Dickinson County IT director outlines $35,000 license savings, Zoom migration and AI pilot

Dustin Parks, Dickinson Countys IT and GIS director, briefed the commission on department work that he said should reduce recurring software costs and simplify meeting management.

Parks said the county currently carries roughly 65 secure-access licenses for remote connections, which he estimated at about a $35,000 annual expense. He told commissioners the countys firewall and VPN configuration allows the county to move users to a less-expensive or free sign-in model for many staff, and he said the county expects to reduce that cost "at least by half" if the free version satisfies security requirements.

Parks also described an upcoming beta test of a contract-management product from GovSavvy, a company formed by some founders of the county's earlier GovBuilds platform. He said the tool could help the county track contracts and seat-based software costs per department and that a successful beta would be free or inexpensive.

On meeting technology, Parks said the county plans to transition from GoToMeeting to Zoom in mid-March to early April. He said Zoom would make sign-ups and recording easier, allow direct cloud recordings to YouTube, and generally simplify troubleshooting and customer support.

Parks added the county is exploring an AI "agent" for the county website to answer routine public questions; he said the AI test page would not be made public until accuracy is verified. Parks concluded by saying these changes aim to lower recurring costs and reduce help-desk time for staff.

"So for law enforcement, we're looking into the cost of the auto sign in because it's a little bit more secure... But right now, we have 65 licenses. So that's a $35,000 bill roughly a year," Parks said.