 PIC/CARE - If a customer changes or selects a long distance carrier, PIC/CARE databases must be updated to point call traffic and billing data to the right customer or phone number. - Customized order forms - Most of the time there are unique transactions or exchanges that occur among IIC business partners. The portal should be able to support non-standard orders between the service provider and non- ILEC carriers, such as NSPs or CLECs. - Schedule installation - The ordering IIC should be able to view installation availability, reserve appointments and receive confirmations online. Trouble Ticketing Transactions As we discussed in Chapter 2, managing troubles and affecting repairs can be a major problem for IICs, especially in a manual, multi-supplier environment. Though it requires support from both sides, the Web portal can provide trouble ticket issuing, policing and status checking features, and should track tickets with individual detail, if possible. It should also allow for repairs to be scheduled, and then escalated if due dates are not met. Advanced Web portals sometimes provide online testing tools, allowing IICs to run basic network tests and do some troubleshooting before opening a trouble ticket. Chapter 5 - The Enterprise OSS Platform 8.4 Billing Transactions One of the first areas where Web portals have been heavily deployed relates to billing, though online billing functionality can vary greatly. The most basic form is electronic bill presentment, where bills are presented online or transferred via EDI or other business-to-business protocols such as XML. The next step is electronic bill payment, where the portal is enabled with online payment authorization features and various electronic funds transfer capabilities, be it to a credit card, debit card or a bank account. As complexity increases, we come to online bill dispute and resolution. This can be a tough area to automate since users often want instant gratification. The portal can be designed to empower the customer with the ability to disp