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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS 22/00 .- REPORT TO COUNCIL FROM: Gillis A. Paterson Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer DATE: September 30,2000 REPORT NUMBER: CS 22-00 SUBJECT: Replacement of the City's Telephone Systems RECOMMENDATION: That Report No CS 22-00 be received by Council and that: 1. staff of the Corporate Services Department be authorized to proceed with the issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the replacement of the four current telephone systems located within the Civic Complex, Recreation Complex, Works Centre, and Library; 2. due to the urgency of the situation and due to the recess of Council for the Municipal Elections the Chief Administrative Officer and the Director of Corporate Services be authorized to award the contract for the replacement of the telephone systems described in this report. 3. the appropriate staff be given authority to give effect thereto. - ORIGIN: Upon assuming responsibility for the City's telephone systems, staff of the Corporate Services Department determined that the telephone system located within the Civic Complex was old, at its maximum capacity and that system failure was possible. If system failure did occur, the' City's operations would be severely impacted. At the same time, it was determined that none of the three telephone systems located within the Recreation Complex, Works Centre, and Library could be networked with the Civic Complex's system resulting in staff having to support four different telephone and voice-mail systems. Our conclusion was that a review of all telephone systems in the City's facilities would be beneficial. The Chief Administrative Officer concurred and the process commenced. AUTHORITY: Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, as amended. 2000 Current Budget FINANCIAL IMPUCA TIONS: The industry standard today is to lease telephone systems rather than to purchase outright as was done with the City's existing four main telephone systems, Civic Complex, Library, Recreation Complex and the Works Centre. This is mainly due to two factors: cost and the rapidly changing technology. - Report to Council CS 22-00 Date: September 30, 2000 Subject: Replacement of the City's Telephone Systems Page 2 - The projected purchase price of a replacement system is estimated to be approximately $325,000, taxes included. This cost is based on the responses from Bell Canada and WilTel Communications received from the recently issued Request for Information (RFI). This cost would most likely be financed over several years, to lessen the financial impact on our Budgets, through property taxes, a transfer from reserves or a combination of both. The final total cost after financing would be closer to $360,000.00 to which service and maintenance costs would have to be added. This option is not being persued at this time. The preferred option is to lease. Our present cost of lines, maintenance and servicing is approximately $132,000.00 annually. The proposed cost of leasing before RFP, is estimated to be approximately $165,000.00 annually, a difference of $33,000.00. Savings of $26,000.00 from the telephone audit will offset most of this increase. In summary, we expect the installation of the four new systems to result in a cost increase of somewhere between zero and $1,000.00 per month, depending upon the result of the RFP. The cost of the Petticoat Creek Library and Community Centre will be in addition to this estimate. A more detailed examination of the costs and savings will take place after the R F P is received and analyzed. - As noted below, the review of telephones now has a sense of urgency to it as Mitel will no longer be supporting the system as of November 1, 2000. Had we been aware of the state of the current systems or of this recent announcement, this project would have been included in the 2000 Capital Budget. Up to the time of the announcement, we were anticipating including it in the 2001 Capital Budget, or earlier if savings materialized. All things considered it is staff's opinion that this project must proceed immediately. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City is currently operating four telephone systems, not counting the telephone systems in use at the Fire Services Division and the Museum. In addition to the telephone systems, four voice- mail systems are being utilized. The Mitel SX200D telephone system installed at the Civic Complex was originally purchased for the old Town Hall located at the comers of Kingston and Brock Road. Actual records cannot be located, but it appears that it was purchased in 1984, however the technology is even older and replacement parts have not been manufactured for some time. We have very recently been informed that as of November 1, 2000, Mitel will no lonl!:er support the switch we have in place and most parts will no lone:er be available. Bell has indicated they will do what they can to assist us but they too will not be able to obtain replacement parts. The situation is now somewhat url!:ent. Bell is currently repairing the system using parts from systems discarded by other corporations. If the system should fail and critical parts were not available, it is estimated that it would take a minimum of five months to install a replacement system, the operational impact of which would be unacceptable. It is known that the system was upgraded to incorporate some digital technology in 1989 when it was moved to the Civic Complex. The Octel voice-mail system in use at the Civic Complex was installed in the 1995 period. - Report to Council CS 22-00 Date: September 30, 2000 Subject: Replacement of the City's Telephone Systems Page 4 ,......; The telephone system for the Petticoat Creek Library and Community Centre is being handled separately as it was anticipated that it would be in service prior to the installation of any replacement system. However, given recent events the proposed configuration will be included in the RFP for the new systems. In any event a system will be in place regardless of any other events. CONCLUSION: Thus, the request to proceed with the RFP is being submitted to Council at this time due to the urgency of the situation. The calling of an RFP will provide staff with a firm price on new telephone and voice-mail systems, designed within today's current operating environment, organization and technology. It will incorporate the result of both consultants' work to the greatest technological and financial advantage of the City. As it is now apparent the system must be replaced Recommendation #2 allows the process to continue during Council's recess for the Municipal Election. ATTACHMENTS: None Prepared! Approved/Endorsed By: - ~?4~~~ Gillis A. Paterson, Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer GAP:vw Copy: Chief Administrative Officer Director, Operations and Emergency Services Director, Planning and Development Manager, Information Systems Recommended for the consideration of Pickering City Council Thomas J. Quinn, Chief Administrative Officer -