Committee to audit phone lines as it weighs RingCentral, TDS and other telecom options

At the Jan. 8 meeting the committee reviewed phone-system quotes and asked staff to audit current telephone and cellular lines to identify unused numbers and potential savings.

Staff reported collecting three vendor quotes: TDS offered equipment at no upfront cost but higher monthly fees (staff quoted roughly $666 per month for a TDS bundle that included phones); another vendor offered lower monthly fees but required equipment purchases. Committee members discussed whether the village should consolidate phone, cable and Internet services (for example moving to a voice-over-IP cloud phone solution that uses a single Internet connection) to reduce total cost.

Staff said an earlier internal audit of billing identified roughly 27 phone numbers the village was still being billed for but not using; the committee asked staff to verify use of all landlines and cell phones, confirm any devices that should be disconnected and explore whether the pool or other seasonal operations can be placed on a cheaper arrangement (for example, a single cell phone or seasonal service rather than year-round landline service).

Direct quotes from the discussion included vendor-comparison language (paraphrased by staff): “TDS gives you all the equipment for free, but over a 5-year period you pay more monthly.” Committee members asked staff to consult village IT contacts and department leads and return with a formal audit of active numbers, lines that can be cancelled and a recommendation on whether to pursue a cloud phone system that could also carry Internet service.

Next steps: staff to compile a list of active phone numbers (hard lines and cell phones), identify unused lines that can be cancelled and return recommended vendor and service configurations to the committee.