McDonald County Telephone Company delivers excellent customer service

Victor Lee and Billie Jo Rhine, of Goodman, Mo., purchased the Stella Telephone Company in 1948, and ran this exchange for five years. Then, in 1951, they purchased the Pineville and Jane exchanges followed by purchasing the Anderson exchange in 1957. They then turned this into a budding telecommunications industry by incorporating the two exchanges into the McDonald County Telephone Company.

As technology evolved, all profits the telephone company made went back into the business. In 1958, dial phones replaced crank phones and Anderson was upgraded to a step-switch. This was almost unheard of in a rural community – since it was a new technology, rural towns didn’t have enough customers to be cost effective. McDonald County Telephone Company, however, put their customers first, making it possible for even the Jane exchange to have its own step-switch by 1963. Over the years, McDonald County Telephone Company grew along with the population.

During the 1980 and ’90s, telecommunications took another giant leap forward and management was passed from Vic and Billie Jo Rhine to Ross and Vicki Babbit. McDonald County Telephone Company stayed in line with the evolving of technology, installing three digital switches. Phone features like call waiting, caller ID, and call forwarding were then provided.

With the passing of Victor Rhine in 1999 and Billie Joe in 2003, their grandson, Aaron Gent, was hired in 1998 to start learning about the company. He installed the first computer system to manage customers’ accounts, billing records, and physical plant records. In 1999, Ruth Clay (Vic and Billie Jo’s granddaughter) joined the company as well, and she and Aaron started the McDonald County Long Distance Service. That same year, the McDonald County Long Distance started the McDonald County Internet Services and purchased Olemac.net. Through dedication to providing excellent customer service, free Internet setup, personal house calls to install and troubleshoot Internet issues, the company quadrupled their customer base in three months.

With the addition of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) in 2003, and digital television service in 2005, McDonald County Telephone Company has always kept up with the changing of technology ensuring that customers are receiving the latest and newest in telecommunications. Most recently, McDonald County Telephone Company has been working on bringing Fiber Internet to customers. On a Fiber network, customers will be able to download videos, music, and photos in a fraction of the time, have multiple users without sacrificing speed, and get the ultimate connection for gaming and streaming HD video.

At McDonald County Telephone Company, the customer always comes first and it is the mission of the company to give every last customer the highest quality service for the best possible price.