Third Quarter, 1999
Mark Your Calendar for Open House!
The last NATCO Open House of the 1900s will fall on another important date. The 1999 NATCO Open House has been set for November 11, which is also Veterans Day. Look for some new events, plus recurrence of all the favorite traditional events: the children’s drawings and students’ essays, the booths, the food and drink, the demonstration of business services at a special time, and the awarding of great door prizes. So, make a note on your calendar to attend the NATCO Open House the afternoon of November 11, 1999. It will be your last chance to do so this century. Details will be announced soon. |
If you haven’t checked your e-mail lately, there might be something really useful in your inbox. That would be: Volume 1, Issue 1 of Natco Net News. The first issue of Natco Net News was e-mailed through cyberspace in mid-July to all NATCO Internet customers. It’s a new way NATCO provides information useful to Internet customers specifically. It’s all about using the Web. Articles will appear that deal with e-mail, dial-up access and Web sites. The first issue included an article on e-mail viruses and provided the e-mail address for questions and comments. The second issue featured "Better Searching Techniques" with Web addresses, more Y2K information, and tips for using e-mail messaging programs. Natco Net News, Issue 3, is being planned as this print newsletter goes to press. Web users may send their questions and comments to the e-mail address listed, which is custserv@natconet.com. Past issues of the newsletter are archived online at www.natconet.com/newsletter/. |
Lobby hours are now 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (New hours went into effect July 6, 1999.) Our doors are open until 4:30, and we’ll answer the phone until 5 p.m. The drop box for payments has been moved nearer the building and next to the front door. We hope this is a better location for you. Bank of Yellville’s cooperation in accepting NATCO bill payments has been great and is continuing. NATCO customers may pay their telephone bills and Natco Technologies customers may pay their Internet service bills at any Bank of Yellville location. Locations are:
|
Flippin Receives New
Computers for
Flippin Public School’s Petra Pershall (above, left) observes Tony White of Harrison finishing installation of six computer stations in the high school’s new media lab. The equipment was purchased with a $95,000 Arkansas Department of Education Technology Literacy Challenge Fund grant and will allow students to continue the South Shore Memory Project. The South Shore Memory Project started last school year under the direction of Allen C. Benson, Arkansas State University Mountain Home director of library services, who worked with the Flippin students and instructors, Dianne Wade and Sandie Melton. The new media lab will enable participation by all high school students and faculty in the continuation of the South Shore Memory Project. The goal of the project is to create a computer-based library that preserves family histories of local people in text, images, and sound. Students have interviewed many of Flippin’s older citizens, scanned old photographs onto the computer and recorded the voices of those interviewed. The initial $25,000 funding of the digital history project was by the South Shore Foundation, the charitable foundation funded by Northern Arkansas Telephone Company. Tony White is of A Plus Computers of Harrison, the company that was the successful bidder on supplying the computer equipment. Pershall is the library media specialist at Flippin High School and project director. |
Six High School Grads Earn
$1,000
Recipients of the 1999 South Shore Annual Academic Scholarships, their school, college plans, and parents are:
NATCO Vice President Betty Barker Smith, also a South Shore Foundation trustee, presented scholarship certificates to the students at school ceremonies. "The South Shore Academic Scholarships are awarded to encourage young people to continue their high academic performance as they enter higher education," Smith said. |
To Serve You Better, Three The customer service department has added three employees to serve you better, according to NATCO Vice President Betty Barker Smith. The new employees are: Teresa Willis, Melva Altheide and Melissa Merkel. "We are pleased to announce these individuals as customer service representatives. They have a wealth of experience in serving the public and in fulfilling responsible positions in their careers up to this point. I invite our customers to call them with any questions about NATCO services," Smith said. Teresa Willis, receptionist, is a former secretary at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. She and her husband, Robert, have one daughter, Shelbi-Ann, age 3. He works at Hopper Termite. Mrs. Willis is a graduate of Cotter High School and attended Arkansas State University for two years. They attend Flippin Baptist Church and reside in the Buford area of Baxter County. She enjoys sports and outdoor activities such as camping and hiking. Melva Altheide, customer service representative, is a new resident of the area, coming here from Lawrence, Kansas, where she was an executive secretary with National Computer Systems. She and her husband, Fred, have one grown daughter who resides at Lowell. Mrs. Altheide grew up in Jerico Springs, Mo., graduated from high school at Stockton, Mo., and attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence. She enjoys the lake and the outdoors and is an avid reader. Melissa Merkel, customer service representative, graduated from Mountain Home High School in 1993 and has lived in Marion County for five years. She attended Arkansas State University for one year and has been employed by CenturyTel. She is married to Fred Merkel, who works at Metalogic.
