Macbase to review rising phone-line costs; staff to evaluate VoIP and maintain copper fail‑safes

Macbase staff warned the Board of Governors on June 12 that Consolidated is restructuring its POTS-line offerings and shifting previously bundled services to an a la carte model, which will raise per-line costs and could change the program budget.

A staff presentation, prompted by a call from Bruce Dickerson of Milford IT, explained that consolidated POTS-line bundles that included three-way calling, long-distance handling and caller ID are being removed; the per-line price could rise from the current roughly $60 per line to about $90–$95. Staff said the change comes with a 24-month line contract for base pricing but that bundled extras will be charged separately.

Macbase staff described several options: (1) keep the current copper/POTS lines to preserve a fail-safe if the Internet goes down, (2) move some traffic to an IP (VoIP) platform to reduce long-distance and line costs, or (3) adopt a mixed approach with redundant Internet providers (Comcast plus Consolidated fiber) and a smaller retained set of copper lines for resiliency. Staff said a full VoIP migration could produce a multi-thousand‑dollar annual savings (preliminarily estimated in the low five figures) but would require an initial modernization effort and careful planning to retain emergency-failover capability.

Board members asked staff to monitor monthly usage, test any changes cautiously, and return with a recommended timetable and estimated savings. Staff also noted specific operational practices that rely on POTS lines today (for example, the general business numbers that currently trickle to backup POTS lines (603) 673‑1414 and 673‑1415), and said those lines would need replacement or reconfiguration in a full VoIP environment.

The board did not vote on any telecom contract changes; it directed staff to track the carrier's changes over the next three months, evaluate redundant Internet options and prepare a cost/savings estimate for the July meeting.