Announcements

E-mail Scam Alert! NOTE: GMA does not request personal account info like passwords via email. (7/1/09)

Recently some of our users have reported receiving e-mails claiming to be from Green Mountain Access stating that we are performing an e-mail upgrade and need to confirm your e-mail address, password or other similar personal account info to prevent a service interruption.

These messages are NOT from GMA and should be deleted right away, do not reply to it!

Green Mountain Access does not request passwords or similar account information via e-mail. Please contact us at 888-321-0815 if you have replied to one of these e-mails or with any questions you may have.


-GMA Tech Support
1-888-321-0815

Please note: Customer Service & Local Tech Support office will be closed on Friday, July 3rd in observance of Independence Day (6/30/09)

Our technical support call center will still be available via telephone, so please don't hesitate to call if you need assistance. As always, you can reach us at: 802-496-8598 or 1-888-321-0815.

-GMA Support Team
support@gmavt.net
802-496-8598 or 1-888-321-0815

July eNewsletter Now Available (6/30/09)

Click here to view the July issue of the GMA eNewsletter.

New Elite High-Speed Internet Tier Offers Speeds Up To 12Mbps -Try It Free for 30-days (6/30/09)

Green Mountain Access has been upgrading our network to bring you new services, faster speeds, and increased reliability. Now you can double your download speeds for just $15.00 more per month with our Elite High-Speed service. Our Elite upgrade offers download speeds of up to 12Mbps and upload speeds of up to 1Mbps. Best of all, you can try it free for 30 days! While not currently available to all of our high-speed Internet customers, we can currently reach approximately 60% of our customers with this new service. To try our Elite high-speed Internet service simply e-mail Customer Service at csdept@gmavt.net or call them at 888-321-0815.

Email Server Maintenance Complete. Duplicate Email FYI (6/18/09)

UPDATE ADDED 8:30am 6/28:

Conversion to our new faster, larger email server complete!

All e-mail accounts have been converted to our new server. You may have to log out of your e-mail program and then log back in to see all of your folders/email.

We copied all users email over to the new server. If you have set your email software (Outlook, MacMail, etc.) to leave copies of mail on the server you may notice some messages are re-downloading. This should happen only once and occurred because your email software is checking the new server for the first time so the mail on the server is being tagged as “new”.


Thank you for your patience during this transition, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact Technical Support at 888-321-0815 or support@gmavt.net.

-GMA Tech Support.
_____________________________________________________
Dear Green Mountain Access Customer:

On Saturday, June 27th at 11pm we will be upgrading our e-mail server. This will greatly improve e-mail and webmail capacity, performance, and reliability.

At 11pm when we switch to the new server your inbox and webmail folders will appear to be empty, note this is only temporary. All new e-mail received after 11pm will be instantly available to you, and all previously existing e-mail, including webmail folders, will be moved to the new server throughout the day on Sunday. We expect the entire conversion to be completed and all e-mail moved by Monday morning. Please be assured, that no e-mail will be lost during this upgrade. We will send an e-mail notifying you when the conversion has been completed.

We understand how critical e-mail is to you and appreciate your patience and understanding as we perform this essential transition to new hardware. Please don't hesitate to contact Technical Support at 888-321-0815 or support@gmavt.net with any questions.

Want a Great Job at a Great Company? GMA is growing and so is our Tech Support Team! (6/9/09)

Green Mountain Access, a subsidiary of Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom, a Vermont based telecommunications solutions provider, is seeking qualified individuals to join our staff in our Hinesburg Branch Office:

GMA Internet Support Associate
Number of Postions: 1
Location: Hinesburg, VT
Responsible for providing high quality service to Internet customers via telephone, mail and office contacts. Interaction with customers either by telephone or in person in order to support all Internet transactions which include service orders, general service and technical support questions. Qualified applicants must possess a high school diploma or equivalent, as well as general Internet and operating system technical support skills. Advanced Internet skills, including web hosting & broadband knowledge, a plus. Strong computer background in either hardware or software is desirable. Full time position. EOE


