May 11, 2021 by Pam Ferguson

How Can a Wi-Fi System be a ‘Digital Storefront’?

 

In catching up with our friends at Jade Communications (Jade) today, I paused for a moment when Jordan Wehe, director of marketing, said, "Every day we work to be more of a retail company and less of a pipe provider." I realized that as we help our customers with their journey to differentiate and grow new sources of revenue, our concept of digital storefronts becomes increasingly relevant.

Before I go any further, it might be worth explaining what we mean when we talk about the “digital storefront.” Calix GigaSpire BLAST systems are not traditional Wi-Fi gateways. Instead, they are dynamic systems that leverage a container-based architecture (called the Experience Innovation Platform) that allows for the quick and easy addition of new services. A recent Beacon article covered the many benefits of this platform well.

If your company has ever worked with a partner to bring a new service or application to market before, you'll know how difficult that can be. Just last week I attended a webinar led by a Tier 2 service provider that spent 15 months working to bring a security product to market. They described the process as “one of the most difficult things we’ve ever done” because it required coordination with their existing provider of residential gateways and another partner for the security solution.

At Calix, we want to make this kind of process easy and simple for broadband service providers. With that in mind, we have grouped a number of pre-integrated applications together, under the umbrella of Revenue EDGE Suites. Launching from CommandIQ® (a mobile app and critical component to any amazing home network experience), some of the current applications in EDGE Suites include ProtectIQ™ (home network security) and ExperienceIQ (enhanced parental controls). If you deploy GigaSpire BLAST Wi-Fi systems, you can leverage Calix Marketing Cloud to build the right audience segments and promote them to your subscribers and, when they’re interested, switch them on. Then, as Calix continues to make additional applications available (as we’ve announced with Arlo and Servify) simply rinse and repeat.

This approach aligns with Jade’s objective of becoming a retail company; and move away from being seen by subscribers as a pipe provider.

When you partner with Calix, you will be able to say the following with confidence: 

  1. "I can differentiate my service by providing an ultimate Wi-Fi experience, supported by compelling applications."
  2. "I can excite my subscribers by giving them a choice of different applications, with new offers being rolled out on an ongoing basis."
  3. "I can decide to generate new sources of revenue from some of these applications, while including others for free, differentiating our offerings and building loyalty with our subscribers."

So many exciting journeys lie ahead—both for you and your subscribers. Digital storefronts are an integral part of the evolution of your business and your relationship with your subscribers. We look forward to supporting you on that journey.

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