Club Telephone Service Updated

CRGC has finally entered the new millenium with updated telephone capabilities.  We now have an ADSL line which allows both voice and dedicated Internet access.  The new telephone capability is a result of a new program by Canby Telcom which offers businesses a combination deal on business telephone service, long distance fees, and Internet access for a lower price - it increases our telephone bill by about $10 per month (plus taxes) but our long distance call charges should drop to zero.  The new service will also allow us to access the Internet from the clubhouse to look at product price and availability from the wholesale distributors we use for member purchases, and to do other work, such as maintaining the club's web site.  The dedicated Internet access will also make it reasonable for us to investigate the cost of accepting credit and debit cards for trap and other activities, where previously the telephone support costs had made the total cost of merchant card processing well beyond our budget.

The ADSL line installation was not without its problems.  ADSL can be sensitive to interference from telephone extensions, patched wires, and incompatible equipment.  Richard Phaneuf has spent several hours tracking down the old telephone wires, verifying what they did (or did not) connect to, and pulling new replacement wire.  He also installed, and tested the WiFi unit, and donated, installed, and configured the firewall on the ADSL line.  The secure WiFI access will allow us to use PCs with WiFi cards anywhere in the clubhouse to get access to the Internet or the laser printer in the office so that we can, for example, have computer access at the annual meeting to verify membership and payment information.  Other members who might want WiFi access during events at CRGC will need to speak with Richard at 503-651-3035, or e-mail at rich@varmintercustom.com, or the club e-mail (crgc@canby.com) to get the SSID name and pre-shared key that are needed to allow their PC to pass the security check in the WiFi access point.