FORM-2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
AND
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10; rule 13)
OPERATIONS FACILITATION SYSTEM
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED,
an Indian Company of Nirmal Building, 9th Floor,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021,
Maharashtra. India.
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner
in which it is to be performed

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of telecommunications.
In particular, this invention relates to an operations facilitation system to meet
the changing customer requirements in the telecommunication domain.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION & PRIOR ART
Telecommunication service providers across the globe need to continuously keep evolving their systems in order to meet the ever growing expectations and the demands of their customers. Operations Support Systems (also called Operational Support Systems or OSS) are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers. The term OSS most frequently describes "network systems" dealing with the telecom network itself, supporting processes such as maintaining network inventory, provisioning services, configuring network components, and managing faults. Business Support Systems or BSS typically refers to "business systems" dealing with customers, supporting processes such as taking orders, processing bills, and collecting payments. The two systems together are often abbreviated as OSS/BSS.
NGOSS or "New Generation Operations Systems and Software" provides ways to help telecommunication service providers to manage their business. NGOSS includes a set of principles and technical deliverables.
The 5 key principles of NGOSS are separation of business process from component implementation, loosely coupled distributed system, shared information model, common communications infrastructure and contract defined interfaces.

The 5 technical deliverables of NGOSS are a process model, a shared information model, a lifecycle model, contract specifications and a Telecom Applications Map (TAM).
Enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) is the process model of NGOSS. The eTOM describes the full scope of business processes required by a telecommunication service provider and defines the key elements and explains how they interact.
Shared Information/Data Model or SID is a unified reference data model providing a set of business objects included in basic business processes and also providing the connections and relations between the abovementioned objects in telecommunications.
The NGOSS lifecycle model is aimed at defining the use and deployment of NGOSS within an organization and provides a framework for using the SID and eTOM. The NGOSS lifecycle divides system development into 4 stages, which are requirement gathering and analysis, system design, implementation and operation.
The NGOSS contract is the fundamental unit of interoperability in an NGOSS system. Interoperability is important for each of the four stages defined by the NGOSS lifecycle. For example, the contract is used to define the service to be delivered as well as to specify the information and the code required to implement the service. The contract is also used to monitor, administer and maintain the service and it ensures that the external obligations of the contract (from an SLA-Service Level Agreement), if any, are met. Again, the contract is

used to define the measures to be taken if the external obligations are violated in any manner.
The Telecom Application Map (TAM) links process views and data/information views to describe IT-type applications, which the telecommunication service providers can procure.
All the abovementioned technological strides aid the service providers in their journey to achieve optimum customer expectations. In order to meet the growing expectations as well as the higher demands and requirements of the customers, the service providers have to decide on which would be a best fit solution for them.
Therefore, there is a need for an operations facilitation system that:
• provides optimized solutions to address the varying and growing needs of all stake holders including customers, partners, service providing organizations and the employees of the service providing organizations; and
• is in complete alignment with eTOM and TAM of NGOSS.
PRIOR ART
United States Patent Application 2003/133552 teaches a method for operating a telecommunication system network comprising at least first resource and second resource. The above mentioned US Patent Application teaches providing a resource consumption monitor which is used to query the first resources and the second resources to obtain for a particular customer, an integrated record descriptive of the consumption of the first and second

resources by the customer. The system further teaches making use of the integrated consumption record and a rule set in order to determine an appropriate rate schedule. The system of disclosed by the above mentioned US Patent Application further includes a billing unit which would communicate the determined rate schedule to the customer. The system envisaged by US Patent Application No. 2003/133552 focuses on determining the quantum of usage of telecommunication services by a particular user. The system facilitates measuring the quantum of usage of voice communication services and data communication services. But the above mentioned US Patent Application does not disclose a system that would manage the entire operational and managerial activities of the telecommunication service provider.
Chinese Patent Application 101354696 discloses a data integration and application service system which is based on a shared information model. The system disclosed by the above mentioned Chinese Patent Application includes a model converter, a data source management adapter, a model example generator, a model example manager, a data service interface and a shared data manager. The utilization of data generated by the data integration and application service system accords with the shared information model standard in a 'next-generation operation support system and software (NGOSS)' framework in the telecommunication field, and the prior telecommunication data is reintegrated according to the shared information model standard and shared by various systems for telecom operation. The model converter in the data integration and application service system based on the shared information model can convert a heterogeneous data model in the prior telecom operation system into a model which accords with the shared information model standard

