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County hears proposal for hosted phone system; judge asks staff to cost and return
Summary
Pro on Call Technologies proposed replacing Mason County's end-of-life phone system with a hosted (cloud) telephony service offering mobile app failover and modular seat pricing; commissioners raised questions about broadband dependence, cabling upgrades and buy-vs-lease costs, and the court directed staff to gather asset/cost details and pick the item up at a future meeting.
Maysville, Ky.
Pro on Call Technologies presented a hosted phone-system proposal to Mason County Fiscal Court on Sept. 10, recommending a cloud-based replacement for the county's aging on-premises telephone equipment. Jamie Althoff, the company's senior account manager, said the current system is "end of life" and that a hosted solution would provide mobile app calling, redundant data centers and a modular licensing approach that could reduce recurring telephone-line expenses.
"Modern day telecommunications would solve and enable to kind of come a little bit closer together in terms of their telecommunications," Althoff told the court, adding that the vendor's mobile app allows staff to make and receive county calls over cellular data when local Internet is out.
County staff and commissioners questioned whether the county's broadband and internal cabling are sufficient, how many extensions would be affected (the presenter said roughly 50—56 extensions exist), and the tradeoffs between an up-front purchase of phones versus leasing. The vendor noted implementation would typically require a 30—45-day window to port phone numbers and complete phased deployment and that some cabling and switch upgrades would be additional costs.
Judge Owen McNeil directed staff to compile full asset inventories and cost estimates, including necessary wiring or switch work, and to bring the item back to a future fiscal-court meeting rather than proceed to contract immediately. "Why don't we table this, come in, understand all the assets and cost this court and county would incur ... and we will pick this back up at our next court meeting," McNeil said.
Fiscal context: County staff reported current monthly telecommunications spending of about $1,900 with AT&T; the presenter said converting to hosted telephony could offset recurring line charges but would require assessing one-time wiring or equipment upgrades.
Next steps: The vendor and staff will perform a comprehensive survey of department needs and provide commissioners with a detailed implementation and cost estimate for consideration at a later meeting.
