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Home My WebLink About101-Staff Report.pdf SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: June 2, 2010 AGENDA ITEM: DEPARTMENT: Administrative Services CITY MANAGER: Dave Anderson PREPARED BY: Leo Salindong DIRECTOR: Mary Furey IT Analyst Finance & Administrative Services Director SUBJECT: VoIP Telecommunication Agreement RECOMMENDED ACTION: 1. Accept report and direct staff to enter into an agreement with ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group to replace the existing PBX telecommunication system with a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system for the main City Hall buildings, the Joan Pisani Community Center, the Corporation Yard, the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council and the Saratoga Prospect Center. 2. Adopt Budget Resolution to transfer $55,000 from the IT Equipment Replacement Fund to the CIP Administrative Fund. BACKGROUND: During the December 2, 2009 City Council Meeting, staff was directed to move forward with a Request for Proposal (RFP) to replace the existing PBX telecommunication system with a VoIP telephone system. At the time, Council indicated that staff should seek proposals that would enable VoIP connectivity throughout the main City Hall buildings, the Joan Pisani Community Center, the Corporation Yard, the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council (SASCC) and the Saratoga Prospect Center. Additionally, staff was directed to request RFP submittals that offered electronic fax integration in the system. A VoIP Telephone Agreement committee comprised of four staff members was established to develop the RFP and review submittals. Members included Rob Balbuena, Crystal Morrow, Thomas Scott, and Leo Salindong. The RFP was released to the public on March 3, 2010 and proposals were due by March 31, 2010. The City received a total of twelve submittals to the VoIP Telephone System Upgrade RFP. Various phone systems were proposed including Avaya, AltiGen, Cisco, NEC Sphericall, ShoreTel, 8x8, and 3COM. Proposals were evaluated based on the following criteria as stated in the RFP: • Clarity of Proposal • Demonstrated success in similar projects (particular attention was paid to proposals from businesses with experience implementing VoIP telephone systems for municipalities) • Responsiveness of the proposal to the City’s objective and scope of work • The technical ability, capacity, and flexibility of the proposer to perform the scope of work • Total cost of proposal Of the twelve proposals, four submissions met all the requirements outlined in the RFP – Capture Technologies, Network Computing Architects, Packet Fusion, and ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group. The four companies specialize in AltiGen and ShoreTel phone systems. Below is a matrix comparing costs for hardware, software, installation, and training. To determine which business would best be able to meet the needs of the City, staff held interviews with each of the four selected firms and requested a demonstration of their proposed VoIP telephone system. During these meetings, each business presented their VoIP telephone system and answered questions regarding their proposal, company, and services. From the demonstrations, staff paid particular attention to each company’s response to meeting the security goal of keeping SASCC’s data network separate from the City’s network and the desired remote site connectivity for Saratoga Prospect Center. In addition, staff made observations noting key strengths and weaknesses in the overall design of the proposed VoIP platform and architecture from each company’s presentation. Staff reviewed each presentation and agreed that ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group gave the best overall response to the requirements contained in the VoIP RFP. During the interview process, all key areas of interest from staff were satisfied regarding their proposed VoIP architecture and support, and follow-up discussions with client references were consistently positive. Capture Technologies Network Computing Architects Packet Fusion ZAG Technical Services/3GC GPHONE SYSTEM AltiGen ShoreTel ShoreTel ShoreTel City Hall Campus 28,975 (bundled with partial software license costs) Software License 7,875 9,213 9,462 1,666 Subtotal $ 38,228 $ 33,646 $ 32,686 $ 30,641 SASCC Hardware 2,275 2,754 3,530 1,733 Software License 525 1,036 1,064 952 Subtotal $ 2,800 $ 3,790 $ 4,594 $ 2,685 Saratoga Prospect Center Hardware 831 2,509 1,513 743 Software License 375 810 456 408 Subtotal $ 1,206 $ 3,320 $ 1,969 $ 1,151 PHONE SYSTEM TOTAL $ 42,234 $ 40,756 $ 39,249 $ 34,476 Tax (Hardware/Software) 3,907 3,770 3,631 3,189 Installation 4,800 7,000 10,500 14,995 Training - User & Admin 800 1,825 *combined with Installation costs *combined with Installation costs TOTAL CAPITAL COSTS $ 51,741 $ 53,350 $ 53,379 $ 52,660 23,224 24,433 30,353 Hardware SUMMARY: Preferred Vendor - Of the three companies providing solutions with ShoreTel VoIP platforms, the joint proposal from ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group best addressed all specific requirements and security goals stated in the VoIP RFP, as well as offering the most cost effective overall design and implementation. Preferred Platform - This determination allowed staff to narrow the selection to Capture Technologies’ AltiGen VoIP solution and ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group’s ShoreTel VoIP solution. Although both systems provided similar functionality and operation, staff consistently found ShoreTel’s devices and overall interface required the least amount of technical knowledge for staff to understand and operate. Staff determined that ShoreTel’s integration with Outlook was simpler to understand and use for staff with less technical knowledge. For administrative functions, staff noted advantages that ShoreTel’s administrative console had grouping functions for making changes to set workgroups, whereas with the AltiGen system workgroup changes would need to be configured one user at a time. The phone units offered by the companies specializing in ShoreTel felt more ergonomic to touch