Abstract: Methods are disclosed which relate to providing and billing for a service through a network regardless of the type of transport used to access the network. A customer who wishes to have a certain service first selects a transport. Transport options can be limited by the customer's location and bandwidth needs, but not by the service the customer desires. Once a transport option is selected it is installed and the customer receives the service through the transport by accessing a network. If a customer already has a transport and access to a network but desires another service, then the desired service can be simply added onto the existing access and billed accordingly. The transport type and service are calculated independently for billing purposes.

Abstract: An integrated order manager (IOM) is used to provide a single ordering platform for telecommunication service customers. The customer is provided direct access to the platform and is able to retrieve his current customer profile associated with the telecommunication service provider. The customer is presented with a series of web pages that allows the customer to add/delete/modify various service offerings, without the need to interface with the different departments within the company (e.g., data vs. voice, local vs. long distance).