Federal Universal Service Charge Increase

Effective October 1, 2024, the Federal Universal Service Charge (FUSC) on your bill will increase as a result of an increase in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) universal service fund contribution factor from 34.4% to 35.8%. The FUSC is calculated in accordance with FCC rules by applying the new contribution factor of 35.8% (0.358) to the charges for interstate services. The federal universal service fund helps to ensure access to affordable communications services in hard-to-serve rural areas of the United States. If you have any questions regarding the FUSC, please contact the FCC at 1-888-225-5322 or email: fccinfo@fcc.gov.

Mandatory 10-Digit Dialing Becomes Effective for
ALMA TELEPHONE COMPANY CUSTOMERS

Effective April 24, 2021 the ability to dial all 10 digits in the Alma exchange for local calls was implemented. Please begin dialing all 10 digits during this permissive period. During this permissive period, if you forget and dial 7-digits, your call will still be completed. Beginning October 24, 2021, you must dial 10-digits for all local (660-674-XXXX) calls. On and after this date, local calls dialed with only seven digits may not be completed, and a recording may inform you that your call cannot be completed as dialed. If you get this recording, you must hang up and dial again using the full 10-digit telephone number (e.g.) 660-674-XXXX.

Who will be affected?
Anyone with a telephone number using services provided by Alma Telephone Company will need to make a change from 7-digit local dialing to 10-digit local dialing.

What will you need to do?
Important safety and security equipment, such as medical alert devices, and alarm and security systems must be programmed to use 10-digit dialing. Many systems operate on 10-digit dialing by default but some older equipment may still use seven digits. Please contact your medical alert or security provider if you are not sure whether your equipment needs to be reprogrammed to accommodate the upcoming change to 10- digit local dialing. Any needed reprogramming of alarm and home security equipment should be done during the permissive dialing period of April 24, 2021 to October 24, 2021 to avoid interruption of services. For questions regarding your local service with Alma, please contact us at 660-674-2297. For additional information regarding how this affects you, please see the below FAQ.

Missouri Public Service Commission FAQ

We are excited to announce that the Alma Weather Station is online and ready to use. You can access real time weather information by visiting http://agebb.missouri.edu/weather/stations and selecting ´Alma´ in the drop down menu. Data is updated every 5 minutes. Base data is available, however the tower will also be capable of tracking temperature inversions, as well as capture greater soil temperature variables.

Caller ID Spoofing

Information obtained from www.fcc.gov

Caller ID spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. It´s often used to trick someone into giving away personal information.

How to avoid spoofing:

One Ring Phone Scam

Information obtained from www.fcc.gov

Every so often, your phone may ring once and then stop. If that happens to you, and you do not recognize the number, do not return the call. You may be the target of a “one-ring” phone scam.

Scammers often use international numbers from regions that also begin with three-digit codes (649 goes to Turks and Caicos and 809 goes to Dominican Republic). Scammers may use spoofing techniques to further mask the number in your caller ID display.

If you call the number back, you risk being connected to a phone number outside the U.S. You may end up being charged a fee for connecting, as well as significant per-minute fees.

Variations of this scam rely on phony voice-mail messages urging you to call a number with an unfamiliar area code to “collect a prize” or to notify you about a “sick” relative.

How to avoid this scam: