Committee forwards two multiyear IT contracts for Prosecuting Attorney’s Office — WAN and VoIP services

The Hawaii County Council Committee on Finance voted unanimously to forward two resolutions for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office that would authorize multiyear contracts for networking and telephone services.

Resolution 284-25 would authorize the mayor to enter a three-year wide area network agreement for an estimated $49,200 per year to link the office’s four locations. Resolution 285-25 would authorize a five-year agreement for voice-over-Internet (VoIP) service at the office’s workroom in the Kona Judiciary Complex; the transcript records an estimated cost of $260 per year for that site.

Grant Nagata, business administrator for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, described why the office maintains separate IT infrastructure. “For our office, we operate a little bit different from the other departments. We have our own internal IT staff. We have our own servers, networking, and whatnot,” Nagata said, noting that the office stores criminal-history records, evidence, videos and other materials that must meet FBI security standards. The WAN service keeps the office’s Hilo, Kona, Waimea and Kona Judiciary Building workroom linked so staff can access files wherever they are.

Nagata said the WAN proposal is an extension of an existing service and that the three-year quote came in lower than anticipated, producing a slight savings compared with the current budgeted amount. Council member Kurkowitz called the resolution’s cost information “very clear” and supported forwarding it.

Both resolutions were moved by Council Member Inaba and forwarded with favorable recommendations; the clerk recorded eight ayes with one member absent on each vote.

No changes in service levels were identified in the discussion; Nagata said the contracts extend current services.