and had a more pleasing aesthetic feel and value over the AltiGen phones. Furthermore, the ShoreTel phones offered more features and were easier to use. Staff believed that ShoreTel’s VoIP platform offered a variety of features and qualities that would best meet the City’s needs. A list of features and functions for the ShoreTel platform and devices is included in Attachment A. In addition, ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group was the only business that included a bundled ShoreTel package offering a broader collection of features that other firms did not offer. The bundled ShoreTel package included three levels of software licenses: • Level 1: Extension/Mailbox License/Personal Call Manager • Level 2: Professional Call Manager • Level 3: Mobile Call Manager The Professional Call Manager allows further desktop integration for users requiring more advanced call management, while the Mobile Call Manager allows users to sync personal phone devices as well as other wireless devices to the ShoreTel VoIP telephone system. (If a staff member is off-site, s/he can forward her/her office phone to a cell phone, Personal Digital Assistant, and/or home phone. Staff did an analysis of the bundled package and learned that purchasing the items individually came at a higher cost. Comparatively, staff calculated the cost for removing the extra featured items and purchasing only the Level 1 software package, found there to be only a slight savings incurred and concluded that the bundled package provided an additional value by including extra features at a reduced cost. Attachment B includes a breakdown of the ShoreTel bundle pricing. References agree that working with ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group to implement their ShoreTel systems, from design to post-installation, were satisfied with the quality of project management, quality of the product and level of support offered. Jay Juarez, IT Director for De La Salle High School, said “project costs were all straightforward, 3GC even found ways to reduce the cost of the project.” In addition, Eric Simmons, Director, IT Operations from Conceptus, a medical device company, added that “The project management was good, with no unexpected problems or hidden costs.” Rich Santos IT Manager for Sweda, a promotional material supplier, commented on having ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group install their ShoreTel phone system and the quality of their overall experience. “The phone system is like a George Foreman Grill; you set it and forget it.” As a result of staff’s evaluation of the four qualified submittals and feedback received from references, staff believes ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group’s proposal best meets the City’s VoIP Telephone Agreement needs. FISCAL IMPACTS: The table below summarizes budgeted capital costs for the telecommunications project, as well as ongoing operating costs. These costs are explained in more detail following the table. Summary of Costs Capital Project Budget VoIP System, Installation, and Training Costs 52,660 Firewall (S-P Center) 600 Project Contingency 1,740 Total Capital Budget 55,000 Annual Operating Costs (IT Services Budget) Telecommunication System Maintenance & Support 2,418 Business Class Internet Connection (S-P Center) 1,200 Total Annual Operating Costs 3,618 VoIP Capital Costs - Initially it was estimated the cost of the project would be approximately $100,000. However, the project was scaled back at the December 2, 2009 City Council Meeting after Council decided that network cabling could be done at a later time. Consequently, estimated funding for the project was expected to be around $50,000, which was to be funded through a transfer from the IT Equipment Replacement Fund to the CIP Administrative Fund. All four of the VoIP installation proposals were competitively priced at slightly above $50,000. The ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group proposal for the VoIP installation is $52,660. Ongoing annual maintenance and support costs are to be funded in the IT Services Fund. VoIP Annual Support and Maintenance - Currently the City pays $4,700 per year for telephone maintenance support and software service. The ZAG Technical Services / 3GC Group provided the lowest cost 5-year term annual support and maintenance agreement from the three ShoreTel telephone providers for the new VoIP system at a cost of approximately $2,418 per year. The service will include free software updates and upgrades for the ShoreTel telephone system. Maintenance/Support Costs Capture Technologies Network Computing Architects Packet Fusion ZAG Technical Services/3GC Group Phone System AltiGen ShoreTel ShoreTel ShoreTel 5 years annual support $ 13,604 $ 18,220 $ 13,050 $ 12,091 Additional Project Costs– Staff recommends incorporating a Virtual Private Network (VPN) over internet with a DSL connection to establish VoIP connectivity to the Saratoga Prospect Center. As there is limited use of the facility at the moment, this solution provides basic connectivity to the Internet as well as trusted access to computing resources in City Hall. This will require a one-time cost of $600 for a firewall, along with annual costs of $1,200 per year for a DSL connection. CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING THE RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: Current telecommunications conditions will remain as is; the City’s telephone system will continue to have unstable communications and unpredictable failures. If no action is taken, in the event of a major failure to the system, catastrophic failure may occur, causing the City to be without telecommunications (including: phone, fax, modem, credit card terminals). ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S): Council could direct staff to pursue another alternative than the one recommended; could request additional information; or could provide other direction to staff. FOLLOW UP ACTION(S): Implement Council direction. ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT: None. ATTACHMENTS: A. ShoreTel telephone system features list B. Breakdown of ShoreTel bundle pricing C. Budget Resolution