Backed by the Full Capabilities of Calix Support Cloud, Preston Telephone Cut Truck Rolls by 50 Percent

When I talk to customer support teams about the biggest challenges they face, the conversation invariably turns to data. Without access to critical data on their subscribers’ experience, support teams are flying blind when troubleshooting and resolving issues. They can’t determine where a problem is or what might be causing it, and subscribers often cannot assist in pinpointing the issue.
 

Unsurprisingly, this lack of visibility and insights results in a negative support experience—longer support calls, low first call resolution, unnecessary truck rolls, and repeat troubles. And this adds up to higher support costs and lower subscriber satisfaction.

Leveraging the Right Tools Can Transform Support Operations—and the Subscriber Experience

These were some of the issues facing Mary Heister, business IT manager at Preston Telephone Company, a rural service provider based in Preston, Iowa. They made the decision to upgrade from Calix Service Cloud (Service Cloud) Device Management Edition (DME) to the Experience Management Edition (EME) and it has transformed their support operations—and their subscriber experience. Here are just three of the benefits Preston realized by making this transition:

1. End-to-end visibility of subscriber experience. Support teams need a support system that can provide a high-level view and drill down into the status and health relevant to the subscriber’s experience. Service Cloud gives end-to-end visibility of the WAN, residential gateways, Wi-Fi, managed services, connected devices, and even apps. Now, when a subscriber calls in to the Preston support desk saying they’re having internet problems, customer support representatives (CSRs) can immediately see any issues or warnings associated with the subscriber’s home network and the automated recommendations for diagnosis plus resolution. With autonomous site scans, CSRs can readily confirm which devices are online or could be causing interference; for example, validating that the problem is not the Wi-Fi system, but the subscriber’s connected refrigerator or Amazon Fire TV stick. This level of visibility and improvement in troubleshooting has helped Preston cut both unnecessary truck rolls and average handle times by 50 percent, while improving first call resolution.
   
   
2. Streamlined and simplified FCC broadband performance testing. All recipients of federal funding programs such as CAF Phase 1 and 2, RDOF, and the BEAD Program must meet mandated performance requirements to maintain their funding. Support Cloud EME eliminates the complexities and manual steps around setting up tests as well as collecting and providing the results per FCC requirements. With a built-in test controller and report builder, Service Cloud eanbles BSPs to set up autonomous speed testing making it easy to run, fine-tune, report, and repeat their mandated performance testing—and ensure they’re staying in compliance for their funding or determine if the subscriber is maxing their speed limit and a potential upsell opportunity for the next service tier.
   
   
3. Subscriber self-service capabilities for greater control of their home experience. Preston is now able to give subscribers greater control of their networks via the robust self-service capabilities in the CommandIQ® mobile wifi control app. Subscribers can take care of basic tasks like changing SSIDs and passwords, checking connectivity, and running speed tests, all from the palm of their hand. Integration with Support Cloud allows CSRs to validate service-related issues and resolve most without a truck roll. The use of CommandIQ—coupled with an upgrade to GigaSpire® BLAST u6 systems—has helped Preston cut inbound support calls by 10 percent and give subscribers a better overall experience.
    

Beyond these benefits, Service Cloud also sets the foundation for Preston to roll out and support a growing range of home internet value-added SmartHome™ managed services, such as ProtectIQ® for home network security and ExperienceIQ® for advanced parental controls, among many others. For Preston—and hundreds of other BSPs—Service Cloud EME has been a gamechanger, transforming their support operations, driving new levels of efficiency, and delivering an exceptional subscriber experience.

Learn how having the right tools and data can supercharge your support operations—watch the webinar “How Successful Support Teams Will Power Business Growth in 2023.”