NMS Network Management System

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1 NMS Network Management System Harness the operational experience of a mature, state of the art mobile network. NMS was developed based on operational requirements in a major mobile network, and was subsequently refined in several other networks. The strength of the solution is therefore the inclusion of the work flow of Network Management in a mature operator. Element Management Systems (EMS) from most vendors concentrate only on the network elements they manage. Surizon NMS focuses on the network and its management as a whole revenuegenerating entity with priorities set by the operator. NMS incorporates all the tasks required to professionally and effectively manage even the largest GSM or 3GSM networks in the world. Besides the 3GSM infrastructure, Surizon NMS manages IT systems, which are run alongside the telecommunications infrastructure such as value added service platforms, messaging systems, etc. Standardised monitoring across entire network Surizon NMS is network vendor independent. The operator has the benefit of common monitoring and fault resolution processes from NMS point of view, regardless of the vendor which has provided the network infrastructure. This enables objective assessment and reporting of the network, according to the operational requirements of the operator. Alarms can be correlated between vendors enabling the operator to focus on operational requirements across vendor borders. This also brings substantial benefits in terms of training required and also effectiveness in managing the network. There is no requirement to learn multiple user interfaces and the NMS engineer concentrates on the job of keeping the network running at its optimum level. Hence the entire 1 P a g e

2 monitoring functionality allows the NMS engineer to monitor a complete multi-vendor network from one application on one workstation. High-Level block diagram of Surizon NMS Dashboards/Alerts set to network operator perspective and not from vendor s EMS All the important data the operator needs to monitor is presented either on a large video screen, individual screens per dashboard or the user's web screen. This data may originate from various vendors equipment but will be presented in a clear and standard manner to the Network Management engineers. Surizon NMS incorporates customizable Dashboards for EOS and Pre-paid and Critical Alarms just to name a few. The key benefit here is that the information presented is customised to reflect what the operator sees as critical, which can be substantially different from the vendor's Element Management System. Bespoke dashboards for Cell status, EOS and Pre-Paid Customized Critical alarms & External Alarms Command log for all commands issued to network nodes Command console for issuing commands to network nodes Correlation of Alarms & Events, also across vendor borders 2 P a g e

3 Monitoring of resolution times and un-attended Trouble Tickets Easy correlation and problem identification with Command Log NMS also incorporates a Command Log, which stores all the commands issued to the nodes of the network being managed. This includes commands issued locally via MML interfaces as well as commands issued from the NMS console. This is an invaluable tool in troubleshooting as the commands can be correlated with alarms and user-induced problems are quickly identified. All of the data reported is stored in a database. The time for storage can be configured and is dependent on the storage capacity of the server system used. Faster Fault Resolution A swift resolution of any dispatched Trouble Ticket is supported by NMS' functionality that monitors Trouble Ticket resolution time. NMS also highlights Trouble Tickets that have not been actioned upon or have not been accepted by the relevant field engineer. Timers for such triggers can be set individually. NMS has been designed to maximise NMS engineer s effectiveness and minimize Time To Resolution (TTR). The key to operational efficiency is to resolve any faults that have triggered alarms in the network as quickly as possible. NMS optimizes this resolution in a few innovative ways: First line maintenance from NMS Knowledge base integrated in help function Dispatch of action item (Trouble Ticket) to field engineers Automatic Trouble Ticket generation option, based on alarm filtering rules Users can input help texts that are connected to specific alarms. The experienced engineers will input standard resolution practices for known alarms and problems in the network. This equates to having a Knowledge Base at the hands of every NMS engineer. Less experienced engineers will have an instant boost of productivity as the course of action is already laid out. Common and recurring events are resolved immediately by the NMS engineer or specific appropriate action by a field engineer is immediately triggered. NMS is connected to every node in the network which it monitors. The connection is bi-directional allowing the NMS engineer to issue commands to any network node. Combined with the Knowledge Base feature detailed above this becomes a First-Line Maintenance capability reducing the Time To Resolution (TTR). A responsibility matrix and an on-duty schedule for all field engineers are maintained in a database within NMS. Trouble tickets are therefore always dispatched to the person in charge. Automatic generation of Trouble Tickets from alarms is also supported, allowing for a customizable filtering of the alarms that automatically generate Trouble Tickets. 3 P a g e

4 Illustration of Top-level work flow for Fault Resolution Management & Reporting Configurable notification by SMS and Automatic escalation process Audit trail Planned work management 4 P a g e

5 The entire Trouble Ticketing process is managed through NMS. Tickets are assigned and tracked from the NMS workstation. The system is configured to automatically notify key stakeholders of any noteworthy event. The configuration for notification is specific to the operator deploying the system. All actions and events are stored in the database and reports are generated on a regular basis as configured in the system. This feature can also be used as an Audit Trail. Planned work on network nodes is recorded within NMS and correlated with the events arising during the time of the planned work. This greatly facilitates efficiency as the NMS engineer immediately knows when an alarm is related to planned work. Surizon NMS Screenshots Example OF End of Selection Dashboard Summary Surizon NMS provides these key benefits: 5 P a g e

6 True multi-vendor capability Operator -centric approach to network management (as opposed to vendor -centric) Knowledge base for instant competency of every NMS engineer Workflow management (monitor, identify, communicate, resolve) Connections to all network nodes providing 1 st line maintenance capability Event correlation in line with operator s processes With the implementation of Surizon NMS, the operator harnesses the experience of mature operators with a system that was developed to cater to operator requirements. No longer do boundaries in a multi-vendor network exist. The view from NMS is comprehensive and all encompassing providing the operator with the best tool to keep the network running at optimum performance. Our operator customers have experienced effectiveness improvements of 300 % through the implementation of Surizon NMS. 6 P a g e