according to the demand of the telecom operation system. Simultaneously the system provides the data source management adapter for access and management and for managing data through model examples, and provides an easy and simple data access interface for providing data required by the operation flow for the telecom operation system. The system envisaged by the Chinese Patent Application No. 101354696 focuses on data sharing and data integration. However, the system envisaged by the above mentioned Chinese Patent Application is dissimilar from the system envisaged by the present invention in that it does not include product life cycle management, local number portability management, quality of service management, customer relationship management, inventory management and service activation/deactivation.
United States Patent Application 2009157457 provides a service provisioning and activation method and system for telecommunications networks. The system operates in between a business support system and a plurality of network element and comprises a service repository containing service configuration data. The system also includes an order management component, which includes a generic logic for service provisioning and activation operations, and operation specific functionalities module comprising operation specific functionalities capable of using data from the service repository. The order management component receives requests from the business support system and processes it according to the generic logic calling the operation specific functionalities in the operation specific functionalities module. By means of this configuration, the system can perform a request-specific series of operations based on the received request and the data from the service repository, without the need of programming individual workflow for each

different service activation,, deactivation and modification situation possible in the telecommunications network. The system envisaged by the US Patent Application No. 2009157457 focuses on integrating the operational support systems and business support systems in order to prevent the need of programming individual workflow for each different service activation, deactivation and modification. The key focus of the above mentioned US Patent Application is on integration of operational procedures and business oriented procedures. Further the system includes addressing the issues related to workflow patters whenever there is a service activation, deactivation and modification. However, there is no mention of it including modules for ensuring product life cycle management, local number portability management, quality of service management, customer relationship management, inventory management.
United States Patent 7817983 discloses a method of determining a usage pattern of a wireless device. The method envisaged by the above mentioned US Patent includes the steps of obtaining on the wireless device a configuration that comprises a usage parameter and a reporting parameter wherein the usage parameter identities wireless device usage data to be monitored and wherein the configuration is obtained in response to a bootstrap command received from a remote device; logging the identified usage data into a usage log based upon the usage parameter; and forwarding, based upon the reporting parameter, the usage log to another device to analyze usage patterns of the wireless device. The focus of US Patent No. 7817983 is on determining the usage pattern associated with a particular user of the telecommunication service. The functionalities provided by the system of the above mentioned US Patent are restricted to usage determination and generating billing information and does

not include the functionalities such as product life cycle management, local number portability management, quality of service management, customer relationship management, inventory management and service activation/deactivation apart from billing management and usage pattern recognition.
None of the retrieved patent documents focused on providing a complete solution for addressing all the operational and business oriented issues prevalent in the telecommunication industry. Moreover none of the retrieved patent documents focused on addressing the needs of mobile virtual network operators and resellers
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers that gives optimum solutions for meeting rapidly changing and increasing user needs.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers that can address the needs of all stake holders including customers, partners, service providing organizations and the employees of the service providing organizations.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers that functions as a

reference platform which operates dynamically in response to the user's changing requirements.
One more object of the present invention is to provide an operations facilitation system for telecommunication a service provider which is standards based and NGOSS compliant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'unit' relates to a computational means adapted to perform a defined task in accordance with pre-defined rules.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'telecommunication service providers' relates to wired service providers, wireless service is providers, mobile virtual network operators, and resellers.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'users' relates to all stake holders including customers, partners, service providers, and employees of the service providers.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'query' relates to a request or a requirement or a response or a problem or a service required by a user from a telecommunication service provide. Typically, all permutations and combinations of queries' may be pre-fed into templates thus allowing a user to merely select the query from the list.

