What are OSS and BSS?

Learn how operations support systems (OSS) and business support systemse (BSS) streamline processes and drive growth.

OSS and BSS definition

OSS and BSS are essential IT systems in telecommunications, powering services, streamlining processes, boosting productivity, and tackling industry challenges. These hardware and software tools form the foundation of the telecom industry, supporting diverse functions across the sector.

Key takeaways

Operations support systems (OSS) manage telecom network infrastructure, ensuring reliable operations through functions like fault management and service assurance.
Business support systems (BSS) streamline customer-facing activities, such as billing, subscriptions, and customer relationship management, to improve customer experiences.
Together, OSS and BSS enhance telecom operations by connecting efficient network management with seamless customer interactions.
The shift to 5G networks makes modern, cloud-based OSS and BSS solutions essential for scaling operations and driving growth.
Telcos can boost efficiency, productivity, and innovation by adopting OSS and BSS systems tailored to their business needs.
Implementing advanced OSS and BSS solutions helps prepare organizations for the future of telecommunications and digital transformation.

What’s different between OSS and BSS?

Operations support systems and business support systems are both essential for telecommunications providers, and these systems often work together to help providers improve efficiency and boost revenue. However, there are a few key differences between OSS and BSS. To put it simply, OSS covers the operations and network side, while BSS covers the business and customer side.

Here’s a comparison of OSS and BSS:

What is OSS?

OSS is a collection of computer programs designed to help providers monitor, analyze, and manage telecom networks. As the name suggests, OSS refers to hardware and software tools used on the operations side of a telecommunications network, including computers, servers, routers, and other core components. OSS consists of the actual network infrastructure as well as the software used to control the network. OSS enables telecom organizations to oversee a variety of operational functions, such as:

Network inventory
Fault management
Service provisioning
Configuration
Service assurance
Network planning

Vital to any mobile network, OSS is a critical component of the network architecture. It allows mobile operators to remotely manage and monitor day-to-day operations, maintenance issues, and activities across the entire network, all from one central location. The system records and captures all network information and presents the data in an easy-to-read format. Engineers, developers, and other technical employees typically manage operations support systems for telecommunications providers.

To summarize, OSS:

Helps telcos oversee technical and operations activities.
Supports network management functions and infrastructure.
Allows organizations to monitor, analyze, and automate operations like network performance and fault management.
Enables telcos to analyze and control all network connections and components, including computers, servers, and routers.
Is overseen by technical employees who manage the telecom network, such as engineers and developers.

What is BSS?

BSS refers to the assortment of software programs that help telecom organizations manage and streamline all customer-facing activities. These systems cover the business side of telecom as opposed to the technology side. Sometimes referred to as a business interface, BSS enables easy interactions between telecommunications providers and customers—from ordering services to resolving billing issues to upgrading subscriptions.

BSS allows telcos to oversee and simplify a wide range of business and customer-related activities, including:

Billing  
Customer orders
Subscriptions
Customer notifications
Service fulfillment
Revenue management
Product marketing
Customer relationship management (CRM)

Because these systems impact the overall customer experience, they’re essential to the success of modern telecommunications organizations. Effective BSS solutions help telecommunications companies simplify workflows, monitor service quality, and resolve customer issues quickly. Telco professionals who specialize in customer management and other business activities typically manage and gain insights from business support systems.

To summarize, BSS:

Allows telcos to manage customer-facing business activities.
Supports the management of orders, billing, customer engagement, revenue, and new products.
Streamlines a variety of customer-related services like billing, order processing, subscriptions, and notifications.
Helps telcos stay connected with customers and elevate their overall experience.
Is managed by business professionals responsible for interfacing with telco customers.

Why OSS and BSS work better together

While OSS and BSS cover different areas of the business, telcos often use these systems in tandem to improve end-to-end telecommunications services. Together, these two pillars of telco allow businesses to drive efficiently, provide uninterrupted service, improve security, engage customers, and increase revenue.

Operations support systems and business support systems tap into cloud computing, automation tools, and analytics to streamline functions across the entire telecom organization—including operations and customer activities. When telcos implement and use OSS and BSS together, they easily connect customers with reliable technology solutions.

Plus, because customer issues and network problems often go hand in hand, it makes sense for these two systems to work in unison. By using OSS and BSS jointly, telecom businesses can overcome industry challenges, provide reliable network service, and elevate customer experiences.

