Jan Board Status Report.

Financial picture

Encouraging members to contribute to the operations of the NCF has dramatically helped
with both the staffing of the help desk and revenue through donations.  During the 
months of November and December total donations were $33,714 against a budget of $40,300.
This compares to donations of $26,345 and $20,284 during the same period in the two
previous years.

Expenses totaled $35,461 as compared to a budget of $41,850.

NCF finished the year with a reserve balance of $35,253.

I will be presenting a revised budget at the upcoming board meeting based on the data
of the last three months.

Membership:
Membership remains static at this time.  A small number of members have been vocal in
their objections to the concept of universal participation in the operation of the NCF.
A much larger number continue to express positive sentiments towards the quality of
service.

Volunteer help desk:
I am pleased to report that a steady stream of volunteers are returning help operations
of the NCF.  NCF's Achilies heal has been the volunteer help desk.  Leaving messages on
voice mail has never been satisfactory.  I am looking forward to instituting some changes 
ensure that members get the help they need in a more timely manner.

Ottawa Public Library:  Unfortunately the OPL has again delayed the start of the trials.
We are now expecting trials in early February at three branches.  I will be showing a 
mock-up of the NCF/OPL poster and pamplet at the upcoming board meeting.

Overflow Modem Lines:
All 96 lines are now fully operational. A quick check of the system status shows that 
we have just about the right mix of main pool to overflow lines to maximise overall
utilisation.  We continue to be vigiliant for any problems on the access lines. 
Overall I am pleased with the technical operation of the NCF, Dial-up, email,
web servers and office tools.  

New features:
Over the past few months we have added new features to allow volunteers to debug 
password problems through searches of the radius log, an enhanced "find" function allowing
us to find user id based on name, phone number, or alias.  The File manager continues to 
garner praise and increased use.  Finally a comments page has been added to allow members
with web sites to accept comments without giving out their email address.


Thanks all for now.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Board meeting

john