Database Conversion Programming Intern

Service starts before the truck roll. How Triangle Communications modernized customer communication. Rural broadband providers rarely win on price against national companies; a local broadband provider's real advantage has always been service. Customers trust that their local provider will answer their calls and solve their problems. That advantage still holds, but members now expect to reach their provider the way they reach every other business in their lives: by text, by web chat, through social media, or inside an app - all on their own schedule rather than the company's. Making those communication tools available is now expected. The experience of Triangle Communications, a cooperative serving roughly 24,000 square miles of rural Montana, offers a useful window into how communication tools are reshaping what service means. Service is the differentiator, and the bar keeps rising. Triangle's Executive Vice President of Member Experience Bethany Chinadle is blunt about where the cooperative competes. The company will rarely be cheaper than the Starlinks and large cable operators in its territory, she says, so service is what sets it apart. But members now arrive with expectations formed everywhere else they do business. Chinadle points to her own frustration as a customer of other companies, experiencing a real inconvenience when a business forces her to step away from her desk and call during a narrow window of office hours. She assumes her members feel the same way about Triangle, and she's clear that this is a legitimate expectation. A communications company, of all businesses, should give members several ways to get in touch and make each of them as easy as possible. That assumption leads to a practical conclusion that many providers underrate. A company can deliver flawless service once a technician is on-site, but lose members at the front door. As Chinadle puts it, the best technicians in the world don't make a difference if a provider hasn't made it easy to do business in the first place, because the interaction never reaches the install. In other words, service begins long before the truck rolls. It starts with whether a member can ask a quick question, report a suspected outage, or schedule an appointment in the moment, on the channel they prefer, without waiting on hold or memorizing business hours. For rural providers, modern communication channels are now a precondition for good service and meeting customers' expectations. A member who can't reach you easily will form a judgment about your service before a technician has the chance to prove otherwise. The advantage is consolidation. The instinct to add channels - a chat widget here, a social inbox there - can work against a provider. Chinadle says Triangle evaluated chat options for years but walked away for the same reason every time: None of them connected to the systems the cooperative already used, which would have meant staff hunting across multiple places to piece together a member's history. Fragmented tools can create the very problem they're meant to solve. Triangle's answer was to consolidate rather than accumulate. The consolidation offers three benefits: * Everything in a single view. Using NISC's Multi-Channel Messenger integrated with the SmartHub app, the cooperative pulled text messaging, web chat, Facebook Messenger, emails, in-app conversations, and phone call notes into one place. Representatives respond faster because they aren't toggling between platforms. Instead, every exchange lives in a single member record. * Improved efficiency. Chinadle says that seeing a member's entire communication history in one location improves efficiency and reduces the risk of missed messages. Because the interaction is documented in the same place regardless of how it started, a representative picking up a thread doesn't have to figure out how the member last reached Triangle. A unified view also lets a representative resolve a quick question in a single exchange rather than tying up a phone line for a question that can be answered in one sentence. * Matching behavior. Consolidation matches how members interact with the cooperative. Triangle finds that channel preference shifts by time of day: Web form submissions and phone calls tend to come in during business hours, but social media messages are often sent in the evening as members report suspected outages via Facebook to see whether the problem is the network or just their house. The same member might move between channels depending on the moment. Where automation pays off most: distance. For a provider spread across 24,000 square miles, the cost of communication is partly measured in miles driven. That's where automation earns its keep. Triangle found time savings in several areas via proactive notifications delivered through Multi-Channel Messenger's Ticket Events feature: * Reminder calls. The cooperative once had dispatch spend an hour every day phoning the next day's appointments with reminders - an hour that is now automated away. Day-before reminders have also reduced no-shows, keeping schedules intact and crews productive. * Rescheduled appointments. A technician now sends an automatic "on my way" message upon reaching the nearest central office, giving members a chance to reschedule before a truck has driven what could be a three-hour trip to a single home. Every avoided truck roll, Chinadle notes, is a meaningful cost saving in a large geographical service area. * Automated communications. The automation condensed a chain of manual phone calls. A technician used to call dispatch, who would then call the member; any change ran the relay in reverse. Now the technician triggers the update directly. The notifications also keep members informed during the wait, which sets expectations and quietly reduces the inbound calls asking where the technician is and when they will arrive. * Bonus: New contact details. Automated reminder notifications produced an unexpected dividend for Triangle: Members willingly share their cell phone numbers because they want the alerts. This is steadily improving the provider's contact data. None of this is about replacing people. In a rural territory, where every unnecessary trip carries an outsized cost, automating routine communications frees staff for the work that genuinely requires a human - like diagnosing a tricky problem or reassuring an anxious member - while protecting the operating margins that keep an independent provider viable. Used this way, automation makes the service feel smoother and more personal. Summary: start before you feel ready. Providers weighing a similar move often wait for the perfect tool and/or the perfect plan. But Chinadle recommends not letting "perfect" get in the way, because offering something while you work out the kinks beats not offering anything at all. Triangle rolled out chat gradually, let employees practice on a demo site, and leaned on its IT team to make the new system easy to use. Triangle now finds new uses for Messenger almost every month, automating member notices they once printed, folded, and mailed by hand.

