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Council hears plan to replace Microsoft Teams for meetings; staff recommends Zoom or shared accounts
Summary
Staff reported that Microsoft Teams conferencing access has been curtailed and recommended adopting Zoom or a small number of shared hosting accounts for council and planning meetings.
Bluff staff told the council that the municipality’s Microsoft Teams meeting capability has been curtailed and that continuing to rely on Teams is no longer practical. Staff proposed moving to Zoom or creating a small number of shared Google/Zoom subscriptions so the town can host meetings without buying individual accounts for every employee.
"I would recommend that we look at probably, like, 2 subscriptions to Zoom... probably 1 for town council to own and 1 for planning and zoning to own," Erin Nelson, the service manager, said. Nelson explained that using a small number of owner accounts would allow administrators to schedule meetings while avoiding the cost of licensing every staff member for conferencing tools.
Councilors raised accessibility as a key factor. Nelson said Zoom did not always offer closed captioning in earlier rounds of procurement and that some community members needed captions; she said captioning appears to be available now but noted the town experienced problems in the past. The council discussed balancing cost, ease of use and accessibility when selecting a platform.
No formal decision was made at the Feb. 4 meeting; staff said they would test Zoom, gather pricing and return with a recommendation and sample configurations for council approval.
