Press Release

NISC Building Expansion to Begin this Month Lake Saint Louis, Mo., October 7, 2014 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of technology solutions to utility and telecommunications organizations worldwide, will officially break ground at the Lake Saint Louis, Mo. location in October. This expansion will accommodate the continual growth of the cooperative and make room for an expanded mailroom facility. "It is with much anticipated excitement that NISC is going to expand our Lake Saint Louis facility. As the company continues to grow, we also are adding new employees—which presses us for space in our current building,” said Jackie Rocha, Manager of Office Services and Facilities at NISC. “Our Automated Mailroom Services division continues to add new accounts and equipment to process our customers monthly billings to their customers which accounts for the 1st floor production expansion. We look forward to completion of this project by early Fall 2015. We can't get it done soon enough." The expansion was marked by speeches given by Vern Dosch, President and CEO of NISC, Harry Barnes, NISC Board of Directors Vice Chairman, and by Kathy Schweikert, City of Lake Saint Louis Mayor. “The City of Lake Saint Louis is excited to have NISC, one of our top employers in the city, expanding their facility with a 44,000 square foot building addition,” said Schweikert. At a time, when many companies are downsizing, NISC is increasing their business and adding jobs. We are happy to share in NISC’s growth!” The event was attended by many NISC Lake Saint Louis employees, members of the community and business leaders. The Lake Saint Louis location, one of four NISC campuses in the United States, has been the Missouri home of [...]

Mobile App Integrated with Salesforce to Streamline Sales and Increase Revenue for Telecoms Mandan, N.D., September 15, 2014 — National Information Solutions Cooperative® (NISC), a leading provider of information technology products and services, has announced the release of NISC LeadAgent™, a powerful sales tool integrated with Salesforce® and presented in a convenient app. When paired with the robust iVUE® Enterprise System, NISC’s broad, scalable suite of accounting, customer care and billing, and engineering and operations solutions, NISC LeadAgent delivers effective marketing campaign management for sales teams on the go. With NISC LeadAgent, you can now mine the valuable data you have in the iVUE Enterprise System, as well as leads from outside sources such as your website, to create a dynamic sales lead repository for your marketing team to leverage and grow your customer base. “It is imperative for all telecoms to better understand their target audience and more effectively track interest in products and services, not to mention when prospects’ contracts are up with competitors,” said Mark Momerak, NISC Executive Product Line Manager. “Customer and potential customer information is vital to effective marketing and getting the most of your marketing dollars. A common obstacle was there wasn’t a centralized area to house this data…And now there is with NISC LeadAgent.” With NISC LeadAgent, telecoms can harness the power of NISC’s iVUE to track and analyze potential customers. Not only does it serve as a customer relationship management tool, this powerful app integrated with Salesforce will give your on-the-go sales team the tools they need in the palms of their hands. “Today’s sales teams need to be highly connected and highly mobile at the same time,” said Ed Wolff, NISC Vice President of Telecom and [...]

WATT-Net™, iVUE® Systems Combine to Boost Customer Service, Efficiency for Members Lake Saint Louis, Mo., August 22, 2014 —National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of IT and software solutions to utility and telecommunications organizations, has partnered with Watthour Engineering Company (WECO) to deliver meter test records in real time. Using WECO’s WATT-Net™ to receive test results, meter test data can be transmitted quickly and seamlessly into NISC’s iVUE® Customer Care and Billing (CC&B) through a real-time interface using MultiSpeak™ web services. Test results are immediately available to customer service and operational users of the iVUE CC&B solution to resolve billing issues and manage regulatory test requirements. “The interface between Watthour Engineering and NISC is easy to use and implement into your daily operations and will greatly reduce human error when it comes to the input of meter test data in both systems,” said Todd Zashin, Lead System Administrator at Trico Electric Cooperative. “ Working with the Watthour Engineering and NISC internal software engineering and support teams is as always fantastic.” For more than thirty years, Watthour Engineering Company (WECO) has been a market leader in the electric utility industry as a provider of precise and reliable electric meter test equipment. National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) also has a rich history of serving the utility industry by providing turn-key enterprise software and technology solutions. Together, the two organizations serve more than 400 utilities in common, creating an excellent opportunity to streamline business processes and interoperate systems. “NISC is pleased to partner with WECO to bring these operational efficiencies to our utility Members,” said David Bonnett, Vice President of Marketing at NISC. “We have a reputation of being the first to support MultiSpeak™, and we are [...]