Please submit resumes to:
Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom
Attn: Human Resources
PO Box 9, 3898 Main Street
Waitsfield, VT 05673
Fax: 802-496-8342
Email: wcvtjobs@wcvt.com

Latest SPAM Threat Info (6/8/09)

DO NOT OPEN “TAGGED” EMAIL

The newest spammer in town is coming from a site called "tagged.com". Emails from this site are disguising themselves as emails coming from a friend inviting you to new social networking site. Do not open these emails, and if one is opened by accident, do not give out any of the information it asks for. If you have replied to one of these emails, it will access your address book and use it to send spam emails to anyone listed there. Please call us if you need help blocking this site from sending you email.

For more information, please see the following link:
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/phishing_Tagged_dot_com.php

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to call give us a call.

-GMA Tech Support
888-321-0815

Updated Info on "Conficker.c" Worm (4/1/09)

Warnings regarding the "Conficker.c" computer worm have been getting alot of press lately.

It was originally reported that the virus will activate on infected computers on April 1, 2009. Even though this day has come and gone the threat is still there.

As a precaution, GMA strongly suggests that users check to make sure they have the current Windows updates available at: http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate

Users should also run a manual update to their Antivirus software.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions!

Thank you.

-GMA Tech Support
1-888-321-0815

As Heard on WDEV Radio....Info on: Internet Crime Complaint Center (3/31/09)

You might have heard GMA's very own Richard Pitonyak on WDEV talking about internet crime and resources available for victims. Here is a link to the Federal Internet Crime Complaint Center: http://www.ic3.gov

Need Help Setting Up Your GMA E-mail on Your iPhone or iPod Touch? (1/29/09)

We have developed step-by-step instructions to help guide you through the process. If you need additional assistance, don't hesitate to contact Technical Support at 888-321-0815.

Click here for step-by-step instructions.

Update on Bounceback email issue (10/31/08)

Over the past several months, ISP's around the world are seeing an increase in spam related bounceback emails. This is also commonly referred to as "Backscatter".

What it is:
Spammers are sending out millions of junk mail messages. In an effort to cover their tracks, they enter a legitimate email address as the "sender". When some of the spam messages fail to reach their destination, the messages bounce back to the "sender". Unfortunately, the address used as the "sender" may be yours. This may result in hundreds of bouncebacks filling up your email in box.

Why can't we just block all bounceback emails?
If we block all bouncebacks, it would stop even the legitimate bounces. For example, if you mistype an email address, you would not know the message failed to go through.

What GMA is doing to stop it:
If a GMA user recieves 15 bouncebacks within 24 hours, a filter is added to block any more bouncebacks for the next 24 hour period.

If you have any questions please feel free to email us at: support@gmavt.net or call 1-888-321-0815.

GMA Tech Support

FREE Internet Technology Seminars in November (10/27/08)

Green Mountain Access/Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom will be offering FREE Internet technology serminars geared for small businesses and home office users in early November. Special guest Sarah Spencer, head instructor and founder of "Got Clicks", Google Presence Expert will be presenting. Feel free to bring your wireless laptop and have some fun with us as we discuss topics including Internet safety, Internet promotion, Google analytics, Web sites, computer and Internet tips and tricks, and safe wireless access.

Although this is ideal for the small business and home office users, anybody can benefit from this 90 minute seminar. There will be handouts such as CDs of the presentation and links to helpful websites. There will also be snacks and refreshments.

Two Sessions:

Hinesburg - November 6, 2008 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm at Carpenter Carse Library in Hinesburg

Bristol - November 12, 2008 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm at Howden Hall in Bristol

To RSVP or for more information contact Kris Merchant at kmerchant@gmavt.net or call 496-8554.

Worried about the recent DNS vulnerabilities? (8/6/08)

There have been a lot of news coverage on vulnerabilities with the Domain Name System (DNS). We have received many questions regarding this issue and felt it was appropriate to inform our users of the actions we have taken to protect our network and customers.

Let us assure you that as soon as the patches were released we upgraded all of our servers, and made all the necessary configuration changes. Our server are currently patched and configured to the current secure specifications.

