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Marion council selects Unitel premise phone system on five-year, $8,823 plan
Summary
After presentations from three vendors, the Marion Common Council voted to replace end-of-life Toshiba phones and approve Unitels premise-based IP voice system on a five-year plan costing $8,823; the council discussed cloud vs. on-premises trade-offs and implementation details.
Mayor Chris Goke and the Marion Common Council voted March 25 to replace the citys end-of-life Toshiba phone system, approving Unitels premise-based IP voice communication plan for a five-year term priced at $8,823.
The move follows presentations from three vendors. Tom Ugoretz of Heartland Business Systems proposed a 36-month cloud option at $253.89 per month plus a $10,050.64 installation charge and an alternative 36-month Cisco on-premises system priced at $33,062.18 with $114.45 monthly licensing. Mike Toth of Unitel outlined a Sangoma cloud option for $240.87 per month (taxes and FCC fees excluded) with a $3,137 installation charge and presented premise-based options of $8,518 for three years or $8,823 for five years; Toth recommended a premise-based system for smaller clients and said he could possibly reduce required SIP trunks. Joel Schuldt and Katie Bain of Spectrum Enterprise proposed a 36-month Cisco cloud-based system with Webex licensing, offering a dedicated fiber connection to Spectrums data center for $546.85 per month and a $2,000 installation fee, noting a removable $64 inside-wiring charge and requesting additional time to revise remote-site construction costs.
Council discussion focused on contract length (three vs. five years), recurring monthly costs versus one-time installation charges, whether to host in the cloud or on premise, responsibilities for internet and network line charges, hardware ownership, bandwidth and talk/text capabilities, and construction considerations for remote locations. The council heard that the current Toshiba phones are past end-of-life and no longer being serviced.
On a motion by Councilor Neal Westemeier, seconded by Joe Larson, the council approved Unitels five-year premise plan in the amount of $8,823 (motion carried). The transcript records the motion as "m/s/c Westemeier/Larson"; individual roll-call vote tallies were not recorded in the meeting text.
The meeting record shows no closed session was held. The council adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
