network management systems that allows new equipment added to the network to announce itself to upstream systems, or for those upstream systems to detect the new equipment when it is installed in the network. Backhaul: Transmitting traffic from an access point to a switching center. "Best-of-breed" (also "best-in-breed"): A term referring to those OSS packages deemed best or most suitable for serving specific functional roles. "Boot P": An auto-configuration file involved with provisioning and activating a cable modem. The modem, when connected to the network, will download such a file to gain instructions on how to communicate with the network. Bridge: A customized piece of integration technology designed to pre-integrate two specific vendor supplied or best-of-breed applications. Business Support Systems (BSSs): The subset of OSSs that focus primarily on traditional business functions, such as billing and financial accounting. Glossary Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS): An aggregation system, generally housed in a cable provider's head-end, that communicates with and gathers traffic from the cable modems deployed across a geographic area. Carrier Access Billing (CABS): The billing systems and processes various service providers use to track, account for and bill other service providers for the traffic they exchange. Central office: A type of switching center, generally where long haul traffic is concentrated and directed for proper delivery. A central office might collect traffic from various end offices (local switching centers) for transmission across a geographic boundary or to a long distance switching center (or access tandem). Circuit switching equipment: The hardware-based switches on which traditional voice networks are built. These switches establish dedicated, point- to-point circuits to move traffic across a network. Class 5 switch type call detail records (CDRs): The billing data collected from end-office equipment that applies specifically to voice services delivered to an end user. Co-located/