All customers should check with the appropriate source for any updates to their operating system, routers and software, to ensure they're as protected as they can be. If you run a Microsoft product please check with the Windows Update service. If you run a Macintosh please check with the Apple Software Update service.

Here is a link to some more technical information with additional links to even more information: http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4687

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us at: 1-888-321-0815 or support@gmavt.net

Thanks,
The GMA Admin Team

Exciting Changes to Virtual Web Hosting at Green Mountain Access (7/23/08)

On Monday July 28, 2008 we will be installing a new server for our Virtual Web Hosting Customers.

In addition to upgrades to SSL, MySQL 5, and PHP 5, it also allows us to increase our overall storage capacity. This means our Virtual Web Hosting package will now include 1 Gigabyte of storage space per account! This is an increase from the old maximum of 100 MB per account!

During the conversion (between Midnight and 1:00am) updates will not be permitted and some websites may not be available. Please check your website Monday morning to confirm complete functionality. If you happen to see any issues, please give us a call.

Additional space is available if you require it. You may add an additional 1 Gb for only $10 more per month.

As always, give us a call or email us with any questions!

Green Mountain Access Technical Support
Website: www.greenmountainaccess.net
24/7 Tech Support: 496-8598 or 1-888-321-0815

Online Safety Tips for Parents and Kids. (6/30/08)

The Internet is a wonderful and powerful tool. As with all "power tools" bad things can happen if caution is not used.

We encourage parents to monitor usage and keep an open dialogue with their kids about the “not so nice” things they may encounter on the web.

Here is a link with some great info and safety tips for kids and parents. Check it out!

http://www.komando.com/kids

Let us know if you have any questions about online safety, we'd be happy to help!

-GMA Tech Support

Storm Season is Here: Surge Protect Your Computer Equipment! (6/10/08)

We recommend using a quality surge protector rated for Broadband (DSL).....
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) are another option to provide the safety of a battery backup to your computer equipment.

Try to steer clear of the cheaper models. Many of these units are nothing more than extension cords and offer little protection. Also note, many surge protectors are single use units. If the unit sustains a power surge (i.e.: lightning, power spikes, etc.) it may not protect against future surges.

While surge protectors may not stop every single surge, they are well worth the peace of mind. Many even offer equipment replacement guarantees in the event that the protection fails.

Any reputable computer or audio video store should be able to point you toward the unit that will best meet your needs.

-Tech Support

Email Phishing Alert! (5/16/08)

Recently some of our users have reported receiving emails from GMA stating we need to confirm their email address, their account is about to be disconnected, or a password needs to be updated.

These messages are NOT from GMA and should be deleted right away.

Thank you.

-Tech Support

Refer-A-Friend To DSL And Save $$ (4/22/08)

We like to be REFERRED to as a great Internet provider and want to do something special for our loyal customers. As our way of saying thanks, we'll give you $25.00 when you refer your friends to Green Mountain Access DSL.
For each friend you refer, you'll get $25.00 CREDITED to your account upon receipt of your friend's first payment! Just tell your friends to give us your Green Mountain Access e-mail address when they sign up for our service, and we'll take care of the rest. It's that simple.

So go ahead, let your friends know how great (and fast) Green Mountain Access high-speed DSL service is and start earning money today. For more information on our DSL Refer-A-Friend Program, please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-496-3391.

*Refer-a-Friend offers are not valid with any other offers.

Webmail Upgrade Provides Customer Friendly Interface and New Features (4/8/08)

We are pleased to announce that we have upgraded our Webmail system. The new user interface provides an improved look and feel as well as new functionality including: message flags, to do lists, calendar features, and advanced message composing features.

Webmail is a great way to access your GMA email box while away from your main computer. For the highest level of email reliability, we still recommend that you don’t use webmail (Squirrelmail) as your primary email client. We recommend using it along with an email software client such as Microsoft Outlook. In addition to storing your messages on your computer, this will allow your antivirus software to more thoroughly scan all of your email for viruses. For any questions, please refer to Green Mountain Access’ FAQ page or give us a call at 888-321-0815.