For the purposes of this specification, the term 'management solutions' relates to a loyalty management solutions, Quality of Service/Service Level Agreement (QoS/SLA) management solutions, campaign management solutions, marketing management solutions, contact management solutions, all interactions related with sales, customer trouble, service order, workflow, Point of Sale (POS), customer care and self care.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'payment option solutions' relates to all payments, Business to Business (B2B) interactions and Local Number Portability (LNP) procedures take place through the Gateway Unit.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'billing functionalities' relates to receivables management and functionalities including invoicing, rating, bill formatting, Electronic Billing Presentation and Payment (EBPP), journal management, other adjustments and collections.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'work tasks' relates to the provisioning, inventory management, network planning, mediation, service delivery, content management, number/IP management, work force management and activation of services for a phone number.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'network tasks' relates to network trouble sensing and repair, fault management, performance management and co-ordinates with the SLA management system.
For the purposes of this specification, the term 'enterprise tasks' relates to enterprise data management, fraud management, revenue assurance, business

intelligence and analytics, supply chain management, HR management, financial management, asset management, knowledge management and partner management.
According to this invention, there is provided an operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers adapted to provide optimised solutions for meeting rapidly changing and increasing needs of all users in relation to their queries, and further adapted to function as a reference platform which operates dynamically in response to said users' changing requirements, said system comprises:
- presentation unit adapted to provide a user interface to be used by said users in order to interact with said system for logging queries in relation to requirements;
- The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Unit adapted to provide management solutions in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query;
- Gateway Unit adapted to provide payment option solutions in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query;
- Product Management Unit adapted to provide Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution and further adapted to write and maintain product catalogues for telecom products in relation to said telecommunication service providers;
- Directory Services Unit adapted to provide addresses and contact details of every personnel registered with said system;
- Billing Unit adapted to provide billing functionalities in relation to service rendered to users of said telecommunication service provider's system

- Interconnect Settlement Unit adapted to provide interface between multiple telecommunication service providers to manage calling and billing services involving said multiple telecommunication service providers;
- Business Process Management Unit adapted to interact with said Presentation Unit, further adapted to manage and instruct each of said underlying units including said CRM Unit, said Gateway Unit, said Product Management Unit, said Directory Services Unit, said Billing Unit, and said Interconnect Settlement Unit according to said users' logged query;
- Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit adapted to integrate multiple sub services obtained through component applications and further adapted to interacts with its overlying units including said CRM Unit, said Gateway Unit, said Product Management Unit, said Directory Services Unit, said Billing Unit and said Interconnect Settlement Unit to co-ordinate the operations of its underlying units including

- Work Order Management Unit adapted to service work tasks in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query
- Network Management System (NMS) Unit adapted to service network tasks in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query
- Enterprise Management Unit adapted to service enterprise tasks in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query
Typically, said system includes a core Network Unit comprising the physical infrastructure of the service network and further allowing interaction of said Work Order Management Unit, said Network Management System (NMS)

Unit, and said Enterprise Management Unit to interact with said Core Network Unit.
Typically, said system includes a roaming settlement unit adapted to compute the billing for roaming services within the same service provider and also roaming through partner service providers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates an operations facilitation system for wireline service providers;
Figure 2 illustrates an operations facilitation system for wireless service providers;
Figure 3 illustrates an operations facilitation system for Mobile Virtual Network Operators/Enablers (MVNO/MVNE); and
Figure 4 illustrates an operations facilitation system for resellers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The block diagrams and the description thereto are merely illustrative and only exemplify the system of the invention and in no way limit the scope thereof. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers which gives optimum solutions for meeting rapidly changing and increasing needs of all stake holders including customers, partners, service providers and employees of the service providers.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers functions as a reference platform which is standards based, NGOSS compliant and can operate dynamically in response to the user's changing requirements.
A schematic block diagram as shown in Figure 1 illustrates the operation of an operations facilitation system represented generally by a reference numeral 100 for wireline service providers. The block, diagram is explained in detail as given below:
Presentation Unit 102: The Presentation Unit 102 comprises a user interface which is used by customers, partners, the wireline service provider and employees of the wireline service provider to interact with the system to get their needs addressed. Those who use the Presentation Unit 102 are generally called users.
Business Process Management Unit 104; The Business Process Management Unit 104 interacts with the Presentation Unit 102, manages and gives instructions to the underlying units including a CRM Unit 106, a Gateway Unit 108, a Product Management Unit 110, a Directory Services Unit 112, a Billing Unit 114 and an Interconnect Settlement Unit 116 according to the users' business requirements.
Customer Relationship Management Unit 106: The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Unit 106 takes care of loyalty management, Quality of Service/Service Level Agreement (QoS/SLA) management, campaign management, marketing management, contact management, all interactions

