by David Skentelbery
WARRINGTON Borough Council has awarded a £1,018,311 five-year contract for a replacement Town Hall telephony system.
It will replace a 25-year-old system which is becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and, is inflexible and does not integrate with other technologies.
The £1,018,311 cost is made up of the first year's hardware, installation and support costs of £649,647, followed by annual support and maintenance costs of £92,166 for four years.
The annual revenue cost of the new system will be about £4,000 lower than at present.
But the system offers substantial additional features that could lead to further efficiencies across the council.
Cllr Hitesh Patel (pictured), the council's executive member for personnel and communications, said the existing system is inflexible as it ties staff and councillors to specific extensions and locations.
The new system forms part of a suite of new technologies which will enable the council to deliver services through a more joined up and efficient operating model.
Sixteen companies originally expressed an interest in providing the system, but the one finally chosen was from a shortlist of three.
Cllr Patel added: "The replacement telephony system will provide the council with improved Contact Centre management capabilities such as queue management, resource management and the automatic blending of email and social media contacts, which is currently a manual process.
"It will also improve the Contact Centre's business continuity capabilities and allow the Contact Warrington service to operate from any location, including staff homes."
Additional features, not currently available, include tele-conferencing, improved reliability and round-the-clock support.
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It will replace a 25-year-old system which is becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and, is inflexible and does not integrate with other technologies.
The £1,018,311 cost is made up of the first year's hardware, installation and support costs of £649,647, followed by annual support and maintenance costs of £92,166 for four years.The annual revenue cost of the new system will be about £4,000 lower than at present.
But the system offers substantial additional features that could lead to further efficiencies across the council.
Cllr Hitesh Patel (pictured), the council's executive member for personnel and communications, said the existing system is inflexible as it ties staff and councillors to specific extensions and locations.
The new system forms part of a suite of new technologies which will enable the council to deliver services through a more joined up and efficient operating model.
Sixteen companies originally expressed an interest in providing the system, but the one finally chosen was from a shortlist of three.
Cllr Patel added: "The replacement telephony system will provide the council with improved Contact Centre management capabilities such as queue management, resource management and the automatic blending of email and social media contacts, which is currently a manual process.
"It will also improve the Contact Centre's business continuity capabilities and allow the Contact Warrington service to operate from any location, including staff homes."
Additional features, not currently available, include tele-conferencing, improved reliability and round-the-clock support.
Follow @warringtonworld
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4 Responses to "Council's £1m new phone system" 
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said this on 05 Jan 2012 9:47:09 AM BST
"The annual revenue cost of the new system will be about £4,000 lower than at present" - so in a mere 250 years they are quids in - the systems bound to last that long, isn't it - kerching.
:-)
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said this on 05 Jan 2012 11:28:40 AM BST
thats just a five year contract though...... I assume in five years time the support and Maintanance costs get re-negotiated.....at the minute the proposed annual support and Maintanance costs will be 24 grand a year ....are they likely to be at a reduced rate in five years time i doubt it....?
and how much support do you need to use a telephone....????
I do like the new feature though of "round the clock support" thats going to be a valuable tool ....... Have you ever tried getting hold of anyone at the Town Hall after 4.30pm....!!!!! and I'm sure there will be loads of staff utilising the "call forwarding button" and directing office calls direct to their home lines.....
come on Mr Patel I appreciate telephone systems need to be updated but this doesnt seem to be a particularly good deal no matter how much spin you put on it.
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said this on 05 Jan 2012 5:06:17 PM BST
"the existing system is inflexible as it ties staff and councillors to specific extensions and locations." So scrap the hardwired system altogether and get in a load of cheap mobile phones! Shouldn't cost for than £10 per month per employee, and nowhere near EVERY employee needs one anyway (the majority of WBC employees are teachers who don't need them, only need one per bin wagon crew, councillors and many "on-road" employees like social workers etc. already have council funded mobiles, as do senior staff). Probably end up only needing an additional couple of hundred handsets - call it £30 - £40K per year, with FREE SUPPORT AND UPGRADES TO THE HARDWARE!
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said this on 05 Jan 2012 5:31:40 PM BST
is this the same Coucillor Ptrel who, when in opposition, made a fuss about the purchase of a number of ipads - presumably which also offered "substantial additional features that could lead to further efficiencies across the council." which is claimed for this system.
By the way who do I speak to at the council about selling them the brooklyn bridge?
:-)
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