Managed Services and Marketing—SCTelcom Shares 3 Tips To Become an Experience Provider

As a rural cooperative, SCTelcom has been delivering on our mission of providing dependable and affordable communications to members in Kansas and Oklahoma for 70 years. But we now provide much more than simple connectivity. We give our members connected services that enrich their lives. Here’s how we’ve been able to avoid the “speed trap” and transform into an experience provider that’s bringing ever greater value to our members and communities.

Providing an Exceptional Member Experience With Managed Services

We’ve relied on the Calix platform—including GigaSpire® BLAST systems and Calix SmartHome™ managed home internet services—to deliver exceptional experiences since 2018. Our members love our managed Wi-Fi service, which comes with CommandIQ® for self-service and ProtectIQ® home network wireless security, as well as the option to add advanced internet parental controls through ExperienceIQ®. It gives our community members a worry-free home experience—they don’t have to manage anything, and they know we’re keeping them safe. ProtectIQ has already blocked more than 116,000 digital threats from ever entering our members’ homes, and we’re exploring additional safety-focused services like Bark parental monitoring app. 

Extending the Benefits of Broadband Across the Entire Community

We are so excited to build on this foundation with our recent launch of Calix SmartTown™ in Attica, Kansas. This new community internet service will give members, residents, and students access to ubiquitous broadband throughout the downtown area, including parks, schools, community centers, libraries, and businesses. For Attica residents who have long struggled with a lack of LTE coverage, SmartTown will be nothing short of life-changing. This is just the start—soon we will extend SmartTown to the neighboring town of Cunningham. This brings us one step closer to realizing our vision of enabling fully smart towns that bring more capital and opportunity to rural Kansas communities. 

Building a Marketing Machine To Grow Our Brand

As we have built our transformation into an experience provider, we know we need to elevate our marketing campaigns. Our partnership with Calix gives us a marketing machine that would be the envy of any Tier 1 player. It’s as if we have an army of data scientists and an entire creative agency on our team, but at a fraction of the cost. Calix Marketing Cloud* gives us in-depth insights into our customers, making it easy to engage specific audiences and acquire new subscribers with messages and offers that resonate. CommandIQ gives us a channel to communicate directly with our subscribers, whether it’s to share tips and tricks or promote new services. And the Calix Market Activation program enables us to quickly create compelling, relatable content—like the award-winning Gerry Dee videos—that promotes the value of our services to our subscribers and keeps our brand top of mind. 

By embracing managed services and a data-driven marketing approach, we have developed a differentiated value proposition that helps us stand out in competitive service areas. 

Moreover, we are creating even greater value for our members and our communities. We are proof that even the smallest broadband service providers (BSPs) can be the giants in the markets. 

Learn how you can become an experience provider with—watch the webinar replay “Managed Services with Exceptional Experiences: How Broadband Providers Win.”

*As of November 2023, Calix Marketing Cloud has been renamed to Calix Engagement Cloud. Learn more.