REQUIRED NOTICES
Required Notices & Information
Below are a list of required notices provided by Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call our office, (515) 352-3151, we will try to assist you in any way that we can.
Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI)
Webster Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association is requesting your approval to access, use, disclose, or distribute your Customer Proprietary Network Information (or "cpni") for certain purposes. CPNI consists of the call, service and billing records regarding your use of the telecommunications services that you purchase from us (E. G., the telephone numbers you call; the frequency, timing and duration of your calls; and the telecommunications and information services you purchase.) The company is requesting your approval to use your CPNI to develop and market new products and services and allow its long distance subsidiary, Webster-Calhoun Long Distance, to access and use your CPNI to design and develop new toll services and packages. You have a right to the confidentiality of your CPNI, and the company and other carriers have a duty, under federal law, to protect that confidentiality. You have a right to approve or disapprove the proposed access, use, disclosure and/or distribution of your CPNI. If you approve, the company may be better able to offer products and services tailored to your needs. Your approval will be valid for up to two years, but you may revoke or limit it at any time by notifying the company in writing that you are doing so. If you disapprove, it will not affect the provision to you of any of the existing services which you purchase from the company. However, we will not be able to use your CPNI to develop and offer to you new or additional services or service packages. Your disapproval will remain in effect until you revoke or limit it, which you may do in writing at any time. If you are willing to give the company your approval for the proposed use of your CPNI, you need do nothing further. Your approval will be deemed to have been granted Thirty-Three (33) days after this notice was sent to you. If you do not approve the proposed use of your CPNI, you need to contact Webster-Calhoun with your written request by faxing it to the company at 515-352-3025 or email the company at webcalstaff@wccta.com. For questions please contact the company at 515-352-3151 or toll-free number at 888-350-3151.
Non-Discrimination Statement
Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association is the recipient of Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call toll free (866) 632-9992 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866)377-8642 (relay voice users). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Complaint Information
If Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association does not resolve your telephone complaint, the service may be subject to state regulation. You may contact the:
Utilities Division - Department of Commerce
1375 E. Court Avenue, RM 69
Des Moines, IA 50319-0069
1-877-565-4450
or email customer@iub.iowa.gov
Pay-Per-Call Dispute Resolution
You should not be billed for pay-per-call services not offered in compliance with federal laws and regulations. These consumer rights are provided under the Federal Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act. If you orally communicate an allegation of a billing error via the number on the 900 bill page, it will be considered sufficient notification of a billing error. For 900 billing disputes or inquiries, a number will appear with the call detail on your phone bill. You have 60 days from the date of the bill to dispute a 900 billing error. You have the right to withhold payment of the disputed 900 charges during the billing error review. No collection activity for disputed 900 charges will occur while the charges are under investigation. After investigation, if it is determined that the disputed 900 charges are legitimate, the long distance carrier or the information provider may proceed with outside collections against your account for non-payment of these charges. Your local and long distance service cannot be disconnected for non-payment of 900 charges. Failure to pay legitimate 900 charges may result in involuntary blocking of access to 900 services. Voluntary blocking of access to 900 service is available upon request from your local exchange carrier.
Say "DO-NOT-CALL" to Unwanted Telemarketers
A national Do-Not-Call Registry has been established to address unwelcome telemarketing calls. The registry applies to all telemarketers, with the exception of businesses with whom you have an existing relationship and certain non-profit and political organizations. Commercial telemarketers are not allowed to call you if your number is listed on the registry.Consumers may register their residential telephone number, including wireless numbers, on the national Do-Not-Call Registry at no cost, either by telephone or via the Internet. To register by telephone, call 1-888-382-1222. For TTY, call 1-866-290-4236. You must call from the telephone number you wish to register. You also may register, or obtain additional information, via the Internet at www.donotcall.gov. Inclusion of your telephone number on the national Do-Not-Call Registry will be effective three months following your registration. Registrations on the National Do Not Call Registry do not expire. If you have previously registered your phone number, there is no need to register again. You can also remove your name from the list at any time. This can be used for both wireline and wireless phone numbers.