related with sales, customer trouble, service order, workflow, Point of Sale (POS), customer care and self care.
Gateway Unit 108: All payments, Business to Business (B2B) interactions and Local Number Portability (LNP) procedures take place through the Gateway Unit 108.
Product Management Unit 110: The Product Management Unit 110 does the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) as well as writes and maintains product
catalogues.
Directory Services Unit 112: The Directory Services Unit 112 provides all address and contact details of every personnel and system involved in the whole operation.
Billing Unit 114: The Billing Unit 114 does receivables management and functionalities including invoicing, rating, bill formatting, Electronic Billing Presentation and Payment (EBPP), journal management, other adjustments and collections.
Interconnect Settlement Unit 116: The Interconnect Settlement Unit 116 interfaces between multiple service providers to manage the calling and billing services involving multiple service providers. (For example, a call made from a BSNL number to a Reliance number, international calls, roaming through partner service providers and the like.)

Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit 118: The Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit 118 integrates multiple sub services obtained through component applications. This unit interacts with its overlying units including the CRM Unit 106, the Gateway Unit 108, the Product Management Unit 110, the Directory Services Unit 112, the Billing Unit 114 and the Interconnect Settlement Unit 116 to co-ordinate the operations of its underlying units including a Work Order Management Unit 120, a Network Management System (NMS) Unit 122 and an Enterprise Management Unit 124.
Work Order Management Unit 120: The Work Order Management Unit 120 does the provisioning, inventory management, network planning, mediation, service delivery, content management, number/ip management, work force management and activation of services for a phone number.
Network Management System (NMS) Unit 122: The Network Management System (NMS) Unit 122 does network trouble sensing and repair, fault management, performance management and co-ordinates with the SLA management system.
Enterprise Management Unit 124: The Enterprise Management Unit 124 does enterprise data management, fraud management, revenue assurance, business intelligence and analytics, supply chain management, HR management, financial management, asset management, knowledge management and partner management.

Core Network Unit 126: The Core Network Unit 126 comprises the physical infrastructure of the wireline network. The infrastructure includes copper and optical fiber cables, transmitters, repeaters, receivers and the like. The Work Order Management Unit 120, the Network Management System (NMS) Unit 122 and the Enterprise Management Unit 124 interact with the Core Network Unit 126.
A schematic block diagram as shown in Figure 2 illustrates the operation of an operations facilitation system represented generally by a reference numeral 200 for wireless service providers. The block diagram is explained in detail as given below:
Presentation Unit 202: The Presentation Unit 202 comprises a user interface which is used b; istomers, partners, the wireless service provider and employees of the wireless service provider to interact with the system to get their needs addressed. Those who use the Presentation Unit 202 are generally called users.
Business Process Management Unit 204: The Business Process Management Unit 204 interacts with the Presentation Unit 202, manages and gives instructions to the underlying units including a CRM Unit 206, a Gateway Unit 208, a Product Management Unit 210, a Directory Services Unit 212, a Billing Unit 214, an Interconnect Settlement Unit 216 and a Roaming Settlement Unit 218 according to the users' business requirements.

