Cowlitz County approves $12,560 contract to add softphone and SIP services

Cowlitz County commissioners voted to hire Worldwide Technology (WWT) to provide professional services to implement softphone functionality and to migrate the county's telephone trunks to SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), a modern alternative to the county's legacy PRI connection. The board approved the one-time contract fee of $12,560.

The county's IT director, Travis (IT director), told the board the work will add softphone functionality so employees can make and receive calls from a computer or a mobile device “as though you're calling from the county,” and will modernize the carrier connection. “There's a PRI currently used, and that's a historical method that is outdated,” Travis said, describing SIP as offering “enhanced scalability and portability.”

County staff said the upgrade aligns with earlier purchases of a new phone system and had been planned as a later enhancement. The board discussed the motion briefly, called for a vote and approved the engagement with WWT.

The contract was presented as a one-time expense to add features staff had intended to deploy after their phone-system replacement roughly two years ago. Commissioners did not request additional changes to the scope during the meeting; no amendments were proposed on the floor.

The board's approval enables staff to schedule WWT's work and to proceed with configuration and testing required to enable softphones and SIP trunks across county departments. Staff did not provide a project timeline or ongoing annual cost for SIP carrier charges during the meeting.