Interoperability is a critical software system attribute since it enables different systems interaction to support the society's daily activities. The emerging technologies composing systems-of-systems, such as smart objects, internet of things, context-aware and pervasive systems have increased its importance and scope. To better understand the evolution of interoperability and its influence in the building of contemporary software systems we undertook a quasi-Systematic Literature Review to collect interoperability characteristics regarding context-awareness software systems. Five dimensions (ability to exchange, cooperation, integration, system relation, and property) and seven characteristics (adaptive behavior, availability, compatibility, conformance with organization requirements, conformance with system's requirements, dynamic connection, Standardization) of interoperability emerged from the findings. They should be taken into account when developing a contemporary software system. Besides, they suggest that interoperability can be thought as the ability of things (an object, a place, an application or anything that can engage an interaction in a system) to interact for a specific purpose, once their differences (development platforms, data formats, culture, legal issues) have been overcome.