Intercept’s roots go back nearly 20 years to Blue Sky Technology, a computer repair company in Kearney, Missouri. Founder Mike Phillips, disappointed in the lack of available internet options in rural Kearney, began utilizing fixed wireless technology to connect his own home. He negotiated with a local farmer to place wireless equipment on top of a grain leg and began adding paying customers to the network.

He negotiated with a local farmer to place wireless equipment on top of a grain leg and began adding paying customers to the network. The company grew steadily and Phillips added new employees, including his son-in-law, Kevin Smith. It rebranded to Intercept Wireless in 2009 and continued serving rural Clay County. After Phillips passed away in 2015, the family wanted to continue his legacy of bringing critical broadband services to the community they all called home and the residents and businesses they all knew.

In 2021, the Intercept team developed plans to become one of the first residential fiber internet providers in Kearney. They recognized that a key part of those preparations would involve identifying vendors and partners that could help guide them through the next stage of their business’s development.

Smith had been talking with and seeking recommendations from other wireless internet providers, a community he says has always been helpful to one another. Through those conversations, he learned about Fibersmith and Vision Software.

“I didn’t know anything about fiber, so I needed partners who did,” Smith said. “I felt like I’d be valued as a Vision client, that they would know who I was and they would help me out.”

Smith understood the importance of tracking Intercept’s new fiber network from the start. He realized that keeping up-to-date plant records and integrating his network, designed by Fibersmith Engineering, would enable better troubleshooting, gain efficiencies nd improve customer service. This would also help Intercept grow its network without a massive increase in staff.

Smith viewed Vision as the tool to accomplish just that. Intercept’s fixed wireless customers were moved to Vision’s platform in 2021, with fiber construction beginning the following year. In August 2022, Intercept Fiber installed its first customer, and hundreds more have signed up since. Vision’s workflows give technicians in the field the ability to activate services on-site without a phone call to the office. The account setup items are automatically triggered in the system to track inventory, monitor equipment and send the customer an invoice without manual work.

Smith is confident he’s providing a valuable service and helping his local community. “We’ll never be the big guys, and we’ll never build as fast as they can,” Smith said. “However, we can offer a superior product with a level of customer service and personal attention they can never match.”

Smith takes advantage of as many tools within Vision as possible in order to provide the level of service his company has become known for. He monitors his network and subscriber connections with Vision’s color-coded tools and maps, so he’s quickly able to identify issues and keep customers informed. He consistently evaluates and adjusts workflows to evolve business practices.

Intercept also takes advantage of Vision’s online signup and demand aggregation features, as well as new marketing tools to further increase take rates. This enables Smith to see where interest is highest so he can plan expansion projects accordingly. He also takes advantage of Vision’s next-level direct mail tools to send postcards with address-specific QR codes, allowing potential subscribers to immediately see exactly what services are available to their individual location.

Smith takes an open-minded approach to new developments within Vision, always curious and keen to try new features and experiment with new ways of working within the software. He says that the more he can integrate into the system, the more efficient Intercept can be.

“Using all of Vision’s tools has really helped us install more customers quickly,” Smith said. “If we had to use multiple systems for marketing, sales, calendaring, billing and network management, it would be an expensive hassle and take us a lot longer.”

As Intercept continues to expand its fiber network, Smith knows the company will be successful because of the immense knowledge he and his team are gaining from Vision and its support team.

“I know a lot about fiber now because I have great partners who are teaching me stuff,” Smith says. “They’re not just throwing a manual at me and they’re not just doing it for me – they’re helping me learn.”