The Christian County Commission approved purchasing GoTo phone system services through the TIPS cooperative contract (contract 221003), a change of purchasing method intended to lower monthly costs and align services with county needs.

Purchasing agent Miss Kim and IT manager Bill Ryan said the county has used GoTo Technologies for three years and will continue with the same vendor but change the distributor and contract vehicle to TIPS, a cooperative recognized by the State of Missouri. Ryan said the county had been paying for a premium service tier it did not need; moving to the basic tier will lower the monthly bill from about $6,000 to approximately $3,700.

Ryan explained how the system works operationally: desk phones connect through the cloud so staff can take a desk phone to another location and retain calls; the county pays a per‑device charge. He said the county currently has many unused desk phones in inventory — roughly 30 to 40 — and could activate a portion of those at lower cost when needed.

A commissioner highlighted the county’s recent investment in an internal IT department and praised staff by name, saying the county is saving money and responding more quickly with an in‑house team. The commissioner thanked “Bill, John, and Mitch” as IT staff who support operations.

After discussion, a motion to approve the TIPS cooperative contract 221003 for GoTo Technologies was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. The county will migrate purchasing to the TIPS contract and adjust the service tier to reflect current usage.