Rankin County authorizes consultant to assist migration of 9‑1‑1 circuits and radio systems

Bridal Grantham, identified in the meeting as 'Bridal Grantham with EOC,' asked the commission Jan. 29 for permission to hire a consultant to assist the county’s transition of 9‑1‑1 circuits and radio circuits from legacy copper systems to a new fiber/cloud configuration.

Gran tham told the commission that installation work has been under way for about a year and the county is now on the technical phase that requires network‑engineering expertise beyond county IT’s in‑house capacity. She said staff and county IT had met with AT&T and Motorola and that the consultant being proposed serves as the consultant for the state Wireless Communications Commission (WCC) and would provide independent technical reviews and recommendations. Grantham said the consultant quoted $230 per hour and that initial use might be roughly six hours per month, tapering after systems are reviewed and brought online.

Commissioners asked whether local vendors such as Jackson Communications could provide the service; staff said local vendors did not have the same technical subset of network engineering needed. The consultant said he was independent and not tied to a single vendor brand; staff emphasized the goal of getting the migration right on the front end and avoiding duplicate or excess charges.

A motion to authorize use of the consultant was made and carried by voice vote. Staff said the consultant would join technical meetings (via Zoom or in person) as needed, help evaluate proposals such as AT&T’s point‑to‑multipoint option, and support negotiations to ensure the county was not oversold options that could later cause operational problems.