Volume 49, No 1 Clear Lake, South Dakota 57226 May 2015

Bell Ringer

When you make a call to place an order or contact a “local” help desk, do you ever wonder where that business office is located? These days it is not uncommon to be talking with someone half-way across the world. And all along, you thought you were dealing with a local company. What does local mean to you?

At ITC local means we live and work right here, where you do. When you call or stop by one of our offices, there is a good chance you will be working with an employee who is one of your neighbors or friends.

ITC has offices in five our of communities. Our headquarters office is located in Clear Lake. We also have offices in Brookings, Clark, Milbank, and Webster. We want you to be able to walk in the door to an office that is never far away.

When you call our help desk for Phone, Internet, or TV, you can be reassured that you are talking to someone who lives in South Dakota, not a foreign country.

Our Installer/Repair Technicians (IR Techs) are local too. You probably know them by their first name because you see them at the local cafe, at the ball game, or at Church. They live in your neighborhood, and you probably call them by their first name too.

ITC serves more than 30 communities in Eastern South Dakota and Western Minnesota. We are proud of our rural, small town values, and we support our local clubs and organizations, just like you. We offer good jobs that help improve the local economy.

We take the time to get to know you so when you sign up for one of our services, we can give you just what you need, no more, no less.

The best part about being local? We get to build relationships. You are not just a customer; you are a member of our Cooperative. You belong. We’d like to say “Thank you” for supporting ITC. We are your local Coop!

Two $1,500 Scholarships Available From SDTAThe South Dakota Telecommunications Association (SDTA) has announced that it will award two $1,500 SDTA Memorial Scholarships for the 2015 fall semester.

The SDTA Memorial Scholarships will be awarded to students who have completed at least two semesters of a multi-year program at any of South Dakota’s accredited technical schools or two semesters at any other accredited post-secondary higher education institution in South Dakota. Applicants that attend a post-secondary higher education institution must be majoring in a program with technical skills or a field of study that is particularly useful for work in the telecommunications or broadband industry. The applicant must be a member/customer or have parents that are member/customers of an SDTA member company.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is May 31, 2015. Applications are available from any South Dakota post-secondary institution student financial aid office, the SDTA office (605-224-7629 or info@sdtaonline.com) or any SDTA member company. The scholarship can also be completed online at http://sdtaonline.com/resources/sdta-scholarship/.

ITC InternetHelp Desk

1.888.217.5718

ITC Digital TVHelp Desk

1.800.455.5958

The year 2015 has certainly gotten off to a fast start! Can you believe one-third of the year has already come and gone? Now that we are into the month of May, parents of school-aged children and graduates are probably quite busy with graduation plans and signing their children up for all of the summer recreational activities. If the next one-third of the year goes as fast as the first, before you know it, these same parents will be busy getting their kids school supplies bought for next school year!

Everyone here at your Cooperative has been busy during the first portion of 2015. We all continue with our efforts to provide our members with high-quality services every day of every month throughout the year. In order for us to achieve this goal, many of ITC’s personnel are kept busy behind the scenes. They are testing, and working with our software and hardware vendors who actually develop the services that you utilize in your daily lives.

I think most people would be amazed at the level of involvement that a company like ITC has in the process of making sure a service is ready for deployment. We have a number of ITC personnel that are currently testing and capturing data on a new device that will be utilized in the fiber-to-the-home projects in our Gary and Lake Norden exchanges. This new device will become an integral part of the network that will provide customers with their voice, video, and data services in a more efficient manner. We are hopeful that the device will be fully developed within the next few weeks so we can begin the conversion of these customers’ services from the old copper to the new fiber cables. We believe the extra time and effort that we put forth now is definitely worth it as it will eliminate customer problems in the future.

Along with all of the activities that we have going on in-house, our outside personnel is equally as busy. ITC construction crews have many jobs planned for this spring and summer to meet the ever changing needs of our members. As you all know many of these jobs require our personnel to work along our roads and highways. I will stress the importance of slowing down and driving safely through ALL construction zones and areas. Please do your part to keep all construction workers safe.

We continue to work to achieve our goal of replacing all of our old cable facilities with new fiber optic cable. ITC has awarded this year’s fiber-to-the-home contract to Anderson Underground. Their construction crews will be installing new fiber optic cable to ITC residents and businesses in the towns of Bryant, Florence, and Willow Lake. Customers in the town of Hendricks and around Lake Hendricks will also be receiving an upgrade to fiber. The actual conversion process to cut the service over to this new cable facility will occur throughout the winter months of 2015 and into the new year of 2016.

