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Council approves cloud phone system contract despite one dissent
Summary
The council approved a $193,000 Dialpad cloud phone system contract with T‑Mobile after discussion about cost and vendor ownership; one alderman voted no citing concerns about cloud services and foreign ownership.
The Elmhurst City Council on Sept. 2 approved a proposal to purchase a Dialpad cloud-based telephone system from T‑Mobile in the total amount of $193,000, authorizing the city attorney to prepare the necessary documents. The Finance, Council Affairs and Administrative Services Committee recommended the purchase; the full council approved it by roll call with 11 ayes, 1 nay and 2 absent.
Nut graf: Supporters said the modern cloud system would replace equipment more than 10 years old and provide improved reliability and accessibility for police, fire and public works; an alderman opposing the contract said he preferred a U.S.-based vendor and objected to entrusting services to a company owned by Deutsche Telekom.
Alderman Erby said the current phone system is more than 10 years old and that the new proposal is slightly more expensive than the city’s current recurring costs, but he opposed contracting with T‑Mobile because of its parent company’s German ownership. “I’m not a big proponent of going to the cloud with T‑Mobile, which is Deutsche Telekom,” Erby said; he announced he would vote no. Alderman Talutto and others said the cloud system would be more reliable and provide backup in the event of a geographic outage.
Ending: The contract was approved and staff were directed to proceed with contract documentation; the lone dissent was recorded as a policy and vendor-preference objection rather than a technical objection to system functionality.
