Committee approves series of IT, security and equipment-service contracts including Huntress and Ooma

Committee members approved a package of technology and equipment-service agreements June 30 aimed at restoring emergency communications and strengthening cyber and device management.

Mister Sims, the city's IT director, presented multiple items sequentially. He described a one-year contract with Ooma to restore emergency call service in elevators across the city, including the rec center, police and traffic locations, at a contract amount he stated as $6,410.60. “It offers a multi carrier signal so that just in case you don't have good AT and T, it can get out on Verizon,” Sims said, and noted notification capabilities if someone pushes an elevator emergency button.

The committee also authorized renewal of the Huntress endpoint-detection-and-response services — a 24/7 security monitoring service — with Sims saying the base contract remains at $24,000 for endpoint monitoring, though additional services previously raised the city’s total investment to about $49,000. The motion covered the base EDR renewal.

The committee approved a 12-month agreement with Dataprise (presented under two agenda items in the meeting) for managed mobility and mobile-device management to audit carrier plans, identify potential savings, and establish a foundation to move devices from unmanaged to managed states. Sims said Dataprise’s assessment identified approximately $3,000 per month of potential savings based on a three-month bill review; the contract amount presented for one of those mobile services was stated as $13,002.60 for the year. Sims described the move as an initial step: the contractor will perform an assessment and help centralize device management; converting existing unmanaged devices to fully managed status will require wiping devices and re-enrolling them.

The committee approved an agreement with Eaton Corporation to provide annual servicing for an enterprise battery-backup unit supporting city servers; Sims and staff said the unit had not been serviced recently and that the contract provides next-day service and maintenance. The presented maintenance cost was stated during the meeting as $3,212 and was to come from the maintenance contracts line item.

Sims also brought a copier-lease renewal with Dex Imaging (formerly Ameritech) under the state PACA procurement contract; the committee was told the base monthly rate ($3,552.96) would increase to about $3,763 per month to add centralized management software. Committee members approved the lease renewal under the state contract.

Across the items, motions were made and passed by voice votes recorded as unanimous (Aye. 3 to 0). Staff said some agreements are budgeted within existing maintenance-contracts or operating lines and that several items are meant to improve cyber resilience and restore service lost during prior transitions.