New NATCO staff members are (from left) Melva Altheide, customer service representative, Teresa Willis, receptionist, and Melissa Merkel, customer service representative. |
Sixth Annual Directory Recycling Project
Please help with this effort; it benefits all of us!
For more information, contact your NATCO customer service representatives. Call 1-800-775-6682 then press 4 for a customer service representative or within any NATCO exchange dial (870) 453-8800 toll free. |
Bull Shoals Lake -
White River Chamber, South Shore Foundation Board of Trustees continues to help area nonprofit associations with grants for communications technology and community betterment. Trustees approved two grant applications at their second quarterly meeting, held May 6. Those receiving grants were:
Turner said the Bull Shoals Lake-White River Chamber of Commerce’s new Web site will better inform Internet users who are researching travel or retirement topics about the Bull Shoals Lake-White River area. It will be updated monthly with calendar and member information. Also, the chamber will make available for the use of members, tourists, and the general public in the Bull Shoals Lake-White River area a computer supplied with NATCO Fast Net (high-speed access to the Internet through an ISDN telephone line). ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network and is a two-channel line allowing telephone and computer use simultaneously. Turner said, "Our chamber is
contributing $1,500 of its own funds toward this project, and we are looking forward to
this expansion of our Internet capabilities. Our committee encourages members who do not
have Internet service to come to our office and use the service we are able to furnish
through this gran Chuck Copeland of the Pyatt Fire and Defense Association sought funds to replace radios that were outdated and incompatible with the county’s new repeater system and could not communicate with the Marion County Sheriff’s office. He said the department provides emergency services to approximately 350 households.
South Shore Foundation recently awarded the Bull Shoals Lake-White River Chamber of Commerce a grant of over $8,000 to provide Internet access to the organization’s members and to visitors to the Bull Shoals Lake-White River area. Pictured are South Shore Foundation Trustees Betty Barker Smith (standing, left) and Howard Evans (seated, left) with BSL-WR Chamber of Commerce Director Dianna Roller (seated, right) and chamber President Millie Graham (standing, right). The chamber contributed $1,500 in matching funds for the project. South Shore Web Site Puts
You,
At www.southshore.com/moviepage.htm, Web users will now find a Quick Time Video that allows the viewer to observe the scenery in a full circle. The videos loaded on the site are for Internet browsers having Quick Time plug-in devices. "With the Quick Time Video,
Web users have the capability to see The vantage points of the videos
are as follows: Top O’ the Ozarks Tower, Bull Shoals Dam, and the middle of the White
River just below the Bull Shoals Dam. "Hot spots" in the photos show Web users
where the photographer stoo When the viewer goes to the South Shore Web site home page, there are instructions about how to download the newest Quick Time version from Apple’s Quick Time Web site. There are three different quality versions, varying in size from 2438 Kb (highest quality) to 274 (lower quality), which can also be downloaded as zipped files. The South Shore Web site was designed and is maintained by Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing of Mountain Home.
