County IT staff recommend hosted phone system to replace aging on-site equipment

Ben Morgan, the county IT manager, presented a plan to replace the county’s aging on‑premises phone system with a hosted solution from ICS that would consolidate multiple vendor bills and support 425 extensions across county offices.

Morgan said the current system “is no longer supported by Windstream,” and that the hosted option would move the county to an Internet‑based platform with a per‑month all‑in cost for service, support and devices. The proposal includes porting existing numbers, adapters for analog fax lines and features such as text‑notification and mobile apps that let cell phones act as desk extensions. The quote conveyed to commissioners was $8,133.75 per month for the system as presented, which includes phones, licensing and professional services.

Commissioners and IT staff emphasized a required technical integration step with the county’s 911 vendor, Indigital, before committing. Morgan said Indigital engineers will meet with county IT to verify that dispatch lines and emergency call handling will not be disrupted; commissioners characterized that test as a “deal breaker” for moving forward. The staff recommended a phased rollout and options for the county to do some on‑site work internally or hire the vendor for overnight cutover.

The commission did not record a final vote during this work session; staff said the item is expected to come back to the regular meeting after the Indigital integration test and final pricing and procurement checks. If authorized, the plan would replace multiple incumbent carriers and simplify billing into one monthly charge per department.