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County IT reports VoIP transition largely complete; vendor apologizes and ties left to resolve
Summary
IT staff told commissioners the county’s VoIP phone rollout is mostly complete: training and user guides were distributed, county‑court faxing was restored via an EAC workaround, and a vendor representative from BTS Communications said his Grand Island office will manage service going forward; a tie line between sheriff and dispatch remains under remediation.
IT staff reported that training for the new county VoIP phone system was completed for courthouse departments, supervisors received individualized user guides, and acknowledgement sheets were collected. BJ Lawson and David Pate said supervisors will retain guides for onboarding and that some departments received tailored training for phone features they use most.
IT staff described three earlier issues: county court faxing, district court incoming fax gaps, and call transfers between the sheriff's office and dispatch. The county court fax problem was resolved by switching to an EAC fax‑over‑email service as a working solution. District court’s incoming fax issue — the last recorded incoming fax had shown as Feb. 23 — was fixed after vendor contact and service has been restored. Jack Kinnikut noted one remaining issue: a tie line between the sheriff's office and dispatch that can affect call transfers after 5 p.m.; IT scheduled a meeting with Lumen to pursue a fix.
John Fischer, sales manager for BTS Communications (Grand Island), introduced himself, apologized for prior service shortfalls under previous ownership and told the board BTS Grand Island will provide local support going forward. "I am BTS, so that's exactly why I'm taking it," Fischer said, taking responsibility for addressing past hiccups and offering to provide follow-up training as needed.
The board praised IT staff and the vendor for responsiveness and requested continued progress reports until the remaining tie‑line issue is resolved.
Next steps: IT to pursue a Lumen meeting on the tie line and continue to provide follow-up training and documentation; BTS to coordinate with county IT on any needed vendor support.
