The phone system used within the city had a failure about a
year and half ago. The failure resulted
in the system going down completely and almost all of the memory of stored
information was lost. The current system
is no longer made, parts are sketchy, and technical expertise was hard to
find. We were lucky in the sense that we
found a firm with individuals willing to help us put it back together. They found a replacement circuit board that
got the system running however a few of the functions we had with the original
system were lost, we were however able to carry on.
Given we were on borrowed time we budgeted for a replacement
phone system for 2017. That was the easy
part; phones are no longer just something you plug into the wall. Systems now do far more than just route
calls. In addition many phone systems
are internet based meaning the phone service runs over the internet. This brings other features to the fore front
that would not be available in the past.
Sorting through all of this was both educational and confusing. Too many choices and too many new things to
consider.
In any event the city worked with a consultant to find the
solution that best meet our needs. The city will be purchasing the equipment
and hiring the installation. The system
will require some wiring to make connections.
With that change a new switch is required and a number of hardware
upgrades to the communication system are needed. The current system connects both phones and
internet between the Public Safety Building and City Hall with a fiber
cable. The new system will utilize this
fiber but connectors at each end will need to be upgraded. And yes, we will be seeing new phones on
desks throughout both buildings.
We had budgeted $14,000 based on previous quotes but we were
able to get the cost down to about $9,500.
Progress has started but the turn over may take a month or two to
accomplish. In the meantime we’ll be
busy with making changes to the communication network in the City Hall. The Public Safety Building is current regarding
wiring and houses the computer server so little work is needed there but it all
comes down to it is a work in progress until it is completed.
