County IT reports phone, camera and firewall upgrades; NVR compatibility drives follow-up work

County IT staff briefed the commissioners on several technology and communications items and requested authorization to get quotes and schedule follow-up work to ensure continuity for dispatch and sheriff operations.

Speaker 2 said the courthouse phone system hardware was replaced so the county can manage and monitor the system directly; during recent power surges the phone battery backup failed, but staff swapped in a replacement unit that worked in a subsequent power incident. IT staff also said dispatch and sheriff currently use a mix of providers and are exploring consolidation to simplify call transfers and call-recording continuity.

A separate issue arose after installation of a new NVR: the new monitoring software cannot add the county’s older cameras, meaning two different software instances would be required to see all feeds. Staff said options include rewiring old cameras to the new NVR, or upgrading the existing NVRs to the new software standard; quotes are being requested to assess cost and downtime.

IT staff are also replacing firewalls across county facilities; some locations require after-hours work and potential overtime to swap devices with minimal disruption. Commissioners asked staff to return with quotes and a schedule for completing remaining sites.

On communications infrastructure, a separate session with the TV/9-1-1 advisory participants covered transmitter and tower work and the need to clean up wiring at Plevna and Brackett Butte sites; commissioners asked staff to coordinate with certified technicians to minimize weather-related interference and plan for generator or battery backups at high sites.

Next steps: IT will collect quotes for NVR/camera compatibility fixes and for final firewall rollouts, coordinate with dispatch on phone-line consolidation options, and return to the commission with cost estimates and implementation timelines.