Council approved a contract with AT&T to move Alpharetta’s 9‑1‑1 call handling to a cloud‑based NextGen platform. The city will have no maintenance increase for 24 months, then an estimated $62,000 annual cost beginning in month 25 as a pilot agency; implementation estimated at about nine months plus a 45-day soak period.
The Alpharetta City Council approved a contract with AT&T on Jan. 12 to transition the city’s 9‑1‑1 call‑handling system to a cloud‑based NextGen 9‑1‑1 platform.
9‑1‑1 Director Lexi Ramick outlined the proposal’s goals: improved resiliency and redundancy, geographically diverse failover, call transcription and text handling, and integrated instant foreign‑language translation. Ramick said, "By transitioning to a cloud based platform, this upgrade significantly enhances system resiliency, redundancy, and reduces reliance on on‑site hardware providing geographically diverse failover capabilities." She added that initial equipment and telecommunicator training are provided at no cost and that maintenance costs remain at current levels for the first 24 months.
AT&T representatives estimated an approximate nine‑month deployment timeline to go live, followed by a 45‑day soak period. As a pilot agency, Alpharetta would begin to incur an approximate $62,000 annual increase beginning in month 25 to cover ongoing software subscription and maintenance costs; the contract motion recorded a not‑to‑exceed annual cost of $124,962 beginning after the initial no‑increase period as described in the contract terms presented.
Council members questioned funding sources and allocation between Alpharetta and the neighboring jurisdiction of Milton, noting that E‑9‑1‑1 fund revenues had recently lagged expenditures. Council requested a future briefing that would show how the city plans to fund the ongoing costs and how the cost allocation between jurisdictions is determined. AT&T said it will work with the city on public awareness about new features and that FirstNet and other public‑safety connectivity aspects are part of their broader service offering.
Council voted to approve the contract by recorded motion; the measure passed unanimously.
