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The Beacon

Our action plan to help you support your subscribers through the crisis

The Beacon

Our action plan to help you support your subscribers through the crisis

Our Plan of Action

We’ve Got Your Back

 
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Carl Russo

President and Chief Executive Officer, Calix

Since Calix was formed, we have focused on your success. Over the last 20 years we have been through both calm and turbulent times together. I wanted you to know that during what is perhaps the most serious challenge we all face, a global pandemic, our commitment to you remains the same—we’ve got your back!

Here is what you can count on from the Calix team:

  • We are working—Over the years we have built a ‘virtual culture.’ We are adept at working remotely with systems and videoconferencing, allowing us to perform at a high level without being in any given Calix facility. As such we have eliminated all travel for internal Calix meetings. This will minimize risk of us to spreading the virus while maximize our ability to deliver for you.
  • We are expediting—The coronavirus outbreak began in China and had a significant effect on the global supply chain. While our products are not manufactured in China, many components that we use are. To close any gaps that this may cause we are using air freight at different stages of the supply chain to smooth any disruptions. Although this will raise our costs significantly, as always, we will NOT pass any of these costs onto you.
  • We will be there if you require—While we are encouraging our field teams that directly support you to also make good use of videoconferencing, please know that there are many things that simply cannot be performed remotely. With an abundance of caution and good hygienic practices we will be there when you need us. We also know that this challenge applies to your own teams in the field, so you will see in this special edition of the Beacon a multitude of tools, tips, and special webinars and circles of success that we will be hosting to help you and your teams succeed while delivering an essential service.

A crisis such as this reinforces the critical role you play in everyone’s daily lives. The Internet is now the core infrastructure on which everything moves and how people will remain connected during this critical time.

Calix has built the platforms necessary to optimize your ability to provide the subscriber services that set you apart. Therefore, please read this special edition of the Beacon to understand all of the ways that we can help you meet your goals while protecting the members of your community. We understand that your time is limited, so as we roll out more resources to help you, we will also make them available on-demand to give you the flexibility you need to optimize your time serving your subscribers and your communities.

We will get through this together, minimize the spread and slow the progression of the disease. Together, we will enable your subscribers and the economy to keep moving forward, which will be vital to how quickly we all recover once this pandemic has passed.

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Customer Support Actions

Keeping Technicians Safe by Reducing Site Visits and Truck Rolls with a Success Checklist

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Martha Galley

VP, Customer Engagement, Calix
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While “social distancing” is becoming one of the most important practices for slowing the spread of this global pandemic, governments, business, and schools across the country are urging people to work and learn from home. This makes the communities that you serve even more dependent on the reliability and performance of the Internet services you provide.

For those subscribers who are considered at risk or already in self-quarantine, this also poses a risk for your field technicians who provide these vital services on site. So how can you keep them safe as well? Many of you are already using the tools in Calix Support Cloud (CSC) to create compelling subscriber experiences while reducing the need for truck rolls to resolve support issues.

With this in mind, the Customer Success team has created a checklist of actions that you can take to ensure that you have maximized your support and technician team’s ability to meet those needs remotely and quickly:

  • Turn on Wi-Fi Self-Heal to reduce calls up to 25%—Turning on self-heal across your network automatically finds and fixes Wi-Fi issues, proactively reducing your trouble tickets by up to 25 percent. Self-Heal not only monitors but solves Wi-Fi experience degradations across your GigaCenters, GigaSpires, and select third-party premises equipment in your network. Check out this video to see how you can do this in one click. To learn more, including how to reduce incoming calls by more than 25 percent, join us for these upcoming webinars on using advanced CSC features including Self-Heal on:
  • Enable the CommandIQ™ Mobile App—The Internet will be flooded as people transition to learning and working from home, with the launch of the latest Call of Duty adding to the burden. Unfortunately, this leads to one of the most common support calls—my Internet isn’t fast enough, often relating to Wi-Fi. Take this opportunity to ensure that your subscriber downloads the app and learns how to troubleshoot their network within the app. We have created a series of videos to get them started: CommandIQ Introduction, Setting up a Guest Network, Setting up Basic Parental Controls, and Performing a Bandwidth Test. To learn how to train your customer care teams to coach all subscribers on using the CommandIQ App, join us for these upcoming webinars on using advanced CSC features including CommandIQ on:
  • Enable Speed Test—If your subscriber has a GigaSpire BLAST, they can run a speed test at any point on CommandIQ, thereby eliminating a call unless there is a real issue. For GigaCenter customers, CSC allows you to run a speed test locally to determine what their actual speed is at the router. You can see best practice tips on how to do this here.
  • Minimize visits by using all the tools in CSC—Using real-time SmartChecks, advanced troubleshooting capabilities, and Call Avoidance reports, your technicians can quickly resolve issues remotely, often on the first call, drastically eliminating the need for truck rolls. To learn more, log in to the Calix Community to see tips on Advanced Troubleshooting and Call Avoidance Reports. And you can always access the latest Circle of Success webinar calendar for even more insights.
  • If they have to do a site visit, ensure your technician has CSC and is in and out fast—One of the most effective ways to reduce time on-site is to ensure that your technician is trained on CSC and can use it while on site. You can also leverage our many training assets to ensure that your technician is a Wi-Fi expert. Learn more by joining us for this CSC webinar to better understand what resources are available to help you succeed.