Telephone Assistance Available for Low Income Residents
The Low-Income Telephone Assistance Program makes residential telephone service or broadband Internet access service more affordable for qualifying low-income households throughout Iowa. Qualifying low-income households receive reduced charges on their monthly telephone bill. To qualify for Lifeline Assistance, applicants must receive assistance from at least one of the following programs:
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Medicaid (Title XIX/Medical, State Supplemental Assistance)
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Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program
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Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
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Federal Public Housing Assistance
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Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit OR
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Income at or below 135 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines Contact Webster-Calhoun at 352-3151 for an application form or more details. You may only receive low-income assistance from one wireline or wireless telephone provider.
The Low Income Assistance Application form is located under Additional Services.
Privacy Policy
Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association (WCCTA) has implemented this Privacy Policy governing the personally identifiable consumer information (“PII”) collected by this site. This Privacy Policy does not govern PII collected from any other source or in any other manner.
Overview
This Privacy Policy is intended to provide you with information as to: (i) the type of information that is collected, (ii) how collected information is used and with whom it is shared; (iii) how we intend to protect the information; and (iv) how you can access, modify and/or delete such information.
Collection of Information
Information You Provide to Us: WCCTA collects information about you when you interact; use products or services from this website. Some of this information is automatically collected, and some is collected when you interact with the site. The type of information that is automatically collected can include date and time of access of the site, the Internet protocol address of the computer that you are using, the domain and host from which you access the Internet, your browser software and operating system, and the specific activities you are engaged in while visiting the Site. When you interact with this site, such as by completing an application or form, information such as your name, postal address and email address may be collected. Of course, you may choose not to provide certain information to WCCTA, but if so, you may not be able to participate in certain WCCTA activities and transactions.
Use of “Cookies” and Other Technologies: WCCTA may use “cookies” and/or other technologies or files (collectively, “cookies”) to identify how its visitors make use of this site. This aggregate tracking information is used to help WCCTA improve and enhance the website experience for all of its visitors. If you would prefer not to have such cookies stored on your computer, you may modify your browser settings to reject most cookies, or manually remove cookies that have been placed on your computer. However, by so rejecting the cookies, you may be unable to fully access the offerings on this site.
Security of Information: WCCTA maintains reasonable standards of confidentiality and security for this site and the PII collected from this site. The PII you provide is secured using industry standard e-commerce security technology. WCCTA also restricts its own employees’ access to PII. However, it is possible that someone may intercept or access communications, transmissions and/or PII. You must also seek to protect against unauthorized access to any passwords and/or accounts that you use in connection with this website, and you should remember to log off of the website once you have completed your activities on the site or if you have decided to step away from your computer. In the event that WCCTA determines that there has been a security breach resulting in the unauthorized disclosure of PII to a third party, WCCTA will notify consumers whose PII has been so disclosed by regular mail, if possible.
Use and Sharing of Information
Use of Personal Consumer Information by WCCTA: The PII collected by WCCTA may be used by WCCTA for any lawful purpose, including to communicate with you, respond to your requests, and analyze and improve WCCTA’s websites, its business and/or its service to you. WCCTA may use this information to send you e-mail newsletters, promotional offers with respect to goods or services of a particular brand or other types of communications on behalf of WCCTA and/or its affiliates. All e-mail newsletters and promotional offers will provide you with an opportunity to opt out of receiving future issues of such newsletters or to opt out of receiving future promotional offers with respect to such brand. WCCTA may also use your PII to send you e-mails or other communications on behalf of third parties. All such communications will provide you with the opportunity to opt out of receiving future third party offers from WCCTA. You may also, at any time, opt-out of receiving any third-party offers from this site by sending an e-mail to webcalstaff@wccta.com.
Disclosure by WCCTA of Personal Consumer Information to Other Entities: Where permitted by law, WCCTA may disclose aggregated statistics about visitors to its site, along with specific information concerning individual visitors of its site that is not PII, provided that no specific individual can be identified by the information so disclosed. Subject to applicable laws, WCCTA may sometimes seek to share the PII it has collected with a third party, and may also sometimes seek to share such PII with companies that are affiliated with WCCTA. WCCTA may sometimes use a third party, located either within or outside the United States, to provide certain services on its behalf, such as processing transactions, sending e-mails or performing statistical analyses of activity on this website. In the event that WCCTA provides any of your PII to such entity, WCCTA will require that any such entity maintain the confidentiality of (and not further share) the PII that WCCTA has provided to it. WCCTA may sometimes share PII with sponsors of promotions on the WCCTA site, or with or with sponsors or advertisers of “premium” content. WCCTA will always disclose when you are registering for such a promotion or requesting such content. WCCTA will not provide PII to any third party for such party’s direct marketing purposes without first providing you with an opportunity to opt-out of such disclosures.
