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Montgomery County approves hosted phone and fax system; commissioners told setup will take about 30 days
Summary
The commission approved a countywide hosted phone and fax proposal pitched by a local vendor, covering 163 handsets and a hosted fax service; staff and the vendor discussed costs, implementation timing, recording compatibility and Internet-dependence risks.
Montgomery County commissioners voted to accept a hosted phone and fax services proposal presented by a local vendor and authorizied the chair to sign the agreement on the board’s behalf.
Dave Siegel of Hidoma Telecom Services presented the proposal (described as using Touch Tone Communications service) for 163 phones countywide along with a hosted fax service. Commissioners and staff discussed costs, a proposed five-year contract term, implementation timing and technical details such as call recording compatibility and Internet redundancy.
Siegel presented itemized components: 163 phones at $12.75 per phone per month (a phone-service subtotal the presenter stated as $2,078.25 per month), a one-time provisioning and programming charge of $10 per phone ($1,630), and a hosted fax add-on the presenter described as roughly $173 monthly; the presenter summarized those figures as a combined monthly charge of $2,251.25 and noted one-time programming and shipping fees (programming $1,810; shipping described in transcript as about $9,760). The board’s information packet and the presenter’s remarks contained those figures as presented to commissioners; exact invoice line items will be in the contract paperwork.
Commissioners asked about operational details: the presenter said the system will provide a single main county number with an auto attendant and department-specific hunt groups (presenter: “We’re providing that at no charge”), direct-dial flexibility for departments, hosted desktop faxing to replace many physical fax machines, and the ability for employees to take their desk phones home or forward calls to cell phones. Mr. Siegel also noted that elevator phones will remain on cellular dialers so they function if the county Internet is down.
Board members and staff raised limitations and contingency planning: the vendor and staff noted the hosted system depends on Internet connectivity (the system would lose service if Internet access fails), and that the only way to make the system fully redundant is multiple Internet connections at a site. The county’s current courthouse Internet provider was described as reliable, and staff said they expect a typical rollout time of roughly 30 days after signing for provisioning and programming.
The presenter said the service is leased (phones are not purchased) and that support includes next-day replacement of failed handsets. The sheriff’s office recording vendor and county IT staff will coordinate to ensure compatibility between the new hosted system and the sheriff’s call-recording solution; staff said they were awaiting a final technical proposal and cost estimate for that integration.
After discussion, a motion to accept the offer was made and seconded; Commissioner Beaver, Commissioner Cordray and Commissioner Klubin voted in favor, and the board directed the chair to sign the agreement.
