In the following case study, you’ll learn how Greenlight Networks, an internet service provider (ISP) based in Rochester, NY, cultivates and manages customer demand for their fiber based broadband services using the DemandGen tool inside VETRO FiberMap. DemandGen is a tool used by many small and mid-sized IPS’s to help them determine where the greatest geographic pockets of demand are within their service areas and to communicate service availability at the address level. They also use this information to make critical data-driven decisions on where to prioritize construction of new fiber builds.
THE PROBLEM: MANAGING CUSTOMER DEMAND FOR FIBER
Like many ISP’s, Greenlight Networks has tremendous customer demand for their high speed internet fiber services. With this demand and customer interest comes a communications challenge. How can there be maintainable and effective communication with all these potential customers regarding the status of fiber availability in their area?
Greenlight’s potential customers understandably want fiber connections turned up quickly, but fiber builds take a lot of time. “Fiber to the home or business isn’t turned on and off with the flip of a switch. Fiber needs to be constructed in your neighborhood and that takes time,” says Greenlight Networks. Greenlight was dealing with a large volume of web inquiries and phone calls from people seeking status updates, as well as timeframes, for connectivity to their fiber network. There was a need for a solution to provide customer facing, self-service fiber availability status checks.
THE SOLUTION: DEMANDGEN INSIDE VETRO FIBERMAP
Greenlight Networks adopted and utilized the VETRO FiberMap platform which includes a DemandGen feature suite and supporting APIs.
VETRO Z-Manager is linked directly to Greenlight’s public-facing website. It works by gathering the address information on the Greenlight website contact form, standardizing and geocoding the address for placement on a map, and checking the status of the zone that the address falls within. These predefined build planning zones are created and managed in the VETRO FiberMap platform and assigned statuses showing stages of fiber network build and availability. The site sends status notifications instantly to the user so they understand when (or if) they are eligible for service, providing accurate feedback, in real-time, without hassle for Greenlight or the potential future customer.
In addition to this, requests for service reveal geographic clusters of high-demand areas. This gives Greenlight valuable data about where they should consider constructing new fiber builds in the future.
THE RESULT: CUSTOMERS ARE MORE INFORMED AND ENGAGED
“How we interact with our customers has changed dramatically since we implemented VETRO,” says Greenlight Networks, “we’ve broken lead records month over month.”
This was all accomplished by implementing a streamlined process that saved the Greenlight staff the time and energy previously needed to manage basic preliminary service availability questions on the phone or email. Giving them more time to focus on managing a growing business and expanding their geographic service areas - building out the network to serve more customers.
“The power of this solution is in its simplicity,” said Sean Myers, COO of VETRO FiberMap. “Consumers just want to know if they can get awesome broadband at their homes. Providing a mapping solution that delivers an immediate and accurate yes, no, or coming soon type answer helps both the ISP and the customer.”
ABOUT GREENLIGHT NETWORKS
Greenlight Networks is an ultra-high-speed, broadband service provider, offering residential and small business customers Internet speeds up to a Gigabit per second. Based in Rochester, NY and founded in 2011, the company builds, owns and operates its fiber-optic networks to provide amazingly fast Internet connections to its customers. For more information on the company, or to sign-up for service, please visit www.GreenlightNetworks.com or find us on Facebook.com/GreenlightNetworks, and @GreenlightFiber on Twitter.