, routers, multiplexers, etc.) send their
alarms and status records over data links to the NFM system. Also existing non-
standard protocols can be handled in this communication. The NFM system thenstores all this information in a unified way in its database and presents it to the
operator (who gets one interface independent of the differences in the network
elements way to convey their information).
Network Surveillance presents network status on maps (could be large screens)
and indicates alarms graphically. All alarms from network elements are stored in
the database (alarm list).
Trouble Manager helps the operator to fix the fault. For example, a flow chart can
be presented on the screen, and access to O&M documents from the supplier is
provided.
Performance Manager presents statistics valuable for service planning.
All this is notified to the customer management system. This makes it possible
for the Help Desk to indicate what caused the disturbance. See the left arrow in
the picture.
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Example: Customer management/Billing
Billing of
Fixed and mobile networks
Business subscribers (e.g. Centrex, VPN and leased lines)
Broadband services
Data communication (e.g Internet)
Cable-TV network
Accounting (against other operators)
Multi-vendor and multi-technology support
Examples of new demands:
Hot billing One customer - one bill (for different network subscriptions)
There are many functions in Customer management. Well focus on the billing
function.
Towards the large enterprise customers (who have traditionally catered for a largeportion of the operators profit), a clear billing has been a demand for some time
already. This is now spreading also to small companies and households.
For the operators themselves a fast and efficient handling of the billing gives a
very strong impact on their result. The handling cost of one bill might well be in
the range 10-20 USD, so being able to send a single bill to each customer instead
of maybe 3-4 bills (fixed telephone, mobile phone, cable TV, Internet
connection) saves money.
Multi-vendor and multi-technology gives the operator opportunities to sellservices for different kind of networks, and disadvantages in the coordination of
different equipment and networks.
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Example: Customer management/Billing
CDRs
Billing mediation platform
Call rating &billing
Paymentmanagement
Customer ordermanagement
Tariff planmanagement
Inter-operatoraccounting
Data warehouse- Fraud detection
- Calling analysis- etc.
Otheroperators
Customerorders
Front helpdesk
Customertrouble
ticketing
Information fromnetwork faultmanagement
Hot billing
The Call Detail Records (CDR) are sent to the Billing Mediation Platform for re-
formatting (required if different vendors have different formats of the CDRs).
CDRs are also sent to Data Warehousing for analysis. Call rating and Billinggenerates the actual bills, but can also send out information directly to the
customer for a specific call e.g. e-mail to a hotel or a car rental company. This is
called Hot billing. Billing information is also used by the accounting function
regulating the flow of money between operators.
(If a Swedish subscriber calls a friend in the UK, the Swedish operator sends the
bill and gets the full income. But the call has passed the English operators
network too, and maybe even been transiting through other operators networks,
so some of the income must be shared with these operators. This is called
accounting, and how the money is shared is strictly defined by interconnection
agreements.)
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