The Beacon
September 2018
I love when our customers think outside the box
I'm pleased to announce a new award for teams who are blazing trails in the field of marketing. If you are taking a creative approach to reaching and engaging with your subscribers, we want to hear from you.
How can you apply? Just record a brief video (under 3 mins) describing your marketing campaign and send it via WeTransfer to award.submissions@calix.com. Be sure to include the following in your video:
The objectives of your campaign
A description of the creative approaches you took
What is the award? The winning video will be featured at Connexions 2018 in Las Vegas during the Main Stage General Session on Tuesday, October 30, where I will be hosting a panel with Terry O'Reilly and some of the most innovative marketing leaders in our industry. The winner will also receive a complimentary off-site marketing workshop with Decision Counsel (the producers of the Millers!)
What is the deadline? Monday, Oct 15th
Calix Cloud continues to illustrate the power of the cloud with ongoing enhancements. The recent product releases of Calix Marketing Cloud (CMC) and Calix Support Cloud (CSC) introduced yet another set of exciting capabilities. In the spotlight today are brand new Acquisition and Revenue Insights in Calix Marketing Cloud.
Over the past year, service providers using CMC have used subscriber insights to reduce churn and discover upsell opportunities through more direct segmentation. With the latest release, they can now amplify that intelligence to grow profitably.
Acquisition Insights are a game changer whether you are looking to grow your subscriber base or simply want to evaluate your existing acquisition strategy. You can now tap into what you already know about your existing subscriber base to make decisions about who and how to target prospects.
By extending the same data-driven approach to subscriber acquisition, you can not only segment and engage with prospects in meaningful ways, but also analyze trends in newly added subscribers to fine-tune your acquisition strategy.
This targeted approach also helps tame large prospect lists and improve overall marketing ROI. For a closer look at these powerful insights, check out these short videos in the Calix Cloud Community.
Revenue Insights infuse financial context into upsell, retention, and acquisition insights allowing marketers to align their goals with the overall business goals more easily. Clearly understanding revenue opportunities and identifying gaps in actual versus potential revenue is now integrated into all subscriber insights.
Service providers like Midwest Energy and Communications, who have realized stunning results with CMC so far, are now excited to take a new approach with subscriber acquisition. Read the press release for more.
Senior Manager, Conference and Events, Calix
ConneXions is coming together as the do-not-miss event of the fall. Now through September 23rd, receive $150 off registration AND book your hotel at the Wynn Casino and Resort or the Encore Hotel for our group rate of $219 a night.
On September 24th, the registration price break disappears. After October 2nd, our room block and rate are not guaranteed. Book today!
There is a reason 91% of the 2017 attendees would recommend this event to a colleague:
Don’t miss all this including a night with comedian Ryan Hamilton, a keynote address from astronaut Leland Melvin and all the new products and solutions launched during the conference.
Be the early bird that catches these prices and register today.
I look forward to meeting you in October.
Last month we took an order for the one millionth Calix GigaCenter. Pretty impressive when you consider that the first GigaCenter products — the 844G and 854G — were launched just four years ago. When you add all of our other Calix premises systems to that list (like other members of the GigaFamily and our P-Series products), we have sold nearly 3 million systems for providing reliable Internet connectivity.
When GigaCenters are shipped from the factory, the software (also known as the firmware) that comes pre-installed is only intended to support basic functionality (e.g., TR-069 upgrade, backhaul establishment, etc.). It is highly recommended that the GigaCenters are upgraded to the latest firmware — available from the Calix Software Center — once the unit is activated.
For service providers with GigaCenters that are in the field, it is also important to remember to upgrade the firmware on a regular basis; ideally every three months. Updating the firmware ensures that your GigaCenters have the latest features, improvements and enhancements. (The same applies to other Calix premises products, such as the other members of the GigaFamily and the 804Mesh satellite units.)
Note: A recent report from the Calix Technical Assistance Center (TAC) found that there are more than 180 service providers that have deployed 804Mesh satellite units using the initial ‘factory image’ software; Rel. 1.0.0.604. The TAC recommends that all 804Mesh devices should be running Rel. 2.0.1, which is available for download — along with firmware downloads for all Calix products — at the Calix Software Center.
