Operations and maintenance centre: Delivering network services

Network management, administration and maintenance activities have developed dramatically since the introduction of digital exchanges, with their ever-increasing capabilities for remote interrogation and control. The operations and maintenance centre (OMC) was developed to exploit the exchange capabilities and fulfil the need for fast and efficient centralised administration and maintenance. This article describes the development of the OMC, outlines its key role and achievements in the delivery of network services in pace with ongoing requirements, and investigates the technical challenges being addressed as part of its evolutionary design.