The Human Resources and Information Technology Committee met 07/24/2024. The one action item on their agenda was to approve a request to move the City of Appleton’s phone system away from AT&T landlines and over to an internet-based system with a company called RingCentral. This move would result in an estimated annual cost savings of $56,000 during the 5 years of the contract.
The committee approved the request by a vote of 3-0.
I’ve provided a transcript of the discussion for download:
IT Director Corey Popp briefly reviewed the memo he had submitted. Moving to RingCentral would allow the city to get rid of most desk phones and move a computer based telephone application which staff would access via headsets plugged into their computers. The city would retain all its existing numbers and new potential numbers would be issued with the 920 area code. The service included voicemail, voicemail transcription, voicemail via email, hunt groups, automated attendance, call recording, e-911 service, and HIPAA compliant faxing.
This change would solve telephone access problems for work-from-home staff and help facilitate the continuation of city services should an emergency prevent staff from entering the workplace.
Director Popp told the committee that his department had been researching this technology for 15 months including discussions with both RingCentral and RingCentral competitors. The IT Department, the Health Department, Valley Transit, and the Mayor all participated in a 45 day trial period with RingCentral which they completed successfully.
RingCentral was estimated to cost $80,000 annually with a one-time hardware procurement and implementation cost of $102,000. So the first year cost was estimated to be $182,000. He also requested a contingency budget of $27,000 which, if needed, would result in a first year cost not to exceed $209,000.
The city’s current landline system required upgrades and would cost $280,000 to run into 2025. So moving to RingCentral would provide a first year cost savings of between $71,000 and $98,000 and then annual savings of $56,000 thereafter.
Although it was not mentioned in the memo, Director Popp said that the initial $182,000 for the cost of implementation and the first year of service would come from Excess General Fund dollars that had been allocated to the IT Department in 2021.
The committee asked about the process that had been used to settle on RingCentral. Director Popp said they worked through a broker at no cost who helped them narrow down providers with a focus on providers who had experience working with government. The other vendor they had looked at was 8×8, but that company had significantly higher costs. They settled on RingCentral based on cost and the successful trial period they had. Overall, this move would result in over a quarter of a million dollars in savings to the city over the course of the 5-year contract.
The committee voted unanimously to approve the request.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1213890&GUID=8C70DA02-83D1-4484-A676-50006AD1CAC4
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