OSS is to enable such communication and integration, cutting out any time consuming manual processes, scheduling difficulties and the need for people or service desks to track redundant processes among unnecessarily disparate providers. Not to over complicate the example, we'll assume all FOC dates are met, the loop and cross connect are delivered successfully and DSL service is ready to go. Once the ISP installs the modem for the customer and tests the DSL connection, it can activate the customer's services and start billing. The workflow manager should trigger billing once all of its assigned tasks have been fulfilled. The Ultimate Guide to Building and Delivering OSS/BSS 4.3 The Internet, Workflow and Gateways The glue that brought our example together is a combination of the Internet, workflow applications and gateways. The Internet provided the transport systems for all of the communication among our IICs and for the customer's initial order. It also supported communication with an equipment vendor, bringing the physical aspects of network and service delivery into the eOSS environment. In the case of the wholesaler-to-ILEC link, it might be a private network or the Internet, but either way we're talking about an integrated and automated method of electronic data exchange. The workflow engines and gateways together managed internal and external tasks. The gateways handled communication with the other IICs' gateways, and therefore their OSS platforms. What we see here is a complex, value-added commerce network, built on the Internet itself, that provides integrated, flow-through processes from party to party. We've integrated, from the bottom to the top, equipment shipping, loop provisioning, DSL service, network services and value-added Internet service from five different parties into a single service package delivered seamlessly to the customer and branded under the ISP's name. 4.4 Cable's Last Mile Cable companies are moving aggressively into the Internet services business. Cable modem deployment is expan