Kilber named NISC Vice President of Broadband Services. Mandan, ND, May 20, 2026 - National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of IT solutions to communications and energy organizations, has named Amber Kilber Vice President of Broadband Services. Kilber brings 26 years of experience at NISC across implementations, support, product development, financial systems, and most recently Account Management and Member Value. She has developed a strong understanding of the industry, NISC's Members' challenges, and what they need to succeed. Her leadership will be instrumental in ensuring NISC Communications Members leverage the solutions they have today as NISC continues to strengthen its products and delivery model. Kilber holds a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Northern State University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of North Dakota. "As we look to the future, we know our Communications Members have significant opportunities ahead, and NISC is well-positioned to assist our Members with those opportunities," said Doug Remboldt, NISC President and CEO. "Amber knows the broadband industry, she knows our Members and she knows our NISC team. I've watched Amber progress in her career by passionately serving those around her. I'm excited for Amber in this new role and for what this will mean for our Communications Members. I look forward to working closely with her as a key member of our vice president team." "Our Broadband Members face increasing competition and uncertainty around USF reform," Kilber said. "At NISC, we are committed to delivering modern solutions that help our Members remain the provider of choice. I am honored to serve in this role, and we are focused on ensuring our Members have the tools and support they need to succeed today and well into the future." Broadband Services is a new division at NISC, highlighting the organization's focus on Communications Members. Broadband Services is dedicated to Communications Member satisfaction and the successful migration to NISC's iVUE Connect platform.

NISC and Meridian Cooperative announce plan to merge, creating a stronger, innovative technology cooperative. Combined cooperative will look to the future by accelerating innovation, expanding resources, and delivering greater value across the communications and energy industries. Atlanta, Georgia - May 12, 2026 Information technology cooperatives National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) and Meridian Cooperative today announced that their Boards of Directors and leadership unanimously approved a merger. By combining the two trusted cooperatives, the united organization will create a single, purpose-driven cooperative focused on its partnership with its Members by delivering faster, innovative, and advanced technology solutions that effectively navigate evolving industry changes. Subject to Member approval, the merger will go into effect on August 1, 2026. The combined cooperative will accelerate innovation and deliver expanded value to Energy and Communications Members, including communications providers, electric cooperatives, public utility districts, municipalities, and public power entities. The merger is a true fusion of the two cooperatives, blending their Boards of Directors, leadership, employees, and Members into a single combined entity to best serve Members and the market. Current NISC CEO Doug Remboldt will serve as CEO of the combined organization and current CEO of Meridian Cooperative Chris Haas will serve as COO. The united cooperative will operate under the NISC name initially as it focuses on ensuring a smooth and successful merger of the two cooperatives. "Cooperation and collaboration are core to the cooperative business model, guiding our work to strengthen the Members we serve and adding value through partnerships and integrations," said Doug Remboldt. "By joining forces with Meridian Cooperative, we are putting cooperation among cooperatives to work for our Members and setting the organization up for long-term success. We are uniting two like-minded organizations to deliver deeper expertise, expanded resources, and an accelerated roadmap, while continuing to provide the trusted, top-notch support our Members have always relied on." "Our industry is evolving rapidly, and so are the expectations of the communities we serve," said Chris Haas. "To stay ahead, our organizations and the technology we rely on must continuously evolve as well. This merger positions us to deliver greater scale, deeper expertise, and expanded resources to better serve our Members and their communities. Together, the two cooperatives will create an organization equipped to help Members meet the challenges of the future by accelerating innovation, strengthening economies of scale, and expanding the products, services, and support available to our Members and their communities." "Cooperatives have always known that collective effort produces results that no single organization can achieve alone," said NISC Board of Directors Chairman Bob Paulling. "As its industry changes rapidly, this move will set NISC up for long-term growth and success, while delivering even more value for Members. "The cooperative business model was built on a simple but powerful idea: organizations are stronger when they work together, pool resources, and put the needs of their Members above all else," said Meridian Cooperative Board of Directors Chairman Keith Hayward. "Guided by these principles, we are taking an important step forward on our co-op's path of collaboration and growth, while ensuring that every decision we make will have a positive impact on our Members." About NISC. NISC is an information technology organization that develops, implements and supports software and hardware solutions for its Members. Meridian Cooperative, Inc. deliver advanced solutions, services and support to more than 1,000 independent communications companies, energy cooperatives and other public power entities. NISC is an industry leader providing information technology solutions including financials, service, operations and marketing as well as many other supporting platforms and business services. With facilities in Mandan, N.D., Lake Saint Louis, Mo., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Blacksburg, Va., NISC and its subsidiary employ more than 1,400 professionals between the four locations and remotely throughout the United States. Additional information about NISC can be found at www.nisc.coop. About Meridian. Meridian Cooperative is a trusted leader in the development of innovative utility software and technology solutions. As a cooperative, Meridian Cooperative, Inc. is committed to providing its users with the Billing, Accounting, Engineering, and Operations applications they rely on to provide essential services in their communities. Its all-in-one solutions are cost-effective, flexible, and backed by teams of expert designers and dedicated support staff. With over 45 years of experience, Meridian Cooperative, Inc. is committed to developing cutting-edge technologies and building lasting relationships in the communities Meridian Cooperative, Inc. serve. MEDIA CONTACTS: NISC: Trish Helgeson, [email protected] MERIDIAN: Nicole Engelmann, [email protected]