Title
Report regarding a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a five-year professional services agreement with Intermedia.net, Inc. for upgrading the City phone system to a Unified Communication hosted platform in the amount not to exceed $736,259 (Tony Barrera, Director of Information Technology)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a five-year professional services agreement with Intermedia.net, Inc. for upgrading the City phone system to a Unified Communication hosted platform.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The City’s NEC phone system, implemented in 2019, currently operates as an on-premises solution supporting all departments except 911 emergency services. On September 24, 2024, Intermedia announced an agreement to assume NEC’s Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) business in North America, as well as its partner relationships in Europe. This move strengthens Intermedia’s presence in the global communications space and reflects the growing demand for flexible, cloud-based solutions. NEC informed the City that it will discontinue support for all on-premises hardware and software effective December 31, 2024, as it transitions from traditional systems to modern, cloud-based communication platforms. Moving to a cloud-based solution will ensure continued system support while providing increased reliability, timely and consistent software updates, and enhanced communication features to better meet the needs of City operations.
Due to the vendor partnership, the City has an upgrade path to the hosted solution that allows for a scheduled, seamless migration rather than a disruptive “forklift” replacement. The City currently operates 680 direct-inward dialing numbers (DID), 535 handsets, integrations to building public announcement systems, voicemail, call accounting, call recording, and multiple call tree groups. The proposed cloud solution will maintain all existing features while adding integrations with Microsoft Teams, SMS capabilities, “soft phone” allowing a user to use their computer versus a handset, a user self-service account management through a secure web portal, among the new features. In addition, Intermedia’s platform is supported by a robust security infrastructure, is ISO 27001 certified, and complies with financial, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS standards.
The total cost of the project is $12,124 per month, $145,493 annually. There is also a one-time fee of $8,793 for configuration and migration of the system, for a total 5-year cost of $736,259. In the second year, around $95,000 in offsetting costs from our existing system will be applied to the overall cost. The costs include configuration and porting of DID numbers to the new UCaaS.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Information Technology Department requested appropriation during the fiscal year 2025-26 budget cycle and has sufficient funds allocated for the project and subsequent years.
CONCLUSION
Transitioning to Intermedia’s cloud platform allows the City to stay aligned with evolving technology standards while maintaining operational continuity. This upgrade ensures improved functionality, remote accessibility, and long-term support as the City modernizes its communication infrastructure.