As you can see, 2015 is shaping up to be another exciting and busy year. As always, please feel free to give me a call if you ever have a comment or question about what is happening here at your Cooperative.

Simple, Honest, Clear

By Jerry Heiberger, General Manager

Meet ITC’s Newest EmployeeITC would like you to meet Tony Nielsen. Tony is working in our Construction Department. He is originally from Brandt, South Dakota. Tony graduated from Deuel High School and got his Electrical Construction degree from Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Canby, Minnesota. Tony and his wife Danay, have two children. In his spare time, Tony enjoys working on the family farm. He also likes to camp with the family. Welcome, Tony!

312 Fourth St W PO Box 920

Clear Lake, SD 57226-0920http://itc-web.com

1-800-417-8667

* Published monthly for $.25 * Periodicals postage paid at Clear Lake, SD

Bell Ringer

Postmaster: Send address changes to:

Interstate Telecommunications Cooperative, Inc.

P.O. Box 920Clear Lake, SD 57226-0920

(USPS # 155-720)

Kathy Weitala, Editor

If you are interested in an ITC Director position, this is your chance to represent Coop members in your area. See the information below for positions that are up for re-election this year. District 1: Castlewood, Clear Lake, Estelline, and GoodwinDistrict 2: Astoria, Brandt, Gary, Toronto, and White. District 4: Brookings and Elkton.District 8: Bradley, Florence, Waubay, and Webster.A notice will be sent to members in the above districts on May 18. Petitions for a director nomination need to be in by June 12. Ballots and biographies will be mailed on June 22 and are due on or before July 10. If you would rather vote in person versus mailing your ballot, you can do that at ITC Headquarters on July 10. If you have any questions, call Todd Morris at 1.800.417.8667.

DirectorElections

Update

ITC is pleased to introduce you to Deb Schwartz. Deb has seen many changes in the telecommunications industry in her 33 years. When she first started at ITC, the main service offering was telephone. Soon after, special features such as Caller ID, Three-way Calling, and Call Waiting became available. Today ITC still provides telephone service, but those offerings also include Internet and TV. Deb says, “Providing all three services is a lot more complicated.”

Today you will find Deb at the headquarters office in Clear Lake, South Dakota. When she first started, she

worked in the Brookings Office. At that time, the company was known as Brookings Lake Telephone. It wasn’t until after the merger with Deuel Telephone in the 90’s that she relocated to Clear Lake.

Deb works in the Review Department. Some of the things she is responsible for on a day-to-day basis include products and pricing, reports, writing and reviewing service orders, dispatching troubles, and answering the phone. Those duties keep her very busy!

Growing up in rural Estelline, Deb has always been a part of the Coop. She says, “The Coop means the Customer is the Company.” Deb and her husband, Ron, live in White, SD. They have two grown kids and five grandchildren. Any spare time Deb has is spent with her family.

One interesting thing you might not know about Deb is that she has driven more than 350,000 miles over her 33 years to get to work and back home. That is a lot of miles - drive safe Deb!!

By Holly Stormo,

Marketing Communications Specialist

CooperativelySpeaking

YouTubeKids

Does your toddler or younger child want to watch videos just like the adults or older kids? YouTube has come out with a new app called YouTube Kids. This app is now one of the “Top of the Charts” applications in the Apple App Store. It combines learning, discovery, and entertainment all together in one place.

Since this app is designed for kids, it is very easy to navigate. Kids can enjoy a full TV show like Sesame Street or Thomas and Friends. They can also learn how to do simple crafts or decorate a cake. There is music and a sing- along option too.

This app also provides some parental settings like a timer to limit the amount of time your child spends on it. Just note, that if your child goes in and out of the app, the timer will reset. So like all apps, you still need to monitor your child. The app also allows you to turn off the search so your child will have a more contained experience.

T h e a p p h a s a w i l d assortment of videos that are designed for little curious minds. It can also be used as a great learning tool!

If you have not cashed your capital credit check from ITC yet, you might want to do that. Also, go to the ITC website at www.itc-web.com under “About ITC” and take a look under “News and Announcements” to see if your name is on the list.

The Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program (TEDP) is for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, or speech-impaired with difficulty communicating over the phone. To be eligible for the equipment from this program, you must be a South Dakota resident, have difficulty communicating on the phone due to hearing/speech impairments, and have existing phone service in your home.

