Outage Management System (OMS)

What Does Outage Management System (OMS) Mean?

An outage management system is network management software that is capable of restoring the network model after an outage. Outage management systems are integrated tightly, resulting in timely and accurate actions along with supervisory control. Outage management systems are not only capable of performing restoration activities related to service, but also capable of tracking, displaying and grouping outages.

Techopedia Explains Outage Management System (OMS)

An outage management system is mainly used by operators in electric distribution systems. It can help in identifying the portion of the circuit responsible for the interruption. Based on the different criteria present in the network, it can also assist in grouping and prioritizing the resources and indirectly help in minimizing the impacts of outages.

An outage management system has the following features:

• Prioritizes restoration efforts and management of resources upon outages
• Provides supervisors with an estimated timeline of restoration
• Reports the actual cause of the outage
• Provides accurate information about the extent of the outage and its impact on customers and their management

The benefits of outage management software are:

• Prioritization of resources and planning involved in outage management software results in reduced outages and faster recovery.
• Customer relationship is improved due to better management of outage issues.
• Because of the tracking involved, there is better prediction of outages, allowing them to be handled properly.
• Operational efficiency is increased compared to situations where an outage management system is not in place.
• Operational visibility across the network increases greatly with the use of an outage management system.
• Decision making is faster for supervisors because of the reports provided by the application, even in cases of complex outages.