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Presenter recommends month-to-month Verizon phones to equip classrooms
Summary
Staff presented three vendor options for classroom phones and recommended a month-to-month Verizon desktop-LTE solution to ensure classrooms have a working emergency contact phone. The presentation included per-line cost comparisons and a request for additional vendor quotes before a board-level action.
S3 presented three vendor approaches to give classrooms phone access and emphasized the safety need: “So we cannot get a hold of them or they cannot get a hold of somebody in case of an emergency.”
S3 walked the committee through cost comparisons and technical trade-offs among ABBVix (cloud-based PBX, reported as no upfront hardware cost), AirSpring (cloud solution with higher per-line fees), and Verizon (LTE/desktop phones on a month-to-month plan). S3 summarized the financial comparison and recommended Verizon because it can be added to the district’s existing Verizon education account and permits flexible additions or removals of lines: “That would be the best option for us to go with would be Verizon.”
Committee members asked whether the devices are standard cell phones or desktop LTE devices and whether the district’s existing account discounts apply; S2 confirmed the district already has an education account with Verizon and that additional discounts may be available. The presenters and committee agreed to gather at least two more vendor quotes and to present a final recommendation to the board after refining pricing and contract terms.
Next steps: staff will solicit additional bids, confirm any available institutional discounts through the district’s Verizon account, and return to the subcommittee with a recommendation and finalized cost figures for board consideration.