Take steps to safeguard your subscribers' privacy and security
Most consumers do not update the firmware on their router or residential gateway. Not performing these updates on a regular basis could put their privacy and the security of their data at risk. One example is the infamous ‘KRACK’ issue, which was addressed in Release 1.1 of the 804Mesh software. Another is the improved backhaul wireless analytics, which was addressed in Release 12.2.8 of the GigaCenter software and Release 2.0 of the 804Mesh software.
GigaCenters can be updated individually, using the embedded web interface (EWI) — as outlined on page 107 of the Calix 844E GigaCenter User Guide. Calix Consumer Connect Plus (CC+) and Calix Support Cloud customers, however, can perform a “bulk” firmware upgrade, which allows for updates to be made to multiple GigaCenters at the same time.
The upgrade process requires the GigaCenter to be online and typically takes less than five minutes. Calix recommends that firmware upgrades be performed at times where network activity is lightest; typically, between 2-5am., although this window will vary among subscribers.
Latest software for GigaCenter and 804Mesh satellite units
The newest software for the GigaCenter — Release 12.2.8.1, which enables Community Wi-Fi functionality — is available on the Calix Software Center. My Calix users should then click ‘Browse by Premises Products’ to find the new firmware. Calix customers who are not currently My Calix users will need to register for an account.
If you want assistance in upgrading the firmware on your GigaCenter, please contact the Calix Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
Have you ever participated in a community, where people share viewpoints, tips and tricks, and answer questions, so everyone can move forward towards a common goal? There are a lot of examples of these communities. They can be a circle of friends in a book club, your neighborhood watch program, or strangers brought together by a common need or like in a Facebook group. Whatever the reason the community is brought together, the people in them gain a connection with like-minded people that can help each other achieve a common goal.
Did you know Calix has an AXOS/E-Series Community for just this purpose? Not only can you post your question in the AXOS Community and have Calix experts answer, but you can also hear from your peers at service providers all over the world. There are many ways to implement a service, deploy a network, or solve a problem and our service providers can share some of the best answers. You can find the AXOS Community here.
There are a couple of other resources that you might want to bookmark that will be helpful as you deploy AXOS in your network:
AXOS Information Center (login required)
- Microsite that consolidates all of the AXOS documentation, bulletins, and other key information to help you quickly find the answer to your question
- 2018 series of webinars designed to highlight AXOS capabilities such as the AXOS Diagnostic Toolkit and other platform features
I’m monitoring the AXOS Community as well, and we’re working on our plan for the 2019 webinar series, so I invite you to visit now and suggest some topics you’d like to see us discuss.
Join Calix on the third Wednesday of every month for our AXOS Tech Talk Series. Each Tech Talk webinar will go into topics to help you further understand AXOS and how it can benefit your business. The sessions will enable you to ask questions about capabilities within AXOS of Calix experts as well as service providers deploying AXOS. You can register below for notification of future webinars topics as they are announced.
Did you know that companies that invest in training their employees realize, on average, 24 percent higher profits and as much as a 70 percent increase in employee retention? So, it’s important for companies to make sure their technical professionals are constantly learning. Calix Education Services makes it easier for service providers to keep their teams current on the latest access technologies and solutions from Calix with our Education Subscription Program.
An education subscription approach to learning can benefit service providers greatly. According to the Customer Education Management Association, purchasing an education subscription provides these key benefits:
A simpler and more direct way for companies to budget for training, since all available training is included in one low annual price
“Just-in-time” training options for learners to improve their skill level; take what you want, when you want, with no ‘per course’ purchase hassles
The ability to review and retake courses an unlimited number of times to help increase retention and enhance overall skill level
The Calix Services Education Subscription Program offers unlimited access to the extensive list of courses in our Learning Paths for a yearly subscription fee, with attractive discounted pricing for subsequent years in the program. Education Subscriptions gives learners access to the entire catalog of both eLearning and public instructor led courses, including our popular AXOS E7-2 and Calix Cloud courses, as well as our Wi-Fi Technician Specialist training.
