MYTH: Cities don't have the expertise to run a communications company.

FACT: Expertise, in the form of human and technical resources, is readily available.

This myth has been often repeated over the years as new municipal communications systems were created. Yet these systems are all operating extremely well. How did they do it? How did they develop the expertise to operate a communications company?

Quite simply, they hired it. Here are just two examples:

• Spencer Municipal Utilities (SMU) had no problem finding the key personnel it needed to plan for and operate its system. For the most part, those people already lived in the Spencer area, working for other communications companies. In fact, the first five SMU communications employees brought a combined 70 years of experience with them to work at the municipal system.
• Independence hired a telecom manager with 19 years of technical and management experience. All told, their 4 key employees had 40 years of experience.

Municipal communications utilities are great places to work. They offer very competitive wages and benefits and a safe and pleasant working environment. These factors attract the expertise that is needed to operate the company.

In addition to employees, municipal communications utilities have access to the same outside resources as private companies. These resources include consultants, contractors, and engineers.

And when it comes to the expertise in customer service, municipal communications utilities are truly unmatched. One of the key differences between large, private companies and small, municipal companies is how they handle customer service. Municipals believe in working with each customer as an individual, not as a “revenue generating unit” as private companies call them. Most municipals pride themselves in maintaining superb customer service through a knowledgeable and caring staff that is part of the community they serve. Rather than routing customer calls to a call center in a distant city, municipals answer the phone themselves and work one-on-one with customers to resolve issues. It’s a completely different philosophy than most private companies, and its one of the greatest strengths of municipal systems.