CHICKASHA — Several information technology matters were addressed by the City Council recently, including a telephonic communications provider, email, the City Hall website, and disposal of outdated telephones and computer equipment.
The council agreed the city will pay CivicPlus of Manhattan, Kansas, up to $8,372 to renew the contract for maintenance of the city’s website, “chickasha.org.” The price tag represents an increase of approximately $1,300 from the previous year because the website will have “a robust set of product enhancements,” including stronger cybersecurity protections, the council was told.
The council approved two contracts with Standley Systems, the city’s IT provider.
One of those contracts, for “unified communications services,” commands a one-time cost of $17,887 for “hardware” and a monthly cost of $3,453 for telephones and fax service, Marketing and Civic Engagement Manager Shae Mortimer said. The contract covers 78 telephones and 11 fax adapters for City Hall, the Police Department, the Fire Station, dispatch, the sports complex, the municipal airport, plus the water and wastewater treatment plants.
“Currently we are paying in excess of $13,000 per month for phone lines with AT&T,” Mortimer said.
In the other contract, a one-time fee of $17,100 will be paid for 114 copies of Office 365 computer software, which includes setup; migration to Microsoft OneDrive, a file hosting service that enables registered users to share and synchronize files; migration from current email to Outlook and setup of new email profiles on computers; and basic Teams training.
That contract, which Mortimer said is “an upgrade to our current software,” provides for a monthly cost of $2,340 based on active users. That’s almost $500 per month less than what the city has been paying, she said.
In a related matter, computers, telephones and audio equipment that have been replaced were declared surplus and will be donated, sold or trashed “as deemed appropriate” by City Manager Keith Johnson.
Computer equipment at all of the city’s facilities was upgraded and replaced last year. The surplus computers will be “wiped” – the system settings and all personal and proprietary data will be erased by Standley Systems – prior to disposal.
Among the discarded items were outdated phones and audio equipment in the City Council chamber that was replaced with modern equipment.
The surplus list included 42 mobile phones, two laptops, 26 computer central processing units, 43 computer monitors, two ProDesk units, two batteries, 10 microphones, a sound board, and a box of electronic cords.
“It was all junk,” Mayor Chris Mosley said. “A bunch of old stuff.”