TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Jon Gjestvang, Chief Information Officer - Information Technology Services
REPORT BY: Elena Guzmán, Staff Services Analyst II
SUBJECT: Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 220186B with TelePacific Corp. for telecommunications services.
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve and authorize Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 220186B with TelePacific Corp. for continued telecommunication services for an additional three-year term. (Fiscal Impact: $275,580 Expense; Information Technology Fund; Budgeted; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
The County was using AT&T for telecommunications operations since its organization’s inception. However, over the past decade, competition in the telecommunications services market has increased due to new technology in VoIP (voice over internet protocol) markets. Due to the expansion of the County’s VoIP network as well as incoming/outgoing calls associated with Public Safety and other critical services, the County was looking for vendor solutions to handle both capacity and isolated redundancy in instances of network failure. This is especially important for areas of the Napa County Sheriff’s Office and American Canyon Police department.
TelePacific Corp. (TPX Communications) was selected in 2017 by sole source justification for both experience and early advancement in VoIP technologies, such as SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunking. SIP trunking enables the phone system to send and receive calls via the County network as opposed to via physical phone lines. TPX was a proven supplier of the services and had a track record with the County’s telephone system integrator making them a highly recommended vendor of choice.
Entering into SIP trunking technology for the County’s infrastructure brought call capacity growth, these additional trunks created a redundancy and separation of phone circuits, specifically for 911 inbound and outbound calls, as well as priority Health and Human Services outreach programs. In summary, the SIP trunk services from TPX provided a more robust telephony network compared to our previous vendor.
On November 16, 2021, the Board approved Agreement No. 220186B with TPX Communications with a monthly charge of $7,285 plus taxes and usage fees for a three-year term allowing for continued telecommunication services, the replacement of an end-of-life circuit, an upgraded SD WAN for more redundancy and 4G/5G wireless failover.
Amendment No. 1 is for the continuation of the telecommunications services for another three-year term with a monthly charge of $7,655 plus taxes and usages fees. The sole source justification is compatibility due to the digital phone services used by the County required a custom design setup and TPX is the only vendor that provides the services and equipment that allow for continued use of the established configuration.
Requested Action:
Approve and authorize Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 220186B with TPX Communications, extending the term another three years.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
Yes |
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Where is it budgeted? |
ITS Communication’s telephony subdivision 42000-12 |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
TPX provides a more redundant and robust telephony network essential to the County’s telecommunications operations. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
No |
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Future fiscal impact: |
Ongoing costs will be included in the ITS Communication’s telephony budget. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
If the agreement is not approved, the County will not have sufficient network redundancy as provided by TPX. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.