This chapter covers the following topics:
Ordering and delivering telecommunication services can be quite complex, and this complexity only increases with service changes. The telecommunications service ordering (TSO) functionality in Oracle Applications supports the processes involved in ordering and reconfiguring or changing (including moving, adding, changing, and disconnecting [MACD] customer services).
Oracle Applications reduce the complexity of the ordering process by providing:
A centralized view of the customer, including the installed service configuration
A repository of the products and services available to the customer
The ability to offer customer quotes and flexible pricing
The ability to restore, reconfigure, and re-price an existing service configuration
Full order management and processing capabilities
Online ordering through Oracle iStore
The Oracle Telecommunications Service Ordering (TSO) solution enables you (or customers themselves, in self-service online mode) to create new or update existing configurations of telecommunication equipment and services by moving, adding, changing, or disconnecting a customer's services and equipment. To enable the upgrade process flow, companies need the ability to track the full life cycle of an item instance -- product information, location, status, and so on -- from order creation to order fulfillment across multiple orders. If a customer requests an upgrade of a product from a company after several years have passed, the company must know the exact current state of that product and must verify that any requested changes are feasible, such as whether or not these changes are compatible with the customer's existing installed product, and fulfilling only those requested changes.
The TSO solution spans multiple Oracle applications, including:
Oracle Accounts Receivable
Oracle Advanced Pricing
Oracle Product Hub
Oracle Configurator
Oracle Contact Center
Oracle Bills of Material
Oracle iStore
Oracle Install Base
Oracle Inventory
Oracle Order Management
Oracle Quoting
Oracle Service Fulfillment Manager
Oracle Telecommunications Billing Integrator
Depending upon your business requirements, other Oracle applications may also be required. For a list of mandatory applications, refer to the section, "Mandatory Dependencies for the Oracle TSO Solution", in the chapter, Implementing the Oracle TSO Solution.
Each application has developed a set of functionality, which, when used together with the other applications, enables the Oracle TSO solution. See the chapter, Oracle TSO Business Processes, for a summary of TSO functionality by Oracle application.