Quality of service is an engineering issue and is linked with various OSS/BSS elements. Advance planning for a few key items will go a long way in supporting QoS:

• The network elements and network itself need to support different levels of QoS

• The network element should support continuous or sampled reporting of QoS levels through standard protocols such as SNMP or TCP/IP sockets

• A network management system needs to be used to track the QoS metrics reported by the network (this is within the domain of OSS)

• Mediation systems need to be able to collect the QoS metrics from the network or element management layer and 'message' this information

• Billing systems need to be able to provide differential charging based on class or quality of service

• Analytical systems need to be able to compare promised QoS versus delivered QoS and trigger alerts to various systems, including credit or debit triggers into billing system