EDI Service Order Committee (ESOC)

The EDI Service Order Committee (ESOC) is an industry group consisting of telecommunications service providers and their customers working together to develop Business Models and ESOC Guidelines for the electronic ordering of telecommunications goods and services via EDI.

The ESOC Guidelines can be found on the OBF Documents Webpage.

EDI Guideline Consistency Subcommittee (EGCS)

About The EDI Service Order Committee

Service ordering transactions are frequently exchanged between the customer and telecommunications service providers using telephone, mail, fax, or electronic transmission. These methods involve manual hand-offs, re-keying of transmitted information, and interactions which are very time consuming and cost intensive. In addition, the formats used for these transactions are rarely the same among telecommunications service providers. EDI offers an excellent opportunity to agree upon established standards and streamline the communication of essential information. By working closely with the EDI Telecommunications Billing (ETB), the entire process from service order through bill payments can be automated.

The EDI Service Order Committee (ESOC) evaluates ASC X12 Purchase Order transaction sets for use in the telecommunications service request process. There are five core transaction sets that are the focus of the ESOC. They are Purchase Order (850), Purchase Order Acknowledgment (855), Purchase Order Change Request - Buyer initiated (860), Purchase Order Change Acknowledgment/Request - Seller Initiated (865) and Procurement Notices (836). The ESOC has developed implementation guidelines which include these transaction sets for use in the telecommunications service request process.

The EDI Service Order Committee (ESOC) also participates with the Unified Ordering Model Local Service Request (UOM-LSR) Committee in the analysis of the Local Service Ordering Guideline (LSOG) in order to produce data models for the UOM-LSR process. ESOC has developed Volume II-Analysis of the Unified Ordering Model (UOM).

ESOC Mission Statement

The EDI Service Order Committee (ESOC) is dedicated to the interpretation of established and future American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 standards and United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT) messages for pre-ordering, ordering, provisioning and maintenance of telecommunications services in an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) environment.

ESOC Purpose and Scope

Develop industry guidelines, business models, and data models for the pre-ordering, ordering, provisioning and maintenance of telecommunication services. ESOC utilizes ANSI ASC X12 standards for EDI and promotes and monitors the implementation of these standards within the telecommunication industry. ESOC also utilizes the UOM Process in development of the data models.

Goals and Objectives

The goals and objectives of the EDI Service Order Committee (ESOC) are listed below.

Develop EDI guidelines that meet both Retail and GSA requirements for ordering telecommunication services.

Develop and create an EDI Guideline that can be implemented to support the Local Service Ordering Guideline (LSOG).

Develop and create an EDI Guideline that can be implemented to support the Vertical Service Order Guideline (VSOG).

Process all Issues in an expeditious manner.

Meet as needed to accomplish above goals in a responsive manner.

Work with OBF UOM-LSR Committee to develop the UOM data model for the Local Service Ordering Guideline (LSOG).