Gibson Connect Announces Rapid Deployment of Bark to Their Employees, Board Members, and Across Their Communities, Enabled by the Calix Broadband Platform

Gibson Connect leaves Calix ConneXions 2023 inspired to quickly deploy Bark text and social media monitoring to safeguard children from the harmful impacts of cyberbullying, deploying first to their employees and board members before launching across their Tennessee and Kentucky communities

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced that Tennessee-based cooperative Gibson Connect is deploying Bark on the Calix broadband platform to their communities, employees, and board members. Bark is an AI-powered text and social media monitoring managed service for families that broadband service providers (BSPs) can deploy on the Calix platform to help protect children from a wide range of online dangers. Inspired by last week’s Calix ConneXions 2023 customer success and innovation conference, Gibson Connect leadership is fast-tracking the launch of Bark to families across their communities.

A subsidiary of Gibson Electric Membership Corporation (EMC), Gibson Connect will start by providing Bark to all employees and board members and then extend the managed service to Gibson’s members across Tennessee and Kentucky. Bark monitors texts and over 30 apps and social media platforms. It provides parents and guardians with real-time alerts when their child faces online dangers, such as cyberbullying and child predation—empowering families to address issues immediately.

Thanks to the power of the Calix platform, Gibson Connect can deploy Bark in a matter of days, following in the footsteps of other innovative BSPs like ALLO Communications, Siyeh Communications, and Tombigbee Fiber.

“At ConneXions, I was reminded of how aligned Bark is to Gibson’s mission of enhancing our members’ quality of life by providing exceptional services that are reliable, affordable, and safe,” said Dan Rodamaker, president and chief executive officer at Gibson EMC and Gibson Connect. “Just as we did years ago with electricity, we are bringing fiber broadband to communities that no one else would serve. We are making a multi-generational impact that improves education, employment, and economic vitality. Providing Bark is an incredible opportunity for us to expand on that investment and deliver even more value to our members by enabling parents to help protect their children from cyberbullying and other online threats. We live our values, and I am excited that Calix has made it so easy for us to provide this critical service to our communities.”

By introducing Bark, Gibson Connect reinforces their commitment to ensuring a safe online experience for members. The cooperative already provides residential subscribers access to ProtectIQ® home network security and ExperienceIQ® advanced home network controls.

“Our customers, whether for-profit or a member-owned cooperative, have one thing in common: They care about their communities,” said Michael Weening, president and chief executive officer at Calix. “In the past, it has been hard for a BSP to launch a new service, often taking significant investment and 12 to 24 months. The Calix platform has changed that paradigm, enabling BSPs of all sizes to launch new services, like Bark, in days without engineering support. That means Dan and the Gibson team can take their investment in the communities they serve to the next level—living their community-centric values by launching Bark in days to quickly support employees, board members, parents, children, and teachers for no additional integration investment. Doing the right thing has never been easier, and we are proud to support Gibson and Bark.”

Learn more about Bark on the Calix platform. Watch the webinar replay, “Will Your Broadband Business Protect Your Most Vulnerable Subscribers?” and schedule a Bark consultation.

About Calix

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX)—Broadband service providers of all sizes leverage the Calix platform and teams to simplify their business and excite their subscribers to grow the value of their business and for their communities for generations. The democratizing power of the platform and portfolio of managed services enables them to operate efficiently, acquire subscribers, and deliver exceptional experiences. Calix is dedicated to driving continuous improvement in partnership with our growing ecosystem to support the transformation of our customers and their communities.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this release, and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from current expectations based on risks and uncertainties affecting Calix’s business. The reader is cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix’s results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov.

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