Customer Relationship Management Unit 206: The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Unit 206 takes care of loyalty management, Quality of Service/Service Level Agreement (QoS/SLA) management, campaign management, marketing management, contact management, all interactions related with sales, customer trouble, service order, workflow, Point of Sale (POS), customer care and self care.
Gateway Unit 208: All payments, Business to Business (B2B) interactions and Mobile Number Portability (MNP) procedures take place through the Gateway Unit 208.
Product Management Unit 210: The Product Management Unit 210 does the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) as well as writes and maintains product catalogues.
Directory Services Unit 212: The Directory Services Unit 212 provides all address and contact details of every personnel and system involved in the whole operation.
Billing Unit 214; The Billing Unit 214 does the receivables management and functionalities including invoicing, rating, bill formatting, Electronic Billing Presentation and Payment (EBPP), journal management, other adjustments and collections.
Interconnect Settlement Unit 216: The Interconnect Settlement Unit 216 interfaces between multiple service providers to manage the calling and billing

services involving multiple service providers. (For example, a call made from a BSNL number to a Reliance number, international calls and the like.)
Roaming Settlement Unit 218: The Roaming Settlement Unit 218 does the billing for roaming services within the same service provider and also roaming through partner service providers.
Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit 220: The Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit 220 integrates multiple sub services obtained through component applications. This unit interacts with its overlying units including the CRM Unit 206, the Gateway Unit 208, the Product Management Unit 210, the Directory Services Unit 212, the Billing Unit 214, the Interconnect Settlement Unit 216 and the Roaming Settlement Unit 218 to co-ordinate the operations of its underlying units including a Work Order Management Unit 222, a Network Management System (NMS) Unit 224 and an Enterprise Management Unit 226.
Work Order Management Unit 222: The Work Order Management Unit 222 does inventory management, network planning, mediation, service delivery, content management, number/ip management, work force management and activation of services for a phone number.
Network Management System (NMS) Unit 224: The Network Management System (NMS) Unit 224 does network trouble sensing and repair, fault management, performance management and co-ordinates with the SLA management system.

Enterprise Management Unit 226: The Enterprise Management Unit 226 does enterprise data management, fraud management, revenue assurance, business intelligence and analytics, supply chain management, HR management, financial management, asset management, knowledge management and partner management.
Core Network Unit 228: The Core Network Unit 228 comprises the physical infrastructure of the wireless network. The infrastructure includes transmitters, telecom towers, receivers and the like. The Work Order Management Unit 222, the Network Management System (NMS) Unit 224 and the Enterprise Management Unit 226 interact with the Core Network Unit 228.
A schematic block diagram as shown in Figure 3 illustrates the operation of an operations facilitation system represented generally by a reference numeral 300 for MVNO/MVNE. A Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) is a service provider that provides mobile phone service, but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have the entire infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service. A Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) is a service provider that provides services to MVNO, such as billing, network element provisioning, administration, operations, support of base station subsystems and operations support systems as well as support of provision of back end network elements to enable provision of mobile network services. The block diagram is explained in detail as given below:
Presentation Unit 302: The Presentation Unit 302 comprises a user interface which is used by customers, partners, the MVNO/MVNE and employees of the

MVNO/MVNE to interact with the system to get their needs addressed. Those who use the Presentation Unit 302 are generally called users.
Enterprise Application Integration Unit 304: The Enterprise Application Integration Unit 304 interacts with the Presentation Unit 302, manages and gives instructions to the underlying units including a CRM Unit 306, a Gateway Unit 308, a Product Management Unit 310, a Directory Services Unit 312, a Billing Unit 314, an Interconnect Settlement Unit 316 and a Roaming Settlement Unit 318 according to the users' business requirements.
Customer Relationship Management Unit 306: The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Unit 306 takes care of loyalty management, Quality of Service/Service Level Agreement (QoS/SLA) management, campaign management, marketing management, contact management, all interactions related with sales, customer trouble, service order, workflow, Point of Sale (POS), customer care and self care.
Gateway Unit 308: All payments, Business to Business (B2B) interactions and Mobile Number Portability (MNP) procedures take place through the Gateway Unit 308.
Product Management Unit 310: The Product Management Unit 310 does the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) as well as writes and maintains product catalogues.