To ensure that you have the checklist in place to make your team as effective as possible, we are ramping up our support programs. You can engage with the Calix team through:

As we manage through this pandemic, our number one goal is to help you and your employees stay safe while you deliver the critical broadband services your communities so desperately need now, more than ever. We understand that your time is limited, so as we roll out more resources to help you, we will also make them available on-demand to give you the flexibility you need to optimize your time serving your subscribers and your communities.

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Marketer Actions

The Virus is Moving Real-time. Understanding Subscriber Behaviors Real-time has Never been More Important. We will Help.

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Pam Ferguson

AVP, Product Marketing Subscriber Experience, Calix
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@IoTPamF

As Carl stated, this is a critical time in our communities. Your subscribers will be relying on you to remain connected with their loved ones, schools, and work in an effort to maintain some degree of normalcy. It has never been more important to understand the needs of each one of your subscribers. 

While the gamer may enjoy a free upgrade to a 1 Gbps service, the community priority is clearly pivoting to ensuring that those who are working and learning remotely are best served. 

We anticipate there will be further demand to ensure subscribers also have enough bandwidth for telemedicine, as well as keeping updated with the latest information on their communities, the country, and the broader global community.

We know that many of you have already committed to “Keep America Connected” by making a pledge to the FCC to ensure continuity of service as demand on your access and home networks increases. We have seen the social media posts you are making to let your subscribers know you are there to support them in these challenging times.

We are also seeing some additional commitments from service providers to help those who may need it the most. Charter was one of the first in market with an additional action plan, offering 60 days of free access to Spectrum Broadband to families that have been impacted. The time to act is now.

To support your messaging and provide an opportunity to share ideas and actions to help your subscribers and communities, we are launching a number of Customer Success virtual circles and webinar sessions. These are intended to help you apply learnings about your subscribers’ behaviors and to launch the campaigns that will best help your communities through this crisis.

We are hosting a range of sessions over the coming weeks to continue the conversation on how to identify, offer, and support your subscribers:

To ensure we are supporting you, we are now running five virtual Circles of Success sessions per week. We will be making space based on YOUR NEEDS. If you need it, we will be there. We will keep adding sessions as you inform us of your needs. We understand that your time is limited, so as we roll out more resources to help you, we will also make them available on-demand to give you the flexibility you need to optimize your time serving your subscribers and your communities.

We have no doubt about the commitment each and every one you has made to your communities. Calix will continue to make investments as well, to speed up your community outreach. Please let us know how we can support you during this time.

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Network Access Actions

Keeping Your Network Operating at Max Efficiency at this Critical Time. We are Ready to Help.

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Teresa McGaughey

Senior Director, Solutions Marketing, Calix
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@t_mcgoo   

The ability to maintain subscriber services, and troubleshoot quickly and remotely, is more critical than ever. Your subscribers are increasingly at home and utilizing your broadband service at levels never seen before by streaming content, playing games, and telecommuting. They expect broadband availability 24x7. This change in usage patterns has a couple of key impacts on your business and your network:

  • Rapid and remote network troubleshooting is critical to maintain an Always On network
  • Demand for bandwidth is increasing faster than expected

First, let’s discuss options to rapidly diagnose service issues without rolling a truck. You can divide any service issue into two parts:

  • Is your service getting to and through the subscriber premises ONT?
  • Is your service working within the subscriber premises?

In order to diagnose the service to and through the ONT the AXOS Diagnostic Toolbox, with its local and remote packet capture capability, enables you to look at the traffic on a given VLAN to a specific port on the ONT. This allows you to ensure that service is getting to the home and through the ONT without rolling a truck and putting a technician out in the field. The AXOS Diagnostic Toolbox is included on the Intelligent Access EDGE systems: the E9-2 Intelligent Edge System, E7-2 Intelligent Modular System, and E3-2 Intelligent PON Node. 

