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Ross County moves to strengthen VoIP, broadband redundancy and email security
Summary
County IT staff described completed VoIP migrations, a plan to keep Spectrum as a backup connection, and a new email-layer security product to flag suspicious financial messages alongside ongoing cybersecurity training.
Ross County staff told commissioners the county has completed an interim VoIP implementation for several departments and is scheduling formal cutovers with telecom providers.
The county’s IT staff described a layered email-security tool they said will help detect impersonation and suspicious financial requests beyond standard spam filtering: “This would give us mechanisms to prevent and add additional warnings to that that could be more intelligent,” the IT staff member said. He added that ongoing staff training remains central: “That’s where the training stuff comes in… a lot of people have completed it, not tons, but a month in we’re seeing progress.”
On internet connectivity, staff recommended maintaining a primary vendor and a backup: currently GloFiber serves as the primary service and Spectrum is maintained as a backup connection. The IT presenter said the county will evaluate turning Spectrum into a primary connection when current contracts roll off to avoid being beholden to any single provider.
No formal contract change was adopted at the meeting; commissioners asked for additional comparison information on costs and continuity before moving primary service roles. Commissioners also discussed a proposed IT/backup contract estimate (cited in the meeting at roughly $14,500 per month including travel and labor); at least one commissioner expressed opposition to outsourcing services at that cost, but the board carried a motion to proceed with the proposed contract authorization with recorded opposition noted.
