HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-20-2021; 8-b - Approval of Three-Year Contract with Meridian IT, Inc. for AVAYA Voice over IP System 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: April 20, 2021
Action Agenda
Item No. 8-b
SUBJECT: Approval of Three-Year Contract with Meridian IT, Inc. for AVAYA Voice over IP
System
DEPARTMENT: Information Technologies &
Finance and Administrative
Services
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jim Northrup, Orange County Chief
Information Officer, 919-245-2276
PURPOSE: To approve a three-year contract with Meridian IT, Inc. totaling $267,746.92 for
upgrading the County's existing Avaya phone system to the most current release and move to a
subscription model in the process.
BACKGROUND: Currently, the County pays $70,350 every year for annual maintenance for the
existing AVAYA voice over IP system (VoIP). Over the past 12 months, the County developed a
more robust call center environment to meet the pandemic response and vaccine distribution
challenges. More licenses were needed to support these new call center operations. As the
County moved into a new licensing tier, the manufacturer of the phone system, Avaya, has
required a software upgrade to handle the increase in licenses. The new proposal that has been
reviewed by Finance and Administrative Services and the County Attorney seeks to move the
County's current licensing model from perpetual with annual maintenance to a subscription model
with maintenance built into the subscription costs.
The software upgrade needs to occur regardless of the licensing model, i.e., perpetual or
subscription paid annually. The labor, hardware and licensing costs are detailed below.
This contract for $267746.92 was reviewed by the County Attorney's Office and does not deviate
from the standard requirements of the Attorney's Contract Template.
Current Model Proposed Model
Y1 Cost $70,350.00 $67,755.14
Y2 Cost* $71,757.00 $67,755.14
Y3 Cost* $73,192.14 $67,755.14
Labor Cost $62,526.50 $67,385.50
New Hardware $12,096.00
Discount** -$15,000.00
$277,825.64 $267,746.92
Estimated savings over 3 years $10,078.72
*estimated 2%cost increase annually
**the quoting tool used by the vendor applied an Avaya discount
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FINANCIAL IMPACT: The current model costs and the projected new costs are as follows:
There are existing FY 2020-21 funds in the Finance and Administrative Services Department's
Operational County-wide phone budget.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable
to this item:
• GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY
The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs and funding necessary
for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their
dependents.
• GOAL: ENABLE FULL CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Ensure that Orange County residents are able to engage government through voting and
volunteering by eliminating disparities in participation and barriers to participation.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal
impact related to this item.
It should be noted that this upgrade has a minimal hardware replacement component in the form
of keeping existing equipment, but changing out internal components or cards for new. All of the
old cards will be delivered to the Solid Waste Department for electronics recycling.
It should also be noted that the main components of the phone system reside in the County's Data
Center and are hosted on virtual servers where one large server can run multiple servers inside
of it, i.e., a one for many model. This virtual model saves floor space and cooling costs and draws
less power than having to power individual servers, i.e., a one for one server distribution model.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board authorize the Manager to
execute the Agreement and to execute any subsequent amendments on behalf of the Board and
upon final County Attorney review.