St. Clair County IT pitches hosted phone system to replace aging on‑premises network

County IT staff presented a proposal to replace the county’s aging telephone infrastructure with a hosted, cloud‑based phone system from ICS, saying the move would remove most on‑site telephony equipment and consolidate multiple current providers onto a single monthly service.

IT staff estimated the hosted solution would support roughly 425 phones and carry a monthly cost of $8,133.75 — a figure they said would include phones, support and number‑porting services. "It's kinda the way everybody's going, because you don't have any equipment on premise other than a desk phone," one IT presenter said, arguing the system reduces local hardware failure points and simplifies duplicate billing across county departments.

Speakers emphasized one precondition before signing a contract: the hosted system must integrate seamlessly with the county’s 911 vendor (Indigital). IT arranged a technical meeting with Indigital engineers to confirm interoperability; commissioners said that integration is a “deal breaker" for approval. The proposal also includes options for phased rollout, mobile apps to let employees use desk extensions from home and a fax‑adaptation device for legacy analog lines.

Proponents noted potential operational benefits beyond reliability, including text‑messaging capabilities for public notifications and simplified device replacement under the vendor’s warranty. Commissioners asked staff to bring final procurement language, a budget breakdown for departmental lines and the 911 integration confirmation to the next business meeting before any formal authorization.