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Nueces County IT warns phone-porting delays, pushes for disaster recovery and system upgrades
Summary
IT officials told the commissioners court that a stalled number ‘port’ from Windstream PayTech to AT&T is blocking full use of a new IP phone system and the RTA building; staff also outlined fiber upgrades, a new 300TB SAN, remote backup plans with Region 20, and a Tyler-managed Odyssey criminal migration.
The Nueces County commissioners court heard from county IT staff about technology upgrades and obstacles that are driving this year’s budget request. IT said an inbound-number port from incumbent vendor Windstream PayTech to AT&T has delayed activation of a new IP phone system and prevented calls reaching newly installed phones at several sites, including the RTA building.
Mike, the IT presenter, told the court that AT&T must notify Windstream PayTech to release the numbers so the new Cisco phones will ring; until that number port is completed “we don’t have the old phone lines there” and the RTA building cannot be brought fully online. Commissioners and staff discussed escalation paths; the presenter said he provided contact names and email for an AT&T office in San Antonio and expected a cut‑over date soon.
Why it matters: the porting issue affects daily operations (inbound call reachability) and delays moves to upgraded facilities. The court also is weighing additional personnel and maintenance costs tied to new equipment.
IT outlined other near-term and capital priorities in the department’s request. Staff reported replacement of legacy T1 circuits with Time Warner (Spectrum) fiber that increased remote-office data rates from roughly 1.5 Mbps to between 10 and 50 Mbps and installation of a dedicated 200 Mbps link at RMB that will serve events and emergency operations; IT said the RMB link can be shared with the Keach Library via a FiberLink.
On storage and recovery, IT said the county is installing a new SAN cluster with roughly 300 terabytes of capacity and a fast-restore appliance to speed recovery from file corruption and to support growing document imaging for courts and the district attorney. For disaster recovery, IT said it is considering remote backups and co‑location with the Education Service Center (ESC) / Region 20 in San Antonio so data can be recovered even if local facilities are damaged.
The court also discussed software and payments systems. IT said the county is replacing about 230 PCs (about 80 already installed) to retire unsupported Windows XP machines. Migration of the criminal module to Odyssey remains a top priority; staff reported a contract for a full-time Tyler project manager (~$331,000) to lead the implementation and indicated the criminal go‑live is targeted for roughly the first week of October. Until Odyssey is upgraded from the county’s current 2013 release, EMV (chip) credit-card readers cannot be fully supported; county and JP readers will operate in swipe mode until the Odyssey upgrade and associated integrations are completed.
Commissioners raised ordinary-support questions — for example, routine mailbox-capacity messages affecting elected officials and staff. IT demonstrated a practical folder-archival approach and offered hands‑on help for users who lack the local knowledge to move messages off the server.
What’s next: IT staff said some projects can be delayed but that several elements — number porting, Odyssey migration, and disaster‑recovery contracting — will determine near‑term operational readiness. The court asked IT to work with commissioners to prioritize the list and come back with a pared-down, realistic budget for the year.
