Citynet recognized the absolute necessity of being able to have backup records of all our systems and our individual PCs.  As a growing business, we realized lost data or lost customer records could be very detrimental to our business – and to our customers' businesses.  

Business leaders and owners understand the risk of losing important records but many have done little or nothing to insure that this information is truly secure should something go wrong.  Many “think” they’ve done a recent back-up…only to find out that “recent” was 2 months ago.  Worse, the back-up is not secured in a remote location.  Untimely or lost back-ups are not unusual.

CityVault is a secure, online, remote location back-up service that provides 100% secure data restoration.  Our system is automatic, just install our CityVault software and start backing up your data immediately.

Why should business leaders and owners, even those of small and medium businesses, begin to think about a product like CityVault?

As the accompanying statistical chart shows, it is incredibly expensive to a business when data is lost.  US businesses lose over $12 billion per year due to lost data.

While many of us are concerned about a natural disaster and have prepared for one, we do not realize that natural disasters account for just about 1% of all data loss.  The vast majority of cases are caused by hardware or software failures, which account for near 80% of all lost data.

Attention Schools and Libraries – You may receive up to 90% off your telecommunications services!

When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was signed into law, for the first time schools and libraries became eligible for Universal Service support.  An explicit goal of this Act is to ensure that schools and libraries have affordable access to advanced telecommunications.  On May 7, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a unanimous ruling for implementing Universal Service.

The program is called E-Rate and provides discounts that schools and libraries can receive for the acquisition of telecommunication services.  Eligible schools and libraries will enjoy discounts of 20-90 percent on telecommunication services, Internet access and internal network connections necessary for deploying technology in their facilities.

All elementary and secondary schools as well as private schools are eligible as long as they are not operated as a for-profit business and do not have an endowment exceeding $50 million.  Individual schools, school districts and consortia are also eligible applicants.  All public libraries are eligible and include individual library branches, library facilities, library systems and library consortia. 

Schools and libraries are given the flexibility to choose among different types of commercially available telecommunication services for both voice and data.  Examples include: regular telephone lines for teachers to receive phone calls in the classroom, high bandwidth telecommunication services, satellite delivery for distance learning, and coaxial cable. Services for accessing the Internet are eligible for discounts and include E-mail and access to the World Wide Web.  However, content such as a paid subscription service, is not covered.

Basic installation and maintenance of a network are also eligible for discounts. Some examples of eligible technologies necessary for establishing a network include: routers, hubs, network file servers, wireless Local Area Networks and software needed for operation of file servers. Personal computers used solely as switches or fileservers are eligible. However, personal computers for teachers and students would not be covered.

Schools and Libraries are able to access 20% to 90% discounts based on the economic disadvantages of their geographic locations.  These disadvantaged locations are determined based upon the level of eligibility in the federal free and reduced lunch program.  Libraries will use the school lunch eligibility percentage from their local school districts.

If you can benefit or know of a school or library that can, contact the sales department of Citynet today and we will help you plan your technology by conducting a needs assessment and assisting you with the budgeting process for the application.  Citynet is an approved vendor with the Department of Education and are E-rate certified.  

Do you know what grade your child earned on his test today?  If you’re in Harrison County, WV, you do!  Thanks to Citynet’s LiveGrades products, parents and students can instantly access their grades online as soon as the teacher is finished grading.  The software application, which was fully developed by Citynet’s software development team, allows teachers to easily manage their grades from their classroom, their home, and anywhere else with an internet connection.  The software is designed around the needs of the teacher, and with numerous user controlled settings and customizations, each teacher can match the software to their grading needs.  

Harrison County became the first county in West Virginia to use the LiveGrades product with this school year.  The program is available to every teacher in every public school within Harrison County.  Each teacher can choose whether to use the program to streamline their work and provide these extra services to the parents and students, or to use their legacy systems.

“We are seeing more and more teachers joining into the program as we go,” says Matthew Thornton, Senior Vice President at Citynet and Product Manager of the LiveGrades product.  “As teachers are seeing those around them use the software and the benefits it brings, that makes them want to check it out and start using it.  Plus, the parents are eager to see their grades online, so, they are calling the schools asking when they will have access.  This is certainly a Win-Win situation for the teachers, the students, and the parents.”

Bridgeport Middle School is one of the leaders in using LiveGrades, with 100% of their teachers fully onboard and offering this service.  “Parent teacher conferences were a breeze this year.  We had fewer parents come in because they already knew their child’s grades, and those that did come weren’t surprised as they already knew how their children were doing.  I wish we’d had this product years ago!” commented one teacher from Bridgeport Middle School.

One of the most exciting aspects for West Virginia schools is the integration with WVEIS, the state’s student information system.  Citynet’s LiveGrades is one of only two programs that interfaces with the state’s system (and the only program that interfaces with the state and has both a teacher grading section and parent access website as one single product).  With this integration with the state, the class rosters and updates are automatically downloaded from the state’s system so the teachers don’t have to manually setup classes or students.  Furthermore, at the end of each term, the teachers can upload their grades to the state with the click of a button.

“This is one of our most advanced and most exciting software products that we’ve ever launched,” says Thornton.  “It is very rewarding to see the value that this brings to each of the teachers educating the students within our communities, as well as the value it brings to the students and their parents.”

With the success of the product within Harrison County, Citynet plans to begin offering this product to other counties within the state of West Virginia and beyond.  For more information about the LiveGrades product or to learn how your school can begin using LiveGrades, visit us on the Web at http://www.livegrades.com, email us at info@livegrades.com, or call us at 304.848.6214.

As the economy downturn works out the kinks and begins to turn around, customers will likely see an increase in spam email and phishing expeditions from highly suspect characters.  Citynet would like to advise our customers to be very careful when you get any questionable requests for information.

Recently, many of us have seen requests for private and personal information coming from sources that “looked” like it came from Citynet.  Several customers have written us inquiring if these messages were legit.  They were not.  Keep in mind…Citynet will never ask for your password or private information about you.  We already have this information from you and have no reason to require you to send this information via email.

Citynet urges all our customers to keep a diligent watch for any requests for personal/private information.  NEVER give anyone you do not know your Social Security Number or any other private information that they should not be requesting.  Also, be very careful when opening any attachment that may come from unknown sources.  Sometimes this is difficult as phisher’s become more creative.  If in doubt – don’t open it.

Your privacy is important to Citynet.  We value your business and want you to be safe while using your online services.  When in doubt about a message that may look to be coming from Citynet, feel free to call our Technical Support Center at 800.881.2638 to verify the message or send us a note and we’ll reply to you.  Inquiries may be sent to communications@citynet.net.

As always, we value your opinion.  You may send an email with story ideas, questions or concerns to editor@citynet.net