To: Martin L. Cousineau, Finance Committee Chairperson
From: Michael Dawisha, Chief Information Officer
title
RE: Universal Communications
recommendation
BOARD ACTION REQUESTED:
Approve the agreement with RingCentral to replace our existing voice service and provide universal communications (Voice, Text, Video and Chat) to Genesee County. The agreement is for 5 years of service.
BACKGROUND:
Genesee County has used traditional POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) lines for decades. Universal communications allow us to consolidate many services into a single vendor solution. RingCentral was chosen through an RFP process with a multi-departmental committee as part of the evaluation process. Another multi-departmental committee is now undertaking the change management process in preparation for this potential change should the board approve moving forward. For full disclosure, there will be one more single time ARPA funded expense for headphones. An RFP is currently awaiting vendor bids and the cost will be an estimated $120,000.
DISCUSSION:
Besides the productivity improvement and savings in overhead, over a 5-year period, there will be a net savings of just under 1 million dollars.
IMPACT ON HUMAN RESOURCES:
Administrative overhead will be greatly reduced.
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
Proposal costs are as follows:
One time charges for installation and onboarding:
MVP UCaaS Implementation SOW $71,571.48
RingCX Contact Center Implementation SOW $31,798.00
Fax Server Integration Implementation SOW $15,628.00
: $ 118,997.48
Recurring charges (costs per year):
MVP UCaaS $224,792.76
RingCX - Contact Center $33,840.00
$ 258,632.76
Initial Credit for service (one time) $ 109,451.65
The total cost for year one to Genesee County will be $ 268,178.59 and will be ARPA funded from account 1010-640.02-899.040. Subsequent years will be $ 258,632.88 and will be funded from the telephone accounts within each user department’s budget. For comparison, Genesee County spent over $ 474,036 on voice services for the year 2023. The results are savings of $ 215,403 on a yearly basis. accumulating to over $1 million over the 5-year life of this agreement. The first-year expenditure will be ARPA funded.
IMPACT ON FACILITIES:
There will be no measurable impact on facilities other than the elimination of on-premise voice hardware.
IMPACT ON TECHNOLOGY:
There will be a reduction on administrative overhead in comparison to the current voice solution we have. Administration will be simpler and there will be less components on premise to maintain and upgrade.
CONFORMITY TO COUNTY PRIORITIES:
This initiative conforms with Genesee County’s goal of Long-Term Financial Stability by reducing costs and reducing administrative overhead. It also fosters a more Inclusive and Collaborative Culture by giving all employees access to tools that allow for robust communications.
.resolution
TO THE HONORABLE CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE GENESEE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
BE IT RESOLVED, by this Board of County Commissioners of Genesee County, Michigan, that the request by the Chief Information Officer to authorize entering into a five-year agreement between Genesee County and RingCentral to provide voice, text, video, and chat universal communications services at a yearly cost of $258,632.76 to be funded from the telephone accounts within each user department’s budget, with the first year service cost (including a one-time discount) being $149,181.11 and an initial implementation cost of $118,997.48, both of which being funded from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) account 1010-640.02-899.040, is approved (a copy of the memorandum request and supporting documents being on file with the official records of the July 17, 2024 meeting of the Finance Committee of this Board), the Chairperson of this Board is authorized to execute any necessary contract documents on behalf of Genesee County, and the Chief Financial Officer is directed to record the attached budget amendment.