Directory Services Unit 312: The Directory Services Unit 312 provides all address and contact details of every personnel and system involved in the whole operation.
Billing Unit 314: The Billing Unit 314 does the receivables management and functionalities including invoicing, rating, bill formatting, Electronic Billing Presentation and Payment (EBPP), journal management, other adjustments and collections.
Interconnect Settlement Unit 316: The Interconnect Settlement Unit 316 interfaces between multiple service providers to manage the calling and billing services involving multiple service providers. (For example, a call made from a BSNL number to a Reliance number, international calls and the like.)
Roaming Settlement Unit 318: The Roaming Settlement Unit 318 does the billing for roaming services within the same service provider and also roaming through partner service providers.
Enterprise Application Integration/Services/Business Process Management Unit 320: The Enterprise Application Integration/Services/Business Process Management Unit 320 integrates multiple sub services obtained through component applications. This unit interacts with its overlying units including the CRM Unit 306, the Gateway Unit 308, the Product Management Unit 310, the Directory Services Unit 312, the Billing Unit 314, the Interconnect Settlement Unit 316 and the Roaming Settlement Unit 318 to co-ordinate the operations of its underlying units including a Work Order Management Unit

322, a Network Management System (NMS) Unit 324 and an Enterprise Management Unit 326.
Work Order Management Unit 322: The Work Order Management Unit 322 does inventory management, network planning, mediation, service delivery, content management, number/ip management, work force management and activation of services for a phone number.
Network Management System (NMS) Unit 324: The Network Management System (NMS) Unit 324 does network trouble sensing and repair, fault management, performance management and co-ordinates with the SLA management system.
Enterprise Management Unit 326: The Enterprise Management Unit 326 does enterprise data management, fraud management, revenue assurance, business intelligence and analytics, supply chain management, HR management, financial management, asset management, knowledge management and partner management.
Core Network Unit 328: The Core Network Unit 328 comprises the physical infrastructure. As neither MVNO nor MVNE has its own infrastructure, the infrastructure of Mobile Network Operators (MNO) is used by MVNO/MVNE. The infrastructure includes transmitters, telecom towers, receivers and the like. The Work Order Management Unit 322, the Network Management System (NMS) Unit 324 and the Enterprise Management Unit 326 interact with the Core Network Unit 328,

The Presentation Unit 302 and the Enterprise Application Integration Unit 304 are typically owned by the MVNO. The Product Management Unit 310 is owned either by the MVNO or by the MVNE. All other units other than the Network Management System (NMS) Unit 324 and the Core Network Unit 328 are typically owned by the MVNE."
A schematic block diagram as shown in Figure 4 illustrates the operation of an operations facilitation system represented generally by a reference numeral 400 for resellers. A reseller is a telecommunications industry business model where a carrier organization sells or leases bandwidth on its own infrastructure to another telecommunication carrier organization for reselling to their own customers. The block diagram is explained in detail as given below:
Presentation Unit 402: The Presentation Unit 402 comprises a user interface which is used by customers, partners, the resellers and employees of the resellers to interact with the system to get their needs addressed. Those who use the Presentation Unit 402 are generally called users.
Business Process Management Unit 404: The Business Process Management Unit 404 interacts with the Presentation Unit 402, manages and gives instructions to the underlying units including a CRM Unit 406, a Gateway Unit 408, a Billing Unit 410 and an Interconnect Settlement Unit 412 according to the users' business requirements.
Customer Relationship Management Unit 406: The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Unit 406 takes care of loyalty management, Quality of Service/Service Level Agreement (QoS/SLA) management, campaign

management, marketing management, contact management, product management, all interactions related with sales, customer trouble, service order, workflow, Point Of Sale (POS), customer care and self care.
Gateway Unit 408: All payments and Business to Business (B2B) interactions take place through the Gateway Unit 408.
Billing Unit 410: The Billing Unit 410 does the receivables management and functionalities including invoicing, rating, bill formatting, Electronic Billing Presentation and Payment (EBPP), journal management, other adjustments and collections.
Interconnect Settlement Unit 412: The Interconnect Settlement Unit 412 interfaces between multiple service providers to manage the calling and billing services involving multiple service providers. (For example, a call made from a BSNL number to a Reliance number, international calls, roaming through partner service providers and the like.)
Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit 414: The Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit 414 integrates multiple sub services obtained through component applications. This unit interacts with its overlying units including the CRM Unit 406, the Gateway Unit 408, the Billing Unit 410 and the Interconnect Settlement Unit 412 to co-ordinate, the operations of its underlying units including a Work Order Management Unit 416, a Network Management System (NMS) Unit 418 and an Enterprise Management Unit 420.