With unlimited access to this rich learning content, your employees can now improve their technical knowledge today, and augment their skills as needed with new courses that become available in support of new products and software releases. Learn more about the Education Subscriptions Program or contact your Calix Sales Representative.
Building and operating a communications network is a big responsibility – one that requires constant assessment of the regulatory changes and the technology and subscriber application innovations occurring around the world.
Which innovations will have the greatest impact on your next network investment? Automation will simplify operations and enable subscriber self-care. 5G networks will create new opportunities and enable you to reach new subscribers more quickly. Fiber technology will continue to move forward, bringing more capacity, longer reach, and enhanced service flexibility to the access network.
What’s your perspective on the next big thing?
Check out our new Perspectives page dedicated to building your Next Generation Network. We’re sharing unique perspectives on software-driven architectures, next generation PON technology, 5G wireless and fixed access networks, network programmability, and automation. Here are our first perspective articles.
Software Platforms are Transforming the Business of Broadband – download our perspective on the innovation engine of our times.
FTTP: The Game has Changed and so has the Business Case – Fiber access networks are the solution to the challenge of staying ahead of broadband demand and the competition, and luckily the business case to build new FTTP networks has never been easier to prove in.
No Snake Oil Here - Software Defined Access is Ready for Primetime – Broadbandtrends principal analyst Teresa Mastrangelo reviews her special report on Software Defined Access.
XG-PON, XGS-PON, NG-PON2 - Which option is right for your network? – Service providers want a next generation PON technology that will collapse independent residential, business, and wireless aggregation networks while providing a high return on investment.
There’s more to read and share on the Calix Perspectives pages. Spend some time and let us know your perspective. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next featured Perspectives author.
Each month, we highlight the top 5 recent Calix Blog posts to make sure you don't miss out on the latest news and insights from Calix experts and industry guests.
And don't forget to follow us and check out other insightful articles.
Troubleshooting E7 EXA FTP Error Messages
Did you know there are help resources for transitioning from Consumer Connect Plus to Calix Support Cloud?
Coming Soon!
E7-2 AXOS Turn-Up and Transport, September 19, 2018, 10:00 AM CST
E7-2 AXOS Layer 2 Data Services, September 20, 2018, 10:00 AM CST
E7-2 AXOS Layer 2 Voice and Video Services, September 21, 2018, 10:00 AM CST
Did you know that an AXOS E7-2 Learning Path is now available? In addition to the Foundational eLearning courses such as the Introduction to Services Managment Connector (SMx) we recommend technology pre-requisites such as the GPON Basics. The AXOS E7-2 Learning Path also contains three new instructor-led courses covering system turn-up, using SMx to view system data and provisioning an uplink on the E7-2 (AXOS) as well as provisioning Layer 2 services.
BEC Fiber Brings Broadband to Texas Hill Country
Located in Texas Hill Country, Bandera Electric Cooperative is on a mission to bring broadband services to all of its 26,000 members. Its fiber network, known as BEC Fiber, has rapidly expanded over the last year as 4,000 members have pre-registered for residential service and local schools are already benefitting from 10 gigabit speeds.
With the Calix AXOS E7-2 Intelligent Modular System at the heart of its network, BEC Fiber is focused on delivering an exceptional subscriber experience for all. The Calix GigaCenters, 804Mesh satellites, and Calix Support Cloud (CSC) combine to enable a world-class Whole Home Wi-Fi service.
Beyond broadband services, BEC is looking forward to improving its electric system with Smart Grid automation and support for renewable energy. BEC can also deploy meter reading and distributed energy management to enhance its operational efficiency.
Effective immediately, please use the following shipping address for all Calix RMA product returns to our US warehouse:
Attn: Calix RMA #________
C/O Choice Logistics - US Pack
1613 Hutton Drive, Suite 100
Carrollton, TX 75006
Please update your internal systems with the new address.
