erall goal here is to automate the flow of orders from the point of initiation, through the activation of service, to the billing for service. In the case of our hypothetical IIC, we have two points of order initiation. One is the sales force automation system used by the direct sales force, the other is the Web-based, customer self-care portal application. 4.1 Sales Force Automation Transactions Service Availability. Before capturing the actual order, a transaction is required to check for service availability and receive a confirmation from the order management/provisioning system (e.g., Do I have the facilities and capacity to provide the customer with service?). Scheduling. Dependent on the type of service being ordered, it may be necessary to have field force technicians dispatched to the customer's location for installation activities. The SFA system must transact with the field force scheduling system in order to determine what resources are available and to negotiate a mutually agreeable installation date with the customer. Order Capture. Once pre-order activities are completed, details of the order are captured in the SFA packages. When the order is completed, it needs to be "sent" to the order management/provisioning system for subsequent processing and service delivery. 4.2 Web-Based Care Transactions Order Entry. The Web-based self-care application provides customers with the capability to order service directly just as the SFA application does. The order capture process requires the same integration points to capture the details of the order, check availability, and schedule installation. Chapter 6 - Integrating the OSS Platform Order Status. As the order progresses through its life cycle to completion, the customer is able to track progress through a series of milestones that are displayed on an order status page. In order to track these milestones, status change events have to be captured in the order management/provisioning application and flowed back to the Web portal. Bill Presentment. After ser