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County IT proposes hosted phone system to replace aging county network; 911 integration is key
Summary
St. Clair County IT presented a plan to replace a decade-old phone system with a cloud-hosted solution serving roughly 425 phones at a quoted $8,133.75 per month; commissioners asked that the vendor demonstrate flawless integration with the county’s 911 platform before final approval.
Ben Morgan, the county’s IT manager, told the commission April 23 that the county’s phone system—installed around 2016 and no longer supported by Windstream—has produced dropped calls and other reliability problems and needs replacement. He said the county has been discussing a hosted solution from ICS that would remove most on-premises equipment and consolidate multiple provider bills into one monthly charge.
The system quoted would support approximately 425 phones and carry a monthly service, support and equipment charge of $8,133.75, Morgan said. He described features that appealed to county leaders — text messaging to notify residents, voice-mail-to-email, easier device replacement and the ability to make an employee’s mobile phone act as their desk extension.
“The monthly cost, it comes out as 8,133 and dollars and 75¢,” Morgan said, and added that porting numbers, project manager fees and training were included in the proposal.
Why it matters: county officials said intermittent failures of the current system have affected public-facing services and that the new platform could reduce friction across multiple vendors and offices. Commissioners and staff emphasized that any new system must integrate seamlessly with the county’s 911 vendor, inDigital, because dispatch continuity is a nonnegotiable requirement.
Morgan said a technical meeting with inDigital engineers was scheduled and characterized the integration check as the primary remaining obstacle. “We’re gonna have a meet and greet and make sure that this system can flawlessly integrate into the into the their 911 system,” he said. He presented two rollout options: a phased department-by-department transition or a single overnight cutover handled by vendor technicians.
The commission asked staff to complete the inDigital integration tests and to coordinate procurement and budget review with the county auditor and purchasing contact before placing the item on the next regular meeting agenda. Commissioners stressed a cautious approach because dispatch must not be affected.
What’s next: staff will meet with inDigital engineers, confirm procurement and budgeting details, and return with a recommended procurement path and timeline for the commissioners to consider at the upcoming Tuesday meeting.