How to choose OSS and BSS solutions

If you want to drive efficiency across your organization, it’s important to identify and implement OSS and BSS solutions tailored to meet your telco’s unique needs. Search for systems that allow you to:

Simplify telecom workflows and achieve operational efficiencies.
Gain access to customer and operational insights that help you monitor business performance, predict outcomes, and make informed decisions to fuel growth. 
Create a data-driven culture with telecommunications business intelligence.
Build a hyper-connected business through industry-tailored cloud solutions.
Streamline processes with augmented reality, virtual reality, IoT, and other smart technologies.
Empower your workforce with tools that promote collaboration and boost productivity.
Deploy next-generation networks to improve network efficiency and reliability.
Help protect customer and business data on a trusted, secure cloud platform.
Increase agility, accelerate time to market, and reduce operation costs through automated processes that support workloads.
Drive digital transformation for your network and allow your organization to prepare for the future.
Optimize 5G network performance and create new revenue streams through innovative edge and IoT services. 
Scale your operations with cloud solutions designed to grow with your business.

Before you implement new OSS and BSS solutions for your business, it’s important to evaluate your current processes. If your existing systems aren’t working, new BSS and OSS solutions won’t automatically fix these issues. Once you take time to analyze and simplify your operational and business activities, then you can implement a new system—or migrate your current processes to an automated, cloud-based OSS and/or BSS solution.

The impact of 5G networks on BSS and OSS

Thanks to the ongoing emergence of new technologies, the telecom industry is constantly adapting, evolving, and looking to the future. Today, one major development is having a particularly significant impact on the telecommunications world—5G. While this fifth-generation network is opening a world of new possibilities for telecommunications, it’s also increasing telcos’ reliance on OSS and BSS.

The transition to 5G OSS and BSS

Telecom infrastructure providers across the globe are transitioning to 5G networks, which are about 100 times faster and offer 1,000 times greater bandwidth than 4G. Tapping into this incredible 5G network speed, telcos will have the power to capture more customers, create new revenue streams, and drive growth.

In the age of 5G, telcos have an opportunity to take on a leading role in the digital economy. Telecom organizations are empowered to expand and become digital service providers for a wide range of industries, including autonomous driving, spatial computing, immersive e-commerce, and the metaverse—a 3D virtual reality space where people can connect socially and interact with other users. While the metaverse is currently a work in progress, 5G network architecture—and eventually 6G—will help drive the creation and growth of these virtual worlds.

In this shifting landscape, 5G BSS and OSS will be essential for telcos—even more so than with previous network generations. With the power of 5G and the right systems in place, telecom organizations have an opportunity to scale their business, engage more customers, and increase revenue.

Maximize your 5G network investments

If your telecom organization is running legacy OSS and BSS, you won’t get the most out of your 5G network investments. To reap the valuable benefits of 5G network coverage, it’s critical to embrace modern BSS and OSS solutions and migrate existing systems to the cloud. These end-to-end cloud systems will allow you to monitor and optimize your end-to-end operational and business functions—from network performance, inventory, and fault management to billing issues, new product delivery, and customer experiences.

Explore OSS and BSS solutions

As the role of telecommunications in the digital economy continues to expand and evolve, it’s more important than ever for telcos to continue their digital transformation and accelerate innovation. By embracing the  next generation of OSS and BSS solutions, telecom organizations can overcome their greatest industry challenges, improve network efficiency, simplify business workflows, and drive growth.

Future-proof your business

Empower your workforce, transform customer experiences, and achieve more with trusted telco solutions from Microsoft.

In telecommunications, OSS is a collection of hardware and software tools designed to help organizations monitor, analyze, and manage telecom networks. As the name suggests, OSS focuses on the operations side of telecommunications—and these systems consist of the actual network infrastructure as well as the software used to control the network. OSS enables telecom organizations to oversee a variety of operational activities, such as network performance, inventory, fault management, and service provisioning.
BSS refers to the set of software programs that allow telecommunications organizations to manage and streamline all customer-facing activities—from ordering services to resolving billing issues. These systems help telcos optimize a wide range of business and customer-related activities, including billing, customer orders, subscriptions, notifications, service fulfillment, revenue management, and customer relationship management (CRM). Because BSS impacts the overall customer experience, these systems are essential to the success of modern telecommunications organizations.
While OSS and BSS are both essential for telcos, these systems support different areas of the business. OSS covers the operations and network side, allowing technical employees to remotely analyze and control all network connections and core components. BSS covers the customer side, helping telco professionals streamline customer interactions and gain insights to boost engagement and elevate experiences. BSS and OSS work better together to improve end-to-end telecommunications services and drive efficiency.
OSS and BSS solutions are the platforms telcos use to overcome industry challenges, improve network efficiency, simplify business workflows, and accelerate growth. If you want to drive efficiency across your telecom organization, it’s important to identify and implement OSS and BSS solutions that meet your telco’s unique needs. Look for systems that allow you to simplify telecom workflows, achieve operational efficiencies, and elevate customer experiences.