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City moves toward hosted phone system and broader cybersecurity standardization
Summary
Information technology staff told the finance committee the city plans to migrate to a hosted phone system to reduce maintenance of multiple in‑house servers and to standardize cybersecurity across departments after a one‑time federal grant expired.
Woburn City IT staff told the finance committee that the city plans to migrate to a hosted (cloud) phone system and to expand cybersecurity standardization across departments, citing the operational cost and complexity of maintaining multiple in‑house voice servers and the end of a one‑time grant that funded initial work.
Why this matters: the migration is intended to reduce recurring operational issues, add features and lock in pricing over a multi‑year contract. Cybersecurity work is framed as essential to protect city systems and was partially funded by a prior grant; city staff said continuing the program will require a budget commitment.
What IT said: David Mastronati explained the city presently runs voice‑over‑IP servers at three sites (City Hall, police, fire) that were intended to provide redundancy; replacing each site would be costly. He said outsourcing to a hosted provider like Cisco would provide more features and reduce the total cost across a five‑year contract. On cybersecurity, Mastronati said the city received a $105,000 grant last year to begin standardization; the grant money is now spent and continuing the initiative will require local funds. He described the work at a high level: standardizing configurations and patching “so we can expect, you know, that all the windows are locked.”
Budget and timing: staff said the hosted phone system is a multi‑year contract to lock pricing and reduce support overhead; cybersecurity work will be rolled out over multiple years and may require operating and capital allocations for software, licensing and training.
Next steps: IT will return with procurement details and schedule for migration and standardization. Councilors asked for specifics about services, costs and timelines before committing funds.
Ending: Councilors stressed the importance of cybersecurity and consistent phone service for public safety and operations and asked IT to present firm cost estimates and implementation timelines.