Green Mountain Access To No Longer Offer iPass Roaming Service (3/26/08)

Effective May 1, 2008 Green Mountain Access customers will no longer be able to use the iPass dial-up roaming service. This only impacts a handful of our customers who have used the special iPass dialing software to access the Internet while traveling. This decision was made based on several factors including very little usage by our customers, a significant increase in wholesale prices by iPass, and various support issues with their proprietary dialing software not being compatible with all computer operating systems. If you were an iPass user and still require this type of dial-up access, please consider one of the alternative options.

-Dialing one of GMA's dialup numbers directly via a toll call.

-If you have access to a computer with Internet connectivity, you can access your GMA e-mail via our webmail at http://webmail.gmavt.net.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please don’t hesitate to contact our Technical Support Department at 888-321-0815 with any questions.

Green Mountain Access Upgrades Webmail Servers (8/29/07)

As part of our ongoing investment in our Network Operations Center (NOC), Green Mountain Access has recently completed an upgrade of our servers used to host our Webmail system. According to Adam Ring, Green Mountain Access System Administrator, “Use of our Webmail system has increased exponentially, as users find how convenient and easy it can be to check their mail while on the road or at work. This upgrade has greatly improved the performance of our Webmail system. I’ve already been getting great feedback from our customers.”

Learn More About Our SPAM Filtering System that's Protecting our customers from Cluttered Email Boxes (8/24/07)

Green Mountain Access is pleased to introduce our new e-mail spam filtering solution called Red Condor. Red Condor is designed to block spam, viruses, and e-mails with malicious code. Each day a Spam Digest report is sent to your e-mail address, listing any quarantined e-mails considered to be spam or otherwise harmful. All quarantined e-mails listed in the digest report can be viewed and released to your inbox.

Each e-mail account has a Personal Dashboard where the user can control email options such as: Spam Digest scheduling, e-mail filtering rules, whitelists, and blacklists. Each Personal Dashboard is pre-configured for the best spam protection. If custom settings are required, the Personal Dashboard can be accessed by a link found in the Spam Digest reports or login to your GMA Webmail Account from our home page.

Click here for more info on what we are doing to protect your inbox!

GMA offers Broadband to 100% of WCVT phone customers. Now Up To 6mb! That's 100X Faster Than Dial-Up! (7/26/07)

What other companies keep promising to do, GMA/WCVT is doing NOW! (and has been for Years)

24 Communities in 3 Vermont Counties Covering 669 Square Miles Can Get High-Speed Internet from GMA/WCVT.

Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom reached a new milestone with news that 100% of WCVT customers now have access to high-speed broadband Internet service. WCVT has deployed Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology throughout its rural service territory to provide its customers with a level of technology that would be the envy of many urban centers. With the completion of its newest remote switching site, all of the businesses and residences located in WCVTs 669 square mile telephone service area are now within reach of high-speed Internet access.

?This is a huge milestone for our customers, our Company and the communities we serve,? said Gregg Haskin, President / CEO of Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom. We are proud to be playing a leading role in advancing the states goal of making high-speed Internet access available to everyone in Vermont. Now that we have achieved this, our work isnt done. We are currently in the process of deploying next generation DSL equipment, which will provide speeds up to 24Mbps to our customers. High-speed Internet is a core building block for economic development in many of these communities.

Bill Fogg, Network Planner for the company concurred, This is a big achievement for us and a lot of people helped make this happen. This has been a massive project, requiring the installation of many new switching sites, fiber-optic cable, and DSL equipment. It has been our goal from the beginning to make high-speed Internet service available throughout our service area and we are excited to continue the mission of providing world class service to our rural customers.

WCVT began deploying broadband Internet services in 1999, and has continued to invest significant dollars in the local telecommunications infrastructure to make high-speed Internet access available throughout its rural service area. Access to affordable broadband service is considered to be a critical component of economic development in Vermonts rural communities.

Even More GREAT News! Keep reading...

Green Mountain Access now offers speeds up to 6mb* downstream and up to 1mb* upstream in select locations at no extra cost! Surf the web at lightning speeds - up to 100x faster than dial-up.

