HomeMy WebLinkAbout08. 21-517R E V I S E D
OCTOBER 26, 2021 21-517 RESOLUTION
(CARRIED___7-0_____LOST________LAID OVER________WITHDRAWN________)
PURPOSE: WAIVE BIDS / APPROVE BUDGET AMENDMENT AND
PURCHASE OF UPGRADES TO CITY TELEPHONE SYSTEM
FROM SKC ($185,400.00)
INITIATED BY: PURCHASING DIVISION
WHEREAS, it is necessary to upgrade and/or replace portions of the current
telephone system utilized by all city owned facilities; and
WHEREAS, city staff has analyzed the current system and evaluated the potential
for upgrading the current system along with the potential to bid and completely replace
the existing system and concluded that upgrading of the current system will result in cost
savings, can occur in a more timely fashion and will provide consistency for users of the
system; and
WHEREAS, the City of Oshkosh Municipal Code generally requires that all
purchases of services, supplies, materials and equipment in excess of $25,000 be
competitively bid unless such purchases meets one of the specific exceptions listed within
the Code; and
WHEREAS, equipment and materials in support of the telephone system may be
subject to competitive bidding or other purchasing requirements under the ordinance
that are not suited to upgrading and replacement of portions of an existing system of this
type and therefore waiver of bidding and purchasing requirements is reasonable in this
case; and
WHEREAS, the Common Council has adopted the 2021 Operations Budget, which
is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and available for public inspection; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to amend the 2021 Budget to pay for the necessary
upgrades to the telephone system as follows:
OCTOBER 26, 2021 21-517 RESOLUTION
CONT’D
To transfer $185,400.00 from Acct. No. 0100-0914-7470, Unclassified to Acct. No.
0100-0110-7202, Information Technology Division – Office Equipment
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of
Oshkosh that the request for waiver of the purchasing requirements of Chapter 12 of the
Oshkosh Municipal Code is hereby approved.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of Oshkosh that
the 2021 Operations Budget, on file in the City Clerk's Office, is hereby amended transfer
$185,400.00 from Account No. 0100-0914-7470, Unclassified to Account No. 0100-0110-
7202, Information Technology Division – Office Equipment.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the proper City officials are hereby authorized
to enter into and take those steps necessary to implement an appropriate agreement with
SKC, 11370 Theo Trecker Way, Milwaukee, WI 53214 for upgrading the City’s telephone
service system in the amount of one hundred eighty-five, thousand & four hundred
dollars $185,400.00.
Money for this purpose is hereby appropriated from:
Acct. No. 0100-0110-7202, Information Technology Division – Office Equipment
Indicates Revision
City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council
FROM: Jon G. Urben, General Services Manager
DATE: October 19, 2021
RE: Waive Bids / Approve Budget Amendment and Purchase of Upgrades to City Telephone
System ($185,400)
BACKGROUND
The Avaya phone system within City Hall supports all city-owned facilities, including public safety. The
system includes the server infrastructure, desk phones and associated software that facilitate the
operations of the phone system and voicemail. While the system underwent a modernization in 2009
and a subsequent Avaya software upgrade in 2015, the overall age of the system and the anticipated
higher maintenance costs to maintain the existing legacy components led IT staff to consider potential
replacement or upgrade options.
ANALYSIS
IT staff evaluated replacement or upgrade options for the Avaya phone system, working closely with the
City’s vendor of record and contracted Avaya service provider for the system - SKC Communications,
formerly known as Technology Solutions Group (TSG). The evaluation concluded that while the
system’s servers and desk phones were obsolete and should be replaced, the system infrastructure and
remaining components could be easily upgraded at significantly less cost than a full system redesign and
infrastructure installation. The evaluation concluded that remaining on the Avaya platform would allow
for streamlining of the implementation through SKC's ability to pull configuration reports utilizing their
extensive historical knowledge of the city's infrastructure and having Avaya tools to migrate existing
configurations & settings to the new system. Additionally, there would be very little training required
for end-users or the telecommunications specialist to support the new system. SKC has provided the
City with excellent service and response and they have invaluable knowledge of the phone system
configuration and infrastructure. In consideration of all of these factors and costs savings, it is the
consensus of City staff that soliciting a bid for this project would be more costly, require a longer timeline
for comprehensive system analysis, design and implementation. For these reasons City staff recommend
waiving of the bidding requirements for this project.
FISCAL IMPACT
IT staff and SKC identified a cost of $246,800 to replace the system servers, software and desk phones
and to upgrade the system infrastructure and remaining components. Taking advantage of the vendor
of record/Avaya service provider relationship with SKC, the City will realize $61,400 in savings that
includes $42,800 in discounts for customer retention and $18,600 in discounted Avaya IP Office Support
Services/SKC access allowances. This would equate to a net total fiscal impact of $185,400 to upgrade
the system. Funds for this project will be charged to A/N#: 01000110-7202 (Information Technology
Division - Office Equipment) requiring a transfer from the General Fund Balance in the amount of
$185,400. The funds will be transferred from A/N#: 01000914-7470 (Unclassified).
RECOMMENDATION
Given the considerations above and that bidding the phone system upgrade would incur significant
additional cost and time, City staff recommend that the Common Council accept SKC’s proposal and
authorize the waiving of bidding requirements of Chapter 12-10 of the Oshkosh Municipal Code to
purchase the telephone system upgrade via SKC, 11370 Theo Trecker Way, Milwaukee, WI 53214 for
$185,400. Please contact IT Manager Tony Neumann, or myself if you have any questions.
Respectfully Submitted, Approved:
Jon G. Urben, General Services Manager John Fitzpatrick, Assistant City Manager /
Director of Administrative Services