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Local broadband provider briefs supervisors on fiber and VoIP options for county offices
Summary
KCTC representatives described fiber projects, ARPA-supported builds and VoIP phone systems for county offices, discussing dropped calls, cost tradeoffs of eliminating landlines, 911 reliability and the need for county billing data to prepare quotes.
Representatives from KCTC (the county's regional broadband/telecom provider) presented an overview of local fiber builds, ARPA-funded projects and their voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone systems.
KCTC said VoIP can reduce recurring landline costs after an upfront equipment investment and that many customers can use phone apps to make and receive work calls remotely. The board questioned reliability and 911 compatibility; KCTC said fiber has sustained high uptime and that 911 functionality can be configured but recommended a mobile hotspot or redundant arrangements as a backup if the internet goes down.
County officials reported previous issues with dropped calls and asked KCTC to get detailed phone-bill breakdowns from the auditor's office so KCTC can provide firm quotes for replacing landlines or consolidating services. KCTC representatives said they have experience deploying systems for schools and nearby municipalities and offered to provide a cost estimate after reviewing the county's current billing and phone counts.
Next steps: staff agreed to provide billing breakdowns (via the auditor's office) so providers can prepare quotes and assess cost savings and contingency options for 911 and emergency response.