While no broadband provider can guarantee actual speeds, we have optimized your DSL line for maximum performance. For more information on our DSL service, click here.

As a result of this change, our Elite DSL Service will no longer be offered. Effective November 1st, Elite DSL customers will see a decrease in their monthly charges.

Please don?t hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have regarding these changes.

Enjoy the speed!

*Speeds listed are the maximum under optimal conditions and are not guaranteed. DSL is a best effort service and actual speeds may vary based upon equipment and line capabilities, distance from the central office, atmospheric conditions, the user's computer system (processor speed and RAM), speed of the Internet, and other factors.

GMA Installs New Email Filter. (7/24/07)

GMA Installs New Email Filter

We are pleased to announce that the installation of our new SPAM Filter "Red Condor" is now complete. Red Condor has been proven to greatly increase both the accuracy and effectiveness of our anti-spam system.

In the next day or two you will be receiving an email from Red Condor. The subject line will read: "Spam Digest for: Current Date". Included in this email is a list of messages that were quarantined before reaching your inbox. If a message was inappropriately screened, you have the option to release the message and add that sender to your white list. That message will then be automatically delivered to your inbox. Please note, due to the accuracy of this new filter, we doubt you will see many legitimate messages being quarantined.

In addition, you now have the ability to control more settings on your
mailbox via your new personal dashboard. For more information on our new SPAM filtering and instructions for changing your settings, please visit http://howto.gmavt.net/redcondor

Bulk Email Update:

Bulk emails are more than likely messages a user has asked to receive, such as legitimate newsletters, etc. They are generally not SPAM.

Up until this point our new SPAM filter (Red Condor) has screened these messages and put them into quarantine.
Based on customer feedback these messages will now be allowed through with a tag in the subject line that will read "Bulk Mail:"

Red Condor has been extremely accurate and the vast majority of these messages are legitimate.

Remember, you can change your SPAM settings via your personal dashboard.

Your Dashboard can be accessed via our webmail system (www.gmavt.net/webmail) Once logged into webmail, Select Spam Controls at the top, then Red Condor Personal Dashboard.


If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us at 888-321-0815 or via e-mail at support@gmavt.net.

--
Technical Support
Green Mountain Access
496-8598
1-888-321-0815
http://www.gmavt.net
support@gmavt.net

GMA and WCVT Featured In Vermont Life Magazine (2/8/07)

WCVT Featured In Vermont Life Magazine

The Spring 2007 issue of Vermont Life Magazine features an article on Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom's rich history. The story appears in the "Made in Vermont" segment and is written by Michael Levine. To read an excerpt from the article, visit the Vermont Life Magazine website.

GMA is now using the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) to help reduce SPAM (1/30/07)

GMA is now using the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) as we continue to improve our SPAM prevention. The SPF policy helps prevent our local GMA domains from being forged as a fake email sender address. This will help reduce SPAM as well as protect the integrity of your GMA email address. The SPF policy will only apply to our local domains such as gmavt.net, greenmountainaccess.net, madriver.com, etc. The SPF policy will not apply to customer domains hosted with us. More information regarding SPF can be found at http://www.openspf.org.

DSL Just Got Faster - Now Up To 6mb! That's 100X Faster Than Dial-Up! (11/3/06)

Great news! Green Mountain Access now offers speeds up to 6mb* downstream and up to 1mb* upstream in select locations at no extra cost! Surf the web at lightning speeds - up to 100x faster than dial-up.

While no broadband provider can guarantee actual speeds, we have optimized your DSL line for maximum performance. For more information on our DSL service, click here.

As a result of this change, our Elite DSL Service will no longer be offered. Effective November 1st, Elite DSL customers will see a decrease in their monthly charges.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have regarding these changes.

Enjoy the speed!

*Speeds listed are the maximum under optimal conditions and are not guaranteed. DSL is a best effort service and actual speeds may vary based upon equipment and line capabilities, distance from the central office, atmospheric conditions, the user's computer system (processor speed and RAM), speed of the Internet, and other factors.