Lake Saint Louis, Mo., August 4, 2014 — Ozarks Electric ,with offices across Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma, has selected National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) as its primary provider of software services to support its operational and member service efforts. Ozarks Electric provides electric service to more than 70,000 homes, farms, businesses and industries across two states and nine counties with more than 6700 miles of power lines. NISC’s enterprise-wide iVUE® software platform offers Ozarks members the benefits of a fully-integrated software package designed for and used by distribution cooperatives and mid-size utility systems in 48 states. “Our technology strategy depends on an enterprise system with fully integrated components and a thoroughly engaged business partner who understands the importance of how it all fits together,” said Carl Thomas, Manager of Information Technology, Ozarks Electric Cooperative. “We believe we have found the right combination in NISC and we are looking forward to our continued progress.” Ozarks Electric selected NISC as a strategic information technology business partner to help leverage technology for their membership. Through integrated solutions, Ozarks Electric will be able to improve business processes and better manage day-to-day tasks through a single platform. “We are excited to welcome Ozarks Electric to the NISC family,” said David Bonnett Vice President of Marketing. “Ozarks Electric has values that date back to 1938. Their membership has come to expect a reliable organization that is in tune with their membership’s needs. By becoming a Member of NISC, they are empowered to maintain their service standards while embracing technology to carry them into the next 75 years.” “We are very proud to be new members of NISC,” said Todd Townsend, Vice President of Corporate Services. “We believe this partnership will [...]

Utility Bill Pay Service Enters into a LLC; Now Known as Capturis New Name Leverages Strength of Company and Brands Services in a Single Name Mandan, ND, August 7, 2014 — Due to unprecedented growth, National Information Solutions Cooperative has formed a wholly-owned limited liability company for its Utility Bill PaySM service. The LLC will be doing business as Capturis going forward. Capturis, an NISC company, has been providing multi-site utility information management as well as bill processing and payment services to more than 275 clients including Fortune 100 and 500 companies for over the past decade. Capturis employs more than 180 Bismarck-Mandan residents as well as virtual employees from rural communities in North Dakota, Montana, Iowa and Wisconsin. “The growth of the Utility Bill PaySM service since its inception in 2000 is remarkable. We began the service to fill a need in the market for a solid, reputable bill payment and processing company,” said Tracy Porter, CFO of both NISC and Capturis. “Each year our client list would grow dramatically. It was a testament to the accuracy of our data and efficiency of our service.” Capturis realized accounts payable was a necessary function of all companies, big or small. From the mailroom to accounts payable, Capturis has created an effective utility information management process based on prioritizing on a “First Due, First Through” basis. Capturis gathers the necessary energy information needed to make sound business decisions in a powerful, user-friendly database-reporting tool available online. “National companies were dealing with late fees and disconnects due to the volume of utility bills they were receiving each month and the challenges to pay these bills in a timely manner,” said Porter. “Capturis services not only minimized our [...]

IT Cooperative Continues Steady Growth, Adds Space for Future Enhancements Lake Saint Louis, MO, July 9, 2014 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of technology solutions to utility and telecommunications organizations worldwide, will expand the Lake Saint Louis, Mo. location to accommodate the continual growth of the business and make room for an expanded mailroom facility. "The growth of our operations is a testament to the growth of those we serve," said Vern Dosch, President and CEO of NISC. "The services our Members and Customers offer are in demand, and the expansion of our Missouri office will allow our staff to serve them as efficiently and effectively as possible." The Lake Saint Louis location, one of four NISC campuses in the United States, has been the Missouri home of the technology cooperative since 2005. Starting in September, NISC's Lake Saint Louis facility will expand by 44,000 square feet in an effort to accommodate the demands of a growing cooperative. In just the past year, NISC added 55 employees at the Lake Saint Louis location and brought on more than 20 new Members/Customers, creating a need for business expansion and the addition of more working space. NISC designs and supports software solutions for utility and telecommunications organizations that help them run their day-to-day business. A big part of NISC's day-to-day business is the Automated Mailroom Services (AMS) division, which prints and mails billing statements and other notices. The expansion of the Lake Saint Louis facility allows for growth in the AMS area and supports the continued addition of software development, support staff and other positions. "Through our AMS business, we process 14 million statement images every month," said Rick Willmann, Senior Manager of [...]