Special equipment making it possible to talk on the phone is available at no cost through the TEDP. They stock phones that offer speakerphone with volume adjustments, volume amplifier, large visual display, oversized and lighted dial buttons, hearing aid

compatible phones, visual ringer alert or adjustable loud ringer, sound frequency clarifying adjustment, and tone adjustment.

To apply, visit relaysd.com/tedp, email at TEDP@c-s-d.org, or call the Sioux Falls office at 1.866.246.5759 V/TTY. Additional Minnesota information will be coming your way at a later date.

Program-SD

South Dakota Relay ServiceIf you require assistance using the telephone system due to a hearing or speech impairment, or need to communicate with someone who has such an impairment, contact the Communication Service for the Deaf. They are equipped with Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDDs) and provide the service. For more information on Voice Carry-over and Hearing Carry-over services call 1.800.642.6410. To contact and use the USA Relay for call processing, call 711 or 1.800.877.1113.

South Dakota (or Minnesota residents) can get more information by going to page seven of your 2015 ITC Phone Book. Watch for Minnesota information at a later date.

Programs For The Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing

Capital CreditsChecks?

Bills are mailed on the first of each month, and payment is due on the 19th of that month, unless otherwise indicated on the “Due Date” portion of your statement. Prompt payment is required. NO PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS WILL BE GRANTED.

586, 629, 693, 794,795, 826, 832, 873,874, 876.June 11 -------------------- Disconnect dayfor the following prefixes: 345, 432, 438, 532, 623, 625, 628, 676, 756, 758, 783, 784, 785, 793, 947.

When sending payment to ITC , customers should return the TOP portion of the bill that says, “PLEASE TEAR ALONG PERFORATION AND REMIT WITH PAYMENT.”

Remit Top Portion Of Bill With Payment

Important Dates

April 30 ------------------Bills mailed from ITCMay 19 -------------------------Payment dueMay 19 ----------------- Final notices mailedJune 9------------------------Disconnect dayfor the following prefixes: 272, 275, 277, 368, 479, 483, 489, 542, 548,

Periodical Postage Paid At Clear Lake, South Dakota 57226

Mobile applications (or apps) can offer a fast and convenient way for us to access information and help us perform various tasks. If you own a smart device such as a tablet or smartphone, then chances are you’re somewhat familiar with the extensive catalog of apps available to you. This month we’ll take a look at a few of the options and a brief explanation of what each one does. You may already be familiar with some of these.OverDrive: With the Overdrive app, the library comes to you. With over 30,000 libraries worldwide providing educational and entertainment resources, you’re certain to find something of interest. The content delivery options available are via audio books, ebooks, and video streaming. Evernote: Evernote is perfect for organizing your daily activities. You can create to-do lists, take notes and pictures, create reminders, and much more. Dropbox: Dropbox allows you to save and view your files across multiple devices; including a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet, as long as you have Internet to access them. YouTube: There are plenty of senseless videos on YouTube for sure, but there is also a wealth of informational material available. Perhaps its greatest advantage is the immense diversity of topics.NPR News: This news app allows you to stay informed on both local and national news topics. Among many other options, you have the ability to read stories, bookmark your favorite stations, and create playlists of stories.The Weather Channel: Weather plays a big role in most of our everyday lives, and The Weather Channel app can provide us with up-to-date forecasts at our fingertips.MyFitnessPal: MyFitnessPal is an app that helps you lose weight and track fitness your goals. Once you have entered your goals, it will help you keep track of your progress.Pinterest: Pinterest is commonly referred to as an online pin board. Essentially, it is a tool that will help you discover ideas for all sorts of projects and interests.WhatsApp: There are many free messenger apps available, but the WhatsApp is one of the most popular choices. It provides a great way to stay in touch with friends and colleagues.TripAdvisor: If you are planning on doing some traveling in the future, then TripAdvisor can be a great resource to help you find information about your destination. The app can help you research information on the best airfare, hotels, restaurants, and more.Tumblr: Tumblr is the combination of traditional blogging and social media platforms. Users can easily share their own thoughts, pictures, videos, or links with other members.

Again, these are just a few of the many options available. The best part is; they’re all free! So if you’re looking for an app to help you with whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish, chances are “There’s an App for That.”

Get the Popcorn - It’s Movie Night!

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Internet 911

By Lonny Dockendorf, Internet Systems Technician

Blackhat - © 2015 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. Mortdecai - © 2015 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Selma - © 2014 PATHE PRODUCTIONS LIMITED All Rights Reserved. Spare Parts - © 2014 PANTELION, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Artwork: © 2015 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Strange Magic - © 2015 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.