If you have not received a new directory, please call NATCO’s customer service 1-800-775-6682, extension 4, and please hold your old directory for recycling. Your new directory has listings for NATCO and Yelcot telephone customers and yellow page advertising for NATCO and Yelcot area businesses. It also contains white page listings for Harrison and Mountain Home. But, there’s more. The directory is a handy reference for emergency and community information. Emergency telephone numbers are listed on the inside cover. The Ozark Regional Directory was produced by Consolidated Communications Directories of Effingham, Illinois, with cover design by Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing Inc. of Mountain Home. Internet Seminar to be Held for OMR Members Ozark Mountain Region, NATCO and Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing Inc. are sponsoring a seminar focusing on how to use the Internet in tourism-related businesses. All OMR members are invited to attend the free seminar. Date and location is:
The seminar will be held from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. with registration beginning at 8:00, and will consist of four workshops and a variety of equipment demonstrations. Seminar attendees can select to attend one or all sessions. Specific session times and topics are:
Internet technicians will be on hand to answer questions about Internet services. Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing representatives will be available to answer questions about Web site construction and maintenance services. The seminar is free for OMR members, but seating is limited. To become an OMR member or reserve your spot you must call Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing at 870-425-8064. Reservations are required, so call BJM today. Limited Time Savings Offered for ISDN Service Do you favor efficiency? Speed? Value? A "yes" to even one is reason enough to upgrade your telephone service to an ISDN telephone line. ISDN improves efficiency:
ISDN offers speed:
NATCO offers a combined ISDN line and Internet access called Fast Net to serve the person to whom Internet access is more than just a pastime or entertainment. (Fast Net residential is $40 per month; Fast Net business is $55 per month.) ISDN offers value: NATCO hasn’t changed our price for ISDN service since the New York Times declared it the lowest in the nation at $17.90 for a residence and $28.15 for a business. For a limited time, NATCO will waive the set-up service fee and provide the twelfth month of ISDN service free. Call today for a demonstration or to discuss the advantages of ISDN at your convenience. Call 1-800-775-6682 ext. 204 and have Teresa schedule your demo or connect you with a customer service representative who will set up your ISDN or Fast Net service. NATCO’s Web site hosting services are available to any business, organization or individual anywhere in the United States. NATCO, one of Arkansas’ first Internet Service Providers to support virtual domains, offers these hosting services:
NATCO Offers Economy And Deluxe
Site Hosting Packages Twin Lakes Region's First and
Largest Serving 17 communities in Arkansas, NATCO offers unlimited local access (and the additional services below) for as little as $19.95 per month.
No toll charges for these towns:
Unlimited Dial-up Access Service $19.95 Per Month 1-800-775-6682 We also offer a $28.95 Internet plan which includes all of the features listed plus server space and CGI-bin directory access. Free e-mail account - choose from any of these domains:
Sign up today at any of the three NATCO Technologies Partners!
We offer gift certificates for all Internet services.
South Shore's site features tourism, relocation and business information for 17 communities in or near the south shore of Bull Shoals Lake. The site includes driving tours, online calendar of events, maps, online yellow page links and news from the South Shore Foundation, the nonprofit economic development organization funded by NATCO.
NATCO's Web site features "NATCO News" newsletter online, current news about the telephone company and detailed information on the digital services offered. At www.natconet.com/newsletter/, you can find our new electronic newsletter for Internet customers.
| About NATCO | Affiliations
| Services | Employment
| Customer Info | Northern
Arkansas Telephone Company | 301 East Main Street | Flippin, Arkansas,
72634
|
05.08.2001bjm318FP98
NATCO and the following businesses and city offices are working
together on a convenient, environmentally friendly way to discard your old telephone
directory. By now you probably have received your new Ozark Regional Directory and you may
drop off your old directory in the NATCO directory collection container at one of the
locations listed below. NATCO will recycle any telephone book you have, not just your
Ozark Regional Directory. 
Bull Shoals Lake-White River Chamber of
Commerce will use its grant from the South Shore Foundation at Flippin to build a new
Internet Web site, set up a "public kiosk" Internet computer system and provide
Internet access to the public and members at its office. Eric Turner, chairperson of the
Internet Committee, said the grant comes at a much needed time and will greatly enhance
the member services the chamber offers.
t. It is for the members, and when visitors stop by during their
stay, it is for them to use, also."
Internet users everywhere are invited to enjoy a new feature of
the South Shore Web site that will help them get a closer look at the scenery of the
Arkansas Ozarks. 
what the
photographer saw at the site, and to zoom in and zoom out on portions of the
scenery," said South Shore Foundation President Dr. Steven G. Sanders. "We think
everyone will enjoy the sensation of really being at the scene," he said. 
d when making the video.
The new Ozark Regional Telephone Directory has arrived. Dated September 1999, its cover is
dark green and features a boy at a computer viewing Bull Shoals Lake scenery as if in a
movie. The art work illustrates that the South Shore Foundation Web site contains a
"Quick Time Video" which brings the viewer into the photo giving a panoramic
glance at the scene. For a look, visit the site at 