NISC Recognized as One of the Best Places to Work IT Co-op Receives Top Workplace Awards from Computerworld, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Lake Saint Louis, MO, July 1, 2014 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of IT and software solutions to utility and telecommunication organizations, has been recognized as one of the best places to work in the IT field by Computerworld and one of the top workplaces in the St. Louis area by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We're honored and humbled by the fact that we're continually recognized as a great place to work," said Vern Dosch, President and CEO of NISC. "Our focus is on competitive wages and benefits, a culture that is based on transparency and the expectations that our leaders are to be servant leaders. Those qualities really seem to resonate with our employees, and that's a very good thing." NISC made Computerworld's "100 Best Places to Work in IT" for the 12th time, ranking No. 8 in the small business category. Computerworld's list is compiled based on a comprehensive survey sent to employees that judges satisfaction with the organization for several categories including benefits, career development, retention and training. NISC has made the "100 Best Places to Work in IT" for the past 11 years straight. 'Hiring the best and the brightest IT pros, offering them competitive pay and providing top-notch benefits is just the beginning for the outstanding employers on this year's Best Places to Work in IT list," said Scot Finnie, editor-in-chief of Computerworld. "Both newcomers to the list and rock-steady stalwarts nurture their talent with challenging business-critical projects, extensive training opportunities and ongoing career development programs. They invest in their own futures by investing in [...]

Lake Saint Louis, Mo., May 13, 2014 — Inland Power and Light Company (Inland Power), based in Spokane, WA, has selected National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) as its primary provider of software services to support its operational and member service efforts. Inland Power, a large distribution cooperative providing electric service to 13 counties in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, will take advantage of NISC's suite of applications to support its accounting, billing and mailing, engineering, operations and member service needs. NISC's enterprise-wide iVUE® software platform offers Inland Power members the benefits of a fully-integrated software package designed for and used by distribution cooperatives and mid-size utility systems in 48 states. "Inland Power is pleased to partner with NISC on this enterprise-wide software platform. We feel that this platform will streamline processes, build efficiencies and bring operational cost savings within the cooperative," said Chris Cable, Chief Information Officer for Inland Power.  Inland Power selected NISC as a strategic business partner to help leverage technology for their membership. Inland is able to improve business processes and better manage day-to-day tasks through a single, integrated platform. "At NISC, when a cooperative like Inland Power joins the NISC family, we know it's about more than technology," said David Bonnett Vice President of Marketing. "It's a deeper connection that is reflected in our relationship, something rooted at the core of our business model…doing the right thing…always, having strong business ethics and being a transparent partner with every NISC member." "Having all of our departments working in one system will help all employees have access to real-time information, even when they are out in the field. Moving to NISC's iVUE system will streamline processes tremendously and we believe this partnership will [...]

IT Cooperative Named one of HDI Elite Top 50 for Customer Service Lake Saint Louis, Mo., April 7, 2014 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of information technology products and services, has been recognized by Help Desk International (HDI) as one of the CSAT Elite Top 50, recognizing technical service and support centers worldwide based on customer satisfaction rankings. “We’re extremely excited and humbled to be recognized for something that’s such an important part of our organization,” said Vern Dosch, NISC President and CEO. “Our motto is ‘do the right thing, always,’ and I think this recognition shows that our employees are serious about upholding that by providing the best possible customer support to our Members and Customers.” NISC partners with HDI to provide customer-support surveys following support or service requests from one of NISC’s Member-Owners. Based on the feedback received from the surveys, HDI ranks support centers based on the highest level of customer satisfaction as indicated by the scores. NISC’s Customer Care & Billing support center was ranked 26 in the top 50 active HDI support centers and received recognition during the HDI Conference & Expo in April. NISC also employs HDI-certified professionals, those that have completed HDI training, throughout the organization. “At NISC we pride ourselves on providing world-class support and service to our Members and Customers,” said Doug Remboldt, Vice President of Utility and Shared Services at NISC. “Our staff works hard to go above and beyond for our Membership, and we’re honored to be recognized for an organization-wide support effort.”

South Central Telephone Association (SCTelcom), headquartered in Medicine Lodge, Kan., has selected National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) as its primary software solutions provider.