At Calix ConneXions this year, we heard a lot about the benefits of excellent customer support. Fewer incoming support calls. Vast reduction in trouble tickets. Fewer unnecessary truck rolls and dramatically lower operational costs. Impressive Net Promoter Scores (NPS)—far above industry average. One customer, SCTelcom, has created such a seamless support organization that they’ve achieved zero turnover in their call center! 

Want to achieve similar success? Align your organization around a data-driven, proactive approach to support. No support organization wants to learn about an outage from their subscribers. Nor do they want to see their company's name as the topic of a negative thread on social media. So, imagine the power of being able to predict a subscriber issue before they realize there's a problem. You’d cut down on calls to your helpdesk while enhancing how subscribers perceive your brand. Here are three ways service providers can transition to a proactive support model and reap the benefits.

1. Forecast subscriber needs to deliver the ultimate subscriber experience and increase operational efficiency. Calix has invested more than 10 years and over $1 billion to develop our powerful end-to-end platforms. Inherent in these platforms is Calix Support Cloud (Support Cloud), which we’re continuously enhancing. Our latest update gives unprecedented visibility into support networks and systems. This includes insights at a device and application level. We are also delivering actionable insights that help support teams detect potential problems before they arise. This allows them to provide a superior subscriber experience and dramatically increase efficiency.
2. Provide self-serve options to reduce call center volume and increase subscriber satisfaction. Many subscribers want the ability to self-serve and manage their connected home experience. For instance, with the CommandIQ® mobile app, subscribers can tackle tasks such as resetting their Wi-Fi SSID and password, or running speed tests. The results? Calls to the help desk drop and customer support representatives (CSRs) can focus on proactive customer support.
3. Accelerate learning for  your support organization so even the smallest teams can compete to win. Calix provides everything you need to compete. Join our Customer Success Virtual Engagements, which include Circles of Success (live, interactive sessions with small groups of peers), “Ask Me Anything” sessions with Calix experts, and more. You can also participate in Calix University and the Calix Community. As always, you can engage Calix Customer Success Services to extend the value you get from your investment in Calix offerings.

In this issue of the Customer Support Beacon, you’ll find exciting stories to keep you informed and excited about building a proactive customer support organization. For example, find out how Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative (FTC) has improved the experience of their members. Using Support Cloud, FTC has reduced total talk time on support calls by 55 percent, and that’s on top of cutting their total inbound calls by 35 percent and unnecessary truck rolls by 20 percent! You’ll also learn how you can leverage the world’s first end-to-end quality of experience score in Support Cloud. This score gives you a simple, automated way to get an objective view of the subscriber experience. Use it to troubleshoot faster, lower support costs, and even grow your revenue.

If you have questions or feedback about how we can help you meet and exceed your objectives, please get in touch. Email me at  martha.galley@calix.com, or  connect with me on  LinkedIn.  I invite you to watch the replays of our Calix ConneXions main stage presentations or view replays of virtual ConneXions Learning Experience sessions.