Vote due on county phone system

Jefferson County legislators will be asked tonight to purchase a $1 million phone system that at least one member doesn't think is worth the cost.

Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, has questioned the need for the equipment purchase. He also took issue with the bid process, as well as the use of a federal grant for one department in installing a phone system for another.

The county has a bid from CDW-G for Cisco Systems Inc

The county has a bid from CDW-G for Cisco Systems Inc.'s Voice over Internet Protocol phone system for $926,131. The county limited the bidding to Cisco systems, eliminating local vendors, because it had tested the Cisco system.

Current phone provider CREG Systems Corp. could provide its own VoIP system, CREG Chairman of the Board Kris W. Allen said. He said he wanted a chance to present options to upgrade the system CREG built in 1982 and upgraded in 1992.

The new system

County officials have said the new system would allow for a six-year payback through reduced operations costs. But they don't have the exact figures for regional and long-distance charges through Time Warner, which would provide phone service. They said Thursday that the annual savings would be $5,000 over current long-distance service. Local phone service would be $28,800 per year.

The county pays $4,235 for the county buildings to be included, but the remainder covers schools, businesses and residences in the county. People can enroll, at no charge, to add information about, say, building entries or medical conditions.

Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, has questioned the need for the equipment purchase. He also took issue with the bid process, as well as the use of a federal grant for one department in installing a phone system for another.

The county has a bid from CDW-G for Cisco Systems Inc

The county has a bid from CDW-G for Cisco Systems Inc.'s Voice over Internet Protocol phone system for $926,131. The county limited the bidding to Cisco systems, eliminating local vendors, because it had tested the Cisco system.

Current phone provider CREG Systems Corp. could provide its own VoIP system, CREG Chairman of the Board Kris W. Allen said. He said he wanted a chance to present options to upgrade the system CREG built in 1982 and upgraded in 1992.

The new system

County officials have said the new system would allow for a six-year payback through reduced operations costs. But they don't have the exact figures for regional and long-distance charges through Time Warner, which would provide phone service. They said Thursday that the annual savings would be $5,000 over current long-distance service. Local phone service would be $28,800 per year.

The county pays $4,235 for the county buildings to be included, but the remainder covers schools, businesses and residences in the county. People can enroll, at no charge, to add information about, say, building entries or medical conditions.