Past Issues:

Citynet Customer Newsletter: The Top 10 Reasons You Need CityVault by Citynet for Your Servers
Summary: Why Your Servers Need CityVault; 2009 Core Value Award Winners
Date: 06/01/2009

Citynet Customer Newsletter: Citynet CEO Jim Martin Wins SBA Award
Summary: Citynet CEO Jim Martin Wins SBA Award; Meet the Newest Member of the Citynet Team; Recession Proof Your IT Spending
Date: 05/01/2009

Citynet Customer Newsletter: Learn How to Thrive in this Economy!
Summary: Coming Up Next Week: Learn How to Thrive in this Economy!; What Computer Viruses Teach Us; Easily Back-Up ALL of Your Important Data; Citynet VP Craig Behr Receives Special Recognition
Date: 04/01/2009

Citynet Customer Newsletter: Be Prepared for Spring Storms
Summary: Be Prepared for Spring Storms; Top 10 Reasons to Backup Your Data with CityVault; CityVault Customer Testimonial
Date: 03/01/2009

Citynet Customer Newsletter: WV Customers New Dial-Up Account Procedures
Summary: How to Modify Your Citynet Dial-Up Account for 10-Digit Dialing
Date: 02/01/2009

Citynet Customer Newsletter: Happy New Year!
Summary: Happy New Year!; Make 2009 the Year to Conquer SPAM; Anti-Spam Email Tips; Be On the Alert for New Phishing Schemes; Citynet's Ben Randolph Promoted to Vice-President
Date: 01/01/2009

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2008: December 2008   |  November 2008   |  October 2008   |  September 2008   |  August 2008   |  July 2008   |  June 2008
May 2008   |  April 2008   |  March 2008   |  February 2008   |  January 2008

2007: December 2007   |  November 2007   |  October 2007   |  September 2007   |  August 2007   |  July 2007   |  June 2007
May 2007   |  April 2007   |  March 2007   |  February 2007   |  January 2007

2006: December 2006   |  November 2006   |  October 2006   |  September 2006   |  August 2006   |  July 2006   |  June 2006
May 2006   |  April 2006   |  March 2006   |  February 2006   |  January 2006

Older: December 2005   |  November 2005   |  October 2005   |  September 2005   |  August 2005   |  January 2003
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April 2002   |  March 2002   |  February 2002   |  January 2002   |  December 2001   |  November 2001   |  October 2001
September 2001   |  August 2001

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August 2007

Inside this issue: Open letter to our customers, Upcoming Citynet event, Our Finest Asset - Our People

OPEN LETTER TO CITYNET CUSTOMERS:
Dear Telecommunications Customer:

As you may be aware, a recent network outage affected several thousand telephone subscribers throughout West Virginia. In light of that outage, Citynet would like to provide you with valuable insight about the design of its network and factors you should consider when selecting a telecommunications carrier.

In order to maximize network reliability, carriers need to consider:

• Diversity – having two or more separate "paths" to complete a call; when the primary path is cut, traffic should be re-routed to the alternate path
• Redundancy – having one or more "back up" systems available in case of failure of the main system
• Recovery – having documented processes and procedures for responding to catastrophic events

At Citynet, we employ all three factors in the design and operation of our network. Unlike the recent outage in West Virginia, where all of the affected calls came back to a single location - and to a single malfunctioning piece of equipment - Citynet does not route all its traffic to a single switch. We have redundant switching centers, as well as multiple, diverse paths into those facilities. Citynet also prepares for the worst, so that we can recover more quickly and avoid lengthy service interruptions.

Can Citynet guarantee that an outage will never occur? No, it cannot – because there are factors, such as forces of nature, that Citynet cannot control. However, the likelihood that a complete and lengthy network failure would occur is very, very unlikely because of the efforts we employ to protect that which is within our control.

The following are some of the steps we have taken to ensure network reliability and to make sure that our customers enjoy uninterrupted service:

• Citynet has major switching centers located in Pittsburgh PA and Columbus OH. Both locations have multiple A/C power feeds and D/C battery back-up, along with stand-by generators equipped with automatic transfer switches.
• Both Citynet switching centers are served by multiple self-healing, fiber-optic SONET rings via our extensive fiber.
• Citynet maintains diverse connections from these locations to multiple Long Distance carriers and Tier I/II Internet Service Providers.
• Citynet has over 50 Points of Presence (POPs).
• Citynet has Network Operations Centers located in Bridgeport WV and Tulsa OK. Citynet also has significant operations and engineering staff resources located in Charleston WV and Columbus OH.
• Network configuration and subscriber data is continually and consistently backed up based on proven routines and procedures. Backed up data is stored both on and off site.
• Citynet back office systems are designed around a distributed platform which ensures that, in the event of a disaster, we can operate our business from any of the following locations: Bridgeport, Charleston or Morgantown WV, Columbus OH or Tulsa OK.
• Citynet maintains a "critical customer" list in order to provide proactive notification in the event of a major outage and prior to any planned upgrade to our voice, data and Internet networks.
• We do not wait for customers to call us! We monitor our network 24x7x365.
• We have designed and staffed our Customer Care Center for high availability. In fact, so far this year, we have managed to answer 98% of the calls to our 800 number in 20 seconds or less.
• And we routinely conduct post mortems after outages, so that we can continually improve our processes, maximize network availability, and reduce customer response times.

If you would like to hear our unique story of network diversity, redundancy and recovery, feel free to contact us any time at our West Virginia-based Customer Care Center. Please call 800-903-8906.

Our support staff will be happy to help you enter the next generation of telecommunications.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Citynet


CITYNET EVENT:
Citynet will be displaying our products and services next week during the Statewide Technology Conference in Charleston. This conference is an important venue for K-12 teachers, administrators, School Board officials, and other interested people. The conference features seminars and displays from companies that support technology and education in West Virginia.

Citynet will be showcasing our new Content Management System/Grade book application that we have developed with the assistance of the Harrison County, WV school system. This exciting new system allows for online management of many functions that will allow teachers to more easily communicate with the parents of their students.

We will also feature our Managed Services group of products that allows Citynet to help customers better run and oversee their business network. Now Citynet is truly a one stop shop for all customer needs from the network to the desktop.


OUR FINEST ASSET – OUR PEOPLE:
There have been a number of promotions within our Citynet family over the past month or so. In CFN - Citynet Wholesale Division, Kelly McLellan has been promoted to Manager of Business Development and Pricing. Kelly's hard work has helped to promote our Wholesale products to many new customers.

In the Citynet Retail Division, we've had two new promotions announced in our Customer Care Call Center: Daniel Desmond and Bryan Hildreth have been promoted to Supervisor. Both had been key members of the team working on the phones as our first point of contact.


Comments and suggestions are always welcome. editor@citynet.net