Sumner County emergency communications board authorizes up to $463,000 for IT and 9-1-1 equipment refresh
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Summary
The Sumner County Emergency Communications District board authorized up to $463,000 to replace core servers, storage and 27 radio console PCs and to address UPS lifecycle issues after officials said recent equipment age and a winter call surge exposed operational risks.
The Sumner County Emergency Communications District on the meeting approved a spending authorization of up to $463,000 to refresh critical 9-1-1 infrastructure, including servers, storage and radio-console computers.
ECC IT presenter Rich said the purchase would cover four PowerEdge servers, a PowerStore unit and VMware licensing he described as the backbone of 9-1-1 operations, plus replacement of 27 radio PCs at the primary and backup sites. "Without those, we don't answer phones," Rich said, summarizing the operational risk if the hardware fails. He added the plan would move existing main-site equipment to the backup site (Hendersonville PD) and install next-generation equipment at the primary center so the backup can be fully supported.
Board members discussed options for the facility's Eaton 9390 UPS, which the director said is scheduled to reach end of service in about 11 months. Staff presented quotes showing battery-replacement options roughly between $25,000 and $49,000 (with capacitor/fan work adding roughly $6,000–$7,000) and full replacement UPS quotes in the $60,000–$90,000 range. Director and staff described trade-offs: lower-cost battery replacement could extend service several years while full replacement would be a longer-term solution.
Board members pressed staff for firm quotes and vendor reputation checks. One member urged prioritizing quality for this "critical component," saying reliability matters "when you need it." Staff said they had received multiple written quotes (Eaton and Nationwide among them) and vendor support plans and would continue to refine the procurement specifications.
The board moved and seconded a motion authorizing up to $463,000 for the described equipment refresh and related work; the motion passed by voice vote.