How Scott County Telephone Cooperative Modernized Service with MACC and GOCare
Scott County Telephone Cooperative (SCTC) has been serving the communities of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee for over 70 years. What started as a mission to bring telephone service to rural Appalachia has grown into a full-service broadband cooperative — one that now competes in a market where customer experience matters as much as network quality. A major driver for growth is the partnership with Powell Valley Electric Cooperative (PVEC) to leverage its fiber infrastructure to deliver broadband and phone services under the PVECFiber brand. SCTC also works with other internet providers like IRIS, LIT, and Level 3 to ensure reliable connectivity.
With a growing subscriber base and rising customer expectations, SCTC needed more than a great network. They needed their back-office systems and customer-facing tools to work together: seamlessly, proactively, and at scale.
The Challenge: Modernizing Without Adding Complexity
Like many rural cooperatives, SCTC faced pressure to deliver a customer experience that rivals much larger providers, without the luxury of a large support team. Customers expected fast answers, proactive communication, and multiple ways to reach out. Meanwhile, internal teams were managing billing, work orders, and customer communications across disconnected systems.
The cooperative was already a MACC customer, relying on the platform to run their billing and operations. The question was: how do you extend that foundation outward to the customer?
“The platform has significantly enhanced transparency and accessibility for our customers by providing multiple, always-available communication channels, improving response times and overall customer satisfaction.”— Jacob Muse, NOC Technician II / IT Administrator, Scott County Telephone Cooperative
The Solution: MACC + GOCare, Working Together
SCTC deployed two GOCare products — GOCare Messenger and GOCare Connect — both tightly integrated with their MACC billing system and Calix network management platform.
GOCare Messenger
Brought proactive, automated two-way messaging to SCTC’s subscriber relationships. Triggered by billing cycles, scheduled appointments, and work order closings, Messenger delivers payment reminders, bill status updates, and appointment notifications without requiring staff to lift a finger. Customers can respond using simple keywords, and the system handles replies automatically. A key requirement was to support multiple brands and SCTC’s partnership with PVEC; SMS communications are customized so that PVEC members received alerts labeled “PVEC Alert” rather than “SCTC Alert.” This ensured customers experienced messaging that was both timely and aligned with the PVECFiber brand, reinforcing trust and clarity in every communication.
GOCare Connect
SCTC wanted to extend customer service options to today’s preferred digital channels (two-way SMS, webchat, , and email). GOCare Connect unified all these customer communications into a single agent interface. Rather than toggling between systems, SCTC’s support staff now sees account, billing, and network data in context, right alongside the customer conversation. The result: faster resolutions, less manual effort, and a contact center that operates more like a modern support team than a traditional call center.
And critically, it all connects back to MACC. Customer records, billing data, and account history flow through the integration, so agents aren’t re-entering information or switching platforms to answer basic questions.
The Impact:
- Consistent month-over-month reduction in non-pay disconnects
- SMS Resolutions now over 50% faster than voice, with less manual work
- Faster customer responses across all channels
“Scott County Telephone Cooperative knows a great customer experience gives us a competitive advantage. Integrating GOCare with Calix and MACC will create a best-in-class customer experience for our customers.” — Matthew Hill, CEO of SCTC
What’s Next
SCTC’s deployment continues to grow. GOCare OutageIQ, a proactive outage notification solution, is currently in implementation and will automatically alert impacted subscribers during service disruptions, further reducing inbound call volume and relieving pressure on the customer operations team.
Why It Works
The MACC and GOCare integration is about connecting the tools that matter to you. When billing data, network management, and customer communication share a common thread, cooperatives like SCTC can deliver a consistent, responsive experience without growing their headcount.
Ready to see what MACC and GOCare can do together? Get in touch:
MACCsales@maccnet.com | 402-426-6222
sales@gocarecx.com | gocarecx.com