Work Order Management Unit 416: The Work Order Management Unit 416 does provisioning, inventory management, network planning, mediation, service delivery, content management, number/ip management, work force management and activation of services for a phone number.
Network Management System (NMS) Unit 418: The Network Management System (NMS) Unit 418 does network trouble sensing and repair, fault management, performance management and co-ordinates with the SLA management system.
Enterprise Management Unit 420: The Enterprise Management Unit 420 does enterprise data management, fraud management, revenue assurance, business intelligence and analytics, supply chain management, HR management, financial management, asset management, knowledge management and partner management.
Core Network Unit 422: The Core Network Unit 422 comprises the physical infrastructure. The infrastructure is that of the carrier network having transmitters, telecom towers, receivers and the like. The Work Order Management Unit 416, the Network Management System (NMS) Unit 418 and the Enterprise Management Unit 420 interact with the-Core Network Unit 422.
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS
The technical advancements offered by the present invention include the realization of an operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers which:

• gives optimum solutions for meeting rapidly changing and increasing user needs;
• can address the needs of all stake holders including customers, partners, service providing organization and employees of the service providing organization;
• functions as a reference platform which operates dynamically in response to the user's changing requirements; and
• is standards based and NGOSS compliant.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of this invention, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the nature of the invention or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

We Claim:
1. An operations facilitation system for telecommunication service providers adapted to provide optimised solutions for meeting rapidly changing and increasing needs of all users in relation to their queries, and further adapted to function as a reference platform which operates dynamically in response to said users' changing requirements, said system comprising:
- presentation unit adapted to provide a user interface to be used by said users in order to interact with said system for logging queries in relation to requirements;
- The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Unit adapted to provide management solutions in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query;
- Gateway Unit adapted to provide payment option solutions in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query;
- Product Management Unit adapted to provide Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution and further adapted to write and maintain product catalogues for telecom products in relation to said telecommunication service providers;
- Directory Services Unit adapted to provide addresses and contact details of every personnel registered with said system;
- Billing Unit adapted to provide billing functionalities in relation to service rendered to users of said telecommunication service provider's system
- Interconnect Settlement Unit adapted to provide interface between multiple telecommunication service providers to manage calling and

billing services involving said multiple telecommunication service providers;
Business Process Management Unit adapted to interact with said
Presentation Unit, further adapted to manage and instruct each of said
underlying units including said CRM Unit, said Gateway Unit, said
Product Management Unit, said Directory Services Unit, said Billing
Unit, and said Interconnect Settlement Unit according to said users'
logged query;
- Enterprise Application Integration/Services Unit adapted to integrate
multiple sub services obtained through component applications and
further adapted to interacts with its overlying units including said CRM
Unit, said Gateway Unit, said Product Management Unit, said Directory
Services Unit, said Billing Unit and said Interconnect Settlement Unit to
co-ordinate the operations of its underlying units including
- Work Order Management Unit adapted to service work tasks in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query
- Network Management System (NMS) Unit adapted to service network tasks in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query
- Enterprise Management Unit adapted to service enterprise tasks in accordance with pre-defined rules for each of said logged query.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said system includes a core Network Unit comprising the physical infrastructure of the service network and further allowing interaction of said Work Order Management Unit, said Network Management System (NMS) Unit, and said Enterprise Management Unit to interact with said Core Network Unit.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said system includes a roaming settlement unit adapted to compute the billing for roaming services within the same service provider and also roaming through partner service providers.