To learn more about the AXOS Diagnostics Toolbox and how it can reduce your truck rolls, you can access these additional resources:

To diagnose the service within the subscriber premises, you can utilize Calix Support Cloud. As Martha shares in her article where you have visibility within the home to further understand where the issue may be located and diagnose the concern remotely.

The increased demand for bandwidth may accelerate your move to 10G PON in order to meet your subscribers’ needs. If you’re looking for information on 10G PON or need an understanding of 10G PON system options, you can listen to one of our recent webinars on demand, It’s Time to Deploy 10G PON or Deliver 10G PON where no access system has gone before. Coming next will be 10G PON Network Planning and Deployment on Tuesday, April 28 11:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM ET.

These webinars are available to assist you, our service provider customers, as you support your communities. They will enable you to engage with Calix experts, along with your peers, regarding these rapidly evolving network scenarios and discuss how to be successful while navigating through these challenging times.

We understand that your time is limited, so as we roll out more resources to help you, we will also make them available on-demand to give you the flexibility you need to optimize your time serving your subscribers and your communities. 

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Technical Support Actions

Supporting YOU When You Need It. We Have Your Back!

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Kent Law

Senior Director, Support Services, Calix
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linkedin.com/in/kentlaw

Calix support engineers across the globe continue to be available for troubleshooting your critical technical issues when you and your communities need us most. The availability and reliability of your network is more important than ever with subscribers keenly aware of any Wi-Fi, throughput, or performance issues. We know there will be stress on your networks as seen in Italy (70 percent increase) this past week as subscribers continue to expand reliance on their home networks.

Here are some of the ways to get the most out of your Calix Support Team:

  • My Calix Portal: How-to Videos—On how to use the portal to create support or RMA tickets
  • TAC TV (login required)—Concise video walkthroughs of our most frequently asked technical questions
  • Calix Community—Shared knowledge resource for your peers, monitored by Calix subject matter experts and enhanced with support knowledge articles
  • Calix Academy—Education and training learning paths
  • 24x7 web and phone support (login required)—Engineers available to help urgently resolve your technical issues

We understand that your time is limited, so as we roll out more resources to help you, we will also make them available on-demand to give you the flexibility you need to optimize your time serving your subscribers and your communities. 

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Supply and Ordering Actions

Working Together to Be FAST and Meet Your Order Needs

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Mehdi Bradaran

SVP, Product Operations, Calix
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Our entire Product Operations team is ready and committed to support you and be responsive to your needs and the needs of your communities as the situation with this global pandemic continues to develop.

While our manufacturing partners are in full operation and performing well, we have taken the following steps to ensure supply continuity:

  • Diligently working with our component supplier partners around the globe. We are in contact through each level of the supply chain to best understand capacity, product flow, and any potential constraints to mitigate risk, provide visibility, prioritize, and expedite where necessary. 
  • Actively executing on risk mitigation plans by qualifying and using approved alternate sources where needed. We will continue to monitor and optimize supply when possible as the situation changes.
  • Collaborating with our logistics partners to put plans in place to de-risk potential shipment delays that may arise due to capacity issues.

Having early visibility into your demand will enable us to effectively meet your needs. Consider placing orders to meet your planned requirements 3 to 4 months in advance, specifying your requested dates. With this in mind, there are 2 ways to provide us that visibility. You can place an order well in advance of your need, with delivery date that aligns to the date you expect to need the material, or you can contact your account team and discuss your material forecast.

Order FAST with the My Calix Store

The My Calix Store is a fully self-service e-commerce experience, allowing you to quickly and conveniently order Calix solutions or obtain up-to-the-minute order status and shipping information. No need to email and wait for a reply. My Calix Store is the fastest way to get the information you need when you need it, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. If online ordering doesn't fit with your company’s processes, you can also export quotes as PDFs directly from the tool. This provides your purchasing department with the information they need to issue a purchase order (PO) which can be emailed along with a copy of the quote to om@calix.com. 

To learn more about the My Calix Store, you can access these quick “How-to videos.” In addition, we host a daily Office Hours for those wanting more assistance and training every Monday through Friday from 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT. If you are interested in setting up an account in the My Calix Store, please reach out to your sales representative and they will be happy to assist you.
Visit My Calix Store (login required)

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Featured Resources

Customer Resources to Help Keep You on Track

Office Hours

Customer Success Office Hours: Support Cloud Questions
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