1990 AGN APR 17 I22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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As the City of Colton has grown, our communication needs have expanded both in quantity and complexity. We have been forced by circumstances into a complex and confusing situation. We have the Dimension 400 which services all of City Hall and the Police Department directly. All of that equipment, plus the telephones, we own. It also serves off premise locations such as the Annex, Library, Fire Station #1 and the Electric Department but in a different way. Since we can't own lines outside of City Hall, we have to lease lines from Pacific Bell and pay a monthly charge for each line. In 1984, it was more economical to buy a mini system for these off premis locations than it was to lease a line for each telephone needed. So we purchased Merlin or Spirit mini systems and we were able to keep the number of leased lines to a minimum. We then started adding requirements for single lines such as those at the schools in the City where we run programs. For these we do lease a single line which is called a Central Office line. One of the shortcomings of the Dimension 400 is power out capability. Although we have 10 power out lines inside City Hall, we could not have any at the locations which have mini systems. In those key locations, we had to put at least one Central Office line to use in the event of power failure. We have also increased the number of data lines in several of our locations throughout the City. At the corporate yard, we have gone with Pacific Bell's Centrex System. This was purely for economic reasons and a staff decision that it was time to look at our entire telecommunications system and present a proposal for Council consideration. In 1983, when we first purchased the Dimension 400, it was economical to own your own telephone system. In 1990, that premise is very questionable. The least expensive telephone that we can now purchase for one of our Merlin systems is $305.00 plus tax. This is an unfortunate fact in a time when you can buy a full feature telephone at the Price Club for $39.95 plus tax. But, the main problem today with owning your own system is that it does become obsolete and this can bring on a host of problems. Our Dimension 400 is obsolete. The equipment we purchased in December to expand our system is all used equipment. We didn't know this at the time of purchase but it would not have made any difference had we known. There is no new equipment being made for the system so the only parts you can get are on the secondary market or being traded in to A.T.&T, for new equipment. -2-