Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Technology Procurement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves cloud phone system with E-911 and outage redundancy; $350,000 CMAS purchase
Summary
Carmel Unified approved a CMAS purchase of a cloud-based phone system from 101 Voice to replace the district's Fortive Voice system. The district cited lack of E-911 room-level location capability and outages tied to local network failures; the new system adds E-911 room-level data and cellular/satellite failover.
The board voted unanimously to approve purchase of a cloud-based phone system from 101 Voice under the California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS #3-24-05-1063) in a contract amount presented as $350,000.
Senior Director of IT Manny Carrera told the board the district’s existing system, implemented in 2020 with Fortive Voice, lacks consistent E-911 support and can fail during local network outages. Carrera said the district’s review showed two safety gaps: 1) the current implementation does not reliably deliver the correct originating phone number and room-level location to 911 dispatchers, and 2) when a site’s network goes down the phone service at that site can become unusable. Carrera said Fortive’s proposed remediation would require a third-party diagnostic project of $20,800 plus replacement handsets costing roughly $105,700, prompting the district to evaluate cloud alternatives.
Carrera said 101 Voice provides E-911 location information down to the room level on day one and includes automatic failover to cellular or satellite links at sites that lack dependable cellular service. The district presentation compared five-year net spends and concluded the incremental cost to move to 101 Voice was about $13,500 over five years (about $225 per month) while providing the E-911 and redundancy improvements. Carrera also noted the district currently pays roughly $210,000 to AT&T over recent years for lines tied to the old system and expects to port numbers and eliminate many of those line charges under the cloud solution.
Board members asked about handset warranties, lifecycle expectations, whether satellite redundancy is included (it is part of the vendor’s solution) and possible E-Rate/CalNet discounts; Carrera said redundancy and CalNet/ERate participation were part of the procurement approach. The motion to proceed with 101 Voice on CMAS passed on a recorded roll-call vote of five in favor, zero opposed.
Why it matters: the upgrade addresses emergency response accuracy and phone availability during outages — both cited as critical to school safety and daily operations. The board approved the purchase to obtain immediate E-911 improvements and make the district phone system resilient to local network interruptions.
