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St. Clair County staff recommend hosted phone system to replace aging countywide setup; 911 integration is a precondition
Summary
IT managers recommended a hosted (cloud) phone system for county offices and dispatch, quoting a consolidated monthly service cost of $8,133.75 for approximately 425 phones. Commissioners insisted on full integration testing with the county's 911 vendor before approving any switch.
Ben Morgan, the county IT manager, and John Myers, assistant IT manager, presented a proposal to replace the county’s 10–11‑year‑old phone system with a hosted solution from ICS. They said the hosted system would remove most on‑premise telephony equipment, consolidate four current service bills into one, and include phone hardware, support and professional services in the monthly charge.
Ben Morgan said the vendor’s quote estimated a monthly consolidated cost of $8,133.75 for roughly 425 phones, which would also include device replacement and porting services. The package would support analog lines (faxes, elevator lines), voicemail‑to‑email, secure electronic faxing and mobile apps that let employees use a desk extension from a cell phone. “The monthly charge comes out at $8,133.75,” Morgan said while reviewing the quote.
Commissioners emphasized that the integration with the existing Indigital 911 dispatch system is a dealbreaker; staff scheduled an engineering review with Indigital to verify interoperability. The presenters described failover benefits from using two internet connections (if one site loses fiber, calls can route to the other site) and proposed a phased rollout or an overnight switch once Indigital validates integration.
Why it matters: dispatch and public safety rely on uninterrupted phone service; countywide consolidation could reduce monthly billing complexity and provide redundancy but cannot be implemented until 911 compatibility is confirmed.
What’s next: staff will meet with Indigital engineers, finalize procurement details and return with a recommendation that addresses 911 integration and purchasing/implementation options.