Acquisition of Business: In the event that WCCTA is involved in a merger, acquisition, consolidation, restructuring, reorganization, liquidation, sale or similar transaction relating to any portion of its business and/or assets, you hereby acknowledge and agree that the PII relating to visitors of this site that WCCTA has collected may be included in the assets, and/or transferred pursuant to, such transaction. If that occurs, WCCTA will post a notice to such effect on this website.
Legal Process: WCCTA may disclose your PII if it has a reasonable good faith basis to believe that it is required to do so by law, compelled by court order or legal process, or is reasonably necessary and/or appropriate to: (i) protect the rights, property and/or safety of WCCTA or any other person or entity; or (ii) prevent or take action concerning any alleged: (a) illegal activity or (b) breach of your Terms and Conditions of Service for any WCCTA service or the Privacy Policy of this website. We do not guarantee the security of our database or records, nor that unauthorized parties will not intercept information you send or receive over the internet. The internet, like all networks, is a shared resource, which means that it inherently subjects you and other users to the risk of unauthorized access to your files and data, including PII. If you use WCCTA’s websites or web services or the Internet to send, receive or post personal, confidential or sensitive information, you do so solely at your own risk. In the event we experience a security breach which causes the disclosure of or unauthorized access to your PII, we will notify you of such breach as soon as practical, as required by applicable laws and regulations.
Accessing Your Information: You may update and/or correct the PII collected on the site, or seek to have such information deleted from WCCTA’s records by contacting WCCTA’s business office.
Linked Sites: From time to time, the WCCTA website may contain links to other websites that are not controlled and/or maintained by WCCTA. Please be aware that these other websites may have different privacy policies which may subject you to different privacy practices. Please review the privacy policies of such other websites for information concerning what information is collected on such sites and how it is used.
Changes in Policy
Policy Subject to Change: From time to time, WCCTA’s Privacy Policy may change. WCCTA will post changes to the Privacy Policy at this site. Please review this Privacy Policy often so that you will remain abreast of WCCTA’s current policies, including its policies concerning the gathering and use of information that may be collected on our site.
Effective Date of Policy: This Privacy Policy was last updated on August 1, 2016 and is effective immediately.
Contact Us
If you have any questions concerning this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association
1106 Beek Street, PO Box 475
Gowrie, IA 50543
Phone 515-352-3151
email: webcalstaff@wccta.com
Governing Law
This Privacy Policy shall be governed by the laws of the State of Iowa, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any dispute concerning this Privacy Policy or your use of this site shall be submitted to binding arbitration in the State of Iowa within one (1) year from the date that the cause of action arose (or, if multiple cause of actions are involved, from the date that the first cause of action arose), with such arbitration conducted pursuant to the then prevailing rules of the American Arbitration Association. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no arbitration brought pursuant hereto shall be joined to any other action or any other arbitration initiated pursuant hereto. If any portion of this Privacy Policy is deemed unenforceable, unlawful or void by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that portion of the Privacy Policy will be deemed severable and will not affect the enforceability or validity of the remaining portions of this Privacy Policy.
Battery Backup
Battery Backup Power Disclosure
Backup Power for Phone Services During Power Outages
For many years, your home phone would allow you to stay connected to emergency voice services during a power outage. However, many of today’s advanced home services require backup battery power to continue functioning during an electric outage. To avoid disruption of voice service during an outage – and to maintain the ability to connect to 911 emergency services – Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association provides you with a battery backup unit. This device must always be plugged into an electrical outlet.
What Your Battery Can - And Can't - Do For You
WCCTA’s backup batteries allow you to continue to use your home voice services during a power outage. Without a backup battery or alternate backup source such as a generator, customers will not be able to make any calls, including emergency calls to 911. The only way to maintain the ability to use your phone is by using some form of backup power. Our backup battery does not provide power to any services other than voice.
Expected Backup Power Duration
Standard backup batteries are expected to last at least 8 hours on standby power. The available talk time depends on your usage during a power outage. If you feel that is not enough time, you may extend your standby power by purchasing a 24 hour battery or additional 8 hour batteries.
More Information
Click Here for more information about your backup battery.
Please contact the WCCTA office at 515-352-3151with any questions about your battery backup. More information is also available online at www.wccta.net.