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District staff recommends replacing outdated phone system; cloud option favored for future-proofing
Summary
IT staff said the district’s phone system is out of vendor support and recommended migrating to a more open, upgradeable platform (cloud or open-source on-prem) with expected installation around July 1 in FY27; a $40,000 difference in quotes was cited.
Joe Duncan, who presented the district’s technology options, told the board the current phone system is no longer supported by the vendor and cannot be upgraded or expanded. He said staff obtained multiple quotes and the options fall into two broad categories: cloud-hosted solutions (higher recurring cost but easy expansion) and on-premises IP systems (lower recurring cost but more limited upgrade paths).
Duncan said the lowest and second-lowest quotes were about $40,000 apart and recommended migrating to an open, upgradeable platform despite an expected migration effort. He suggested installation around July 1 (fiscal-year 2027) to avoid risking a failure of unsupported hardware during the school year and noted that the recommended system can integrate with bell/intercom schedules. “Our current phone system is out of support,” Duncan said. “The cloud phones are a lot more expensive but … you can just plug them into any port and they work instantly.”
No purchase motion was taken at the Jan. 14 meeting; Duncan said the item would likely return as an action item in February with a formal recommendation.
