From the Director…

2001 - As we officially move into the 21st Century, it is only appropriate that we take a look back on our accomplishments over the past year. And by our, we mean the accomplishments of the Division of Communications and our partner agencies. Everyone's assistance and cooperation allowed the State of Nebraska to achieve these goals and move closer to creating “A Nebraska United.” Crossing the traditional silos of government allows all of us to work toward Governor Johanns' priorities of lower taxes, less government, building Nebraska's economy, and protecting our families, with an added focus on initiatives which will help ensure the health, safety and success of our children.

Language Line - A portion of achieving “A Nebraska United” relies on the necessity of being able to communicate with our non-English speaking constituents. During the past twelve months, over 60,000 minutes of interpretation services were provided via the telephone. These interpretation services covered 25 languages ranging from Spanish to Korean to Croatian.

Video Conferencing - Video conferencing services provided opportunities for Nebraskans to participate in training initiatives, educational seminars/classes, meetings, and in some cases, participatory government in the form of public meetings and hearings. January through December of 2000 indicates approximately 10,000 hours of video conferencing usage. Additionally, these video conferences also represent an effort by agencies to use technology as a method of avoiding additional travel expenses for employees.

Telephone Conference Calls - Agencies also used telephone conference calls as a method to contain the costs of travel and conduct meetings over the past twelve months. Over 170,000 minutes of operator assisted conference calls were placed, in addition to the conference calls that were set up by the agencies themselves.

Rates - In 2000, the Division of Communications held rates to a constant level. In some cases, rates were actually lowered. For example, the network long distance rates were lowered from $.10 per minute to $.08. Calling card rates were lowered from $.15 per minute to $.13. 800 service rates were lowered from $.12 per minute to $.09. This produced an estimated annual savings to state agencies of $555,000.00.

As we continue our journey together through the next year, we would like to share the Division's vision statement:

The Division of Communications is the telecommunications provider of choice to Nebraska governmental entities. Our Division has become a benchmark of other organizations: one that “wows” its customers the first time and every time with the delivery of telecommunications services; one that fully empowers its employees; and one that partners with client agencies to provide the highest quality of state service to the taxpayers of Nebraska. We are considered experts in our field and our clients regularly seek our advice, consultation and support with their telecommunications needs. Our rates for services to our clients are appropriate and affordable.

If we can assist you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Brenda L. Decker
Director
Division of Communications

UPGRADING TO DIGITAL SERVICE

The Division of Communications began offering digital cellular service less than a year ago. Since then, digital cellular coverage has expanded across the state and the number of digital users has increased. Analog phones still outnumber digital more than 6 to 1, but new analog activations have slowed while new digital activations have risen steadily. Digital cellular service has several advantages over analog. However, the need to upgrade from analog to digital will depend on where a user primarily operates his or her cellular telephone and what features are necessary in performing his or her duties.

Digital cellular telephones operate statewide on both digital and analog cellular systems. Analog phones will work only on analog cellular systems. To determine if your agency's employees should upgrade to digital, consider whether any of the following are true:

• The employee's primary duty area is the Central Panhandle, Eastern Nebraska or along I-80.
• The employee travels within the United States to other major metro areas.
• The employee carries both a cellular telephone and a pager (cellular text messaging may eliminate the need to carry a pager with a cellular telephone)

Contact Norma at 402-471-6391 for more information on when to upgrade your agency's analog cellular telephones to digital service, or to find out more about the wireless services available to your agency.

FLAT RATE FOR DIGITAL SERVICE

Digital cellular service will soon be billed at a flat rate of $0.17 per minute. As the numbers of digital cellular phones have increased, total minutes per month have increased significantly. Aggregating the state's monthly usage reduced the inefficiencies inherent in individual rate plans.

Look for more information regarding the new digital flat rate next month. Your agency will receive a notice describing the flat rate and the estimated affect on your cellular telephone bill. Nationwide plans and some high-activity users will be exempt from the flat rate. The new flat rate changes will appear on your April 2001 phone bill.

Division of Communications Lowers Rates!

Effective February 1, 2001, the Division of Communications will be lowering the per minute rate on conference calls to $.08 per minute with a $3.00 set-up charge. The per minute Meet-Me-Bridge calls will also be lowered to $.08 per minute and the set-up charge will remain at $7.50.

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