Blog

The Buy Local Loop The phrase “what goes around comes around” applies to many things, including your local economy. When your company and other businesses keep your dollars local, you benefit the community, local nonprofit agencies, friends and neighbors, and—ultimately—your own business. Here’s how it works: Why It Pays to Think Twice Before Shopping OnlineRead more

What is a Smart Rural Community? You’ve heard of smart homes, smart phones, and the smart grid, which all rely on broadband technology to operate more effectively and efficiently. The same technology can be used to enhance entire communities. Broadband enables rural Americans to enhance competitiveness and quality of life. You’ve heard of smart homes,Read more

What is a Smart Farm? It’s an exciting time to be in farming. With an expected 9.6 billion people to feed by 2050, the agriculture industry must continuously find ways to produce more food more easily. Seamless online access increases efficiency, security, and profit. Working Smarter As operations become more internet-based, farmers have an increasingRead more

Is That Bad Review a Good Idea? Customer reviews carry a lot of weight with other customers (or would-be customers). Five-star reviews can bring floods of news customers, while negative reviews can bury a small business… Customer reviews carry a lot of weight with other customers (or would-be customers). Five-star reviews can bring floods ofRead more

Len Schwartz Honored by Illinois Telecommunications Association Springfield, IL – During its 2017 Annual Meeting and Convention, the Illinois Telecommunications Association (ITA) announced the Member Company Employee Recognition Award.  This honor is bestowed annually in recognition of an individual’s service to the Illinois Telecommunications Association.  This year the ITA recognized Leonard J. Schwartz, Vice PresidentRead more

Phone Scams: Caller ID Spoofing In a previous article, we talked about robocall phone scams —unsolicited automated calls with pre-recorded messages. As frustrating (and illegal) as these calls are themselves, another phone scam threat (which can include robocalls) is caller ID spoofing… Caller ID began rolling out to phone lines in the 1980s, becoming moreRead more

Phone Scams: Stopping Robocalls Unsolicited phone calls have always been annoying, but the market has gotten a lot more sophisticated over the years—and don’t always involve a person on the other end of the line. Robocalls—auto-dialed calls with prerecorded messages (or even texts) that you didn’t ask for—can be an occasional annoyance or a constantRead more

National vs. Rural Internet Pricing When you live in a small town (especially if you were once a city-dweller), you love the pace of life but may miss one major perk: high-speed internet at urban pricing. You may even think, “Well, I guess I don’t really need the speed.” Or you might just grumble, “HowRead more