HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2014-33Suggested by: Administration
CITY OF KENAI
RESOLUTION NO. 2014 -33
• RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, AUTHORIZING
• BUDGET TRANSFER WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND - FOR THE PURCHASE OF
VOICE OVER IP EQUIPMENT.
WHEREAS, functionality of the current voice over IP phone system is unable to meet
the needs of the City; and,
WHEREAS, the City has gone through an exhaustive process to determine a solution
to current phone system deficiencies and has negotiated a substantial discount from
the manufacturer for the purchase of a call manager with increased functionality; and,
WHEREAS, sufficient funds exist in Non - Departmental communications due to
savings experienced since installation of the City's new telephone system; and,
WHEREAS, funds for miscellaneous network equipment were provided as part of the
Non - Departmental - Small Tools budget which have not been used.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI,
ALASKA, that the following budget transfer be made:
General Fund -
From:
To:
Non - Departmental - Communications $6,000
Non - Departmental - Small Tools 2,000
Non - Departmental - Machinery & Equipment $$
PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, this seventh day of May
2014.
PAT PORTER, MAYOR
ATT
San ra odigh, Ci Cle
Approved by Finance: �<<
WWA
"'Villaye with a Past, C# with a Future"
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
210 Fidalgo Avenue, Kenai, Alaska 99611 -7794
Telephone: 907 - 283 -7535 / FAX: 907 - 283 -3014
�To: Rick Koch, City Manager
From: Dan Castimore, IT Manager
Date: April 30, 2014
Re: Additional Voice Over IP equipment
The purpose of this memo is to explain the deficiencies of the current Voice Over IP
(VOIP) system, and the need to purchase additional VOIP equipment.
The City implemented a new VOIP phone system in the Spring of 2013. This system
was deployed at all facilities that are operated by the City of Kenai. I recommended that
we purchase the latest version of telephones that were available. The previous
generation of phones have remained largely unchanged since their introduction in 2002.
The new phones had many new features such as color screens, Bluetooth support, and
integrated cameras. The cost for the new generation of phones were comparable to the
old generation of phones.
Given that the new phones had been on the market for over 12 months when we
purchased them, and the reliability of the previous generation phones, I expected that
the implementation would be fairly painless. Many other organizations in the state have
also implemented phone systems using the newer phones.
The other major component of the VOIP system is a call manager, in our case we
purchased Cisco Unified Communication Manager Express (CME). This is a limited
version of Cisco Unified Communication Manager (CUCM) system that is used for
larger implementations. CME is designed for installations with less than 500 phones,
and doesn't support as many features as CME.
We have had numerous problems getting our phones to work with CME. This has been
well documented with 9 different support cases with Cisco in the last year. I have
worked with our vendor, B2 Networks, and it seems that other organizations have been
experiencing similar problems. The only solution that will solve all of our problems will
be to upgrade to a CUCM system.
We had originally considered a CUCM system during the planning phase, but found it
was far too expensive. Because of the many issues we have been experiencing, we
have been able to negotiate substantial discounts from Cisco. This makes the cost of
upgrading to a CUCM system less expensive than had we gone this route to begin with.
As for the available funds, for FY14 the budget included money for all of the phones in
City Hall in both non - departmental communications budgets as well as the individual
department budgets. This has left us with a $6,000 surplus in non - departmental
communications. We also budget money in non - departmental small tools for
miscellaneous computer and network supplies. We have $2,000 that has not been
expended from this account. As the purchase will likely exceed $5,000 these funds
need to originate in the non - departmental equipment account.
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