County IT recommends phased move to VoIP to replace aging PBX; department heads asked to evaluate

Aaron (county technology staff) presented a county-wide assessment of aging PBX phone hardware and recurring audio problems in the Judicial Center. He reported that the county has likely exhausted spare cards for the current PBX and that the system is effectively a single point of failure: "We're literally 1 lightning strike away from, or power surge away from losing the phone systems here," he said.

Staff recommended a hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system to provide redundancy, additional features (auto attendant, one-touch transfers and voicemail forwarding) and long-term cost savings. Aaron explained that many offices already have the cabling and that a phased, department-by-department upgrade would limit disruption; larger buildings such as the Judicial Center would require more wiring and hardware work.

He advised pushing initial decisions to department heads so each office can evaluate needs and budgets and then return to the commission for additional funding if necessary. On cost-recovery, Aaron said he expected payback in less than 18 months from reduced phone costs. Commissioners praised the analysis and agreed to hold a department-head meeting to coordinate migration plans.