Commissioners approve new phone system

Published 4:00 pm Thursday, June 2, 2022

ENTERPRISE — Stacey Fregulia, information technology director for the county, reminded commissioners during the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners meeting June 1 the county’s current telephone service provider, Mitel, will end support for software in June 2023. The company has set a date of 2026 for total withdrawal.

Fregulia has investigated several different companies and found Matrix Networks, which specializes in hardware and software support for Mitel systems. It was Matrix that brought this to her attention after the county was informed last summer on Mitel’s end-of-life cycle.

“Not only do we have to get new software support, now we have to get a whole new phone system,” Fregulia said.

She said many businesses are pushing toward the cloud platforms because of a greater demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated use.

Fregulia sat through demonstrations of several phone systems and many were too costly.

“The other problem with it is we have our Justice Center and our DA’s (district attorney) offices that have to be CJIS (Criminal Justice Informational Service) compliant,” she said. “That is, any information about witnesses, arrests, things like that … have to be secure and confidential. You can’t have those going over platforms or clouds of any sort without security.”

Matrix’s Ring Central was the only system she witnessed that was both CJIS compliant and cost-effective.

To implement Ring Central will cost $6,953.41 with an annual fee of more than $11,600. The 63 phones belong to Matrix, so the company will maintain them.

At present, the county pays more than $25,000 a year.

The commissioners approved the Matrix plan.

“We get better service and pay less money,” Roberts said.

Other business

The commissioners approved:

• The modification of a grant agreement for a change in funding from the USDA Forest Service. The original agreement was for $6,600. The modification adds another $6,600 for a total of $13,200 to help law enforcement on national forest land.

• A services agreement with Paige Sully as county counsel.

• A request by Scott Siebe for an easement to extend a culvert on Reavis Lane near Enterprise.