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Additional Telecommunications Changes to Save County
Taxpayers $1 Million
Posted 08-19-2004
Westmoreland County taxpayers will save more than a million dollars over the next five
years thanks to telecommunications changes implemented by the County Board of
Commissioners. Today, the commissioners announced the details of additional
telecommunications modifications to the county's telephone system and communications
network.
"This is essentially phase two of a
comprehensive effort to examine the county's telecommunications budget and make sure
taxpayers are getting the best value for their tax dollars," said Commissioner Tom
Balya. "In difficult budget times for local governments, and when it seems that all
other costs of doing business are increasing, our successful effort to reduce costs in
telecommunications is some welcome relief."
"Not only are we savings money, we are
also improving the integrity and reliability of our telecommunications network,"
added Commissioner Tom Ceraso. "Over the past several months, we've worked closely
with our county information systems personnel on these projects, and county government is
definitely in better shape because of this work."
The new changes apply to three areas: what
is commonly known as "feature group", the county's Centrex phone system, and the
way the data is exchanged between the county courthouse and remote locations.
"Feature group" is a special
tariff that provides a low rate for all non-local calls made in the 724 or 412 area codes.
The county will save $433,609 over the next four years (the term of the contract) on calls
made within the 724 or 412 areas codes from county government offices. Regulations
eliminated the availability of "feature group" in 1996, but the county was able
to be "grandfathered" under the old regulations, and avoid the newer higher
rates, by maintaining its Centrex phone service.
Centrex is a phone service offered by a
telephone carrier in which the carrier provides the phone switch at its facility (in the
county's case, Verizon), as well as lines with dial tones for each phone number. By
maintaining a central office switch, the county eliminates the need for a switch at each
facility, the related network equipment, and the management of the equipment. Also,
certain federal and state charges are much lower, or nonexistent, with the Centrex system.
The county has been utilizing Centrex since 1990. A four-year contract extension, with
lower rates, recently approved by the commissioners will result in a savings of $242,092
for the term of the contract.
In addition to improved speed, the county
will save $62,659 over the next three years by switching from a frame relay system to a
point-to-point connection to transmit data between the courthouse and remote locations.
Frame relay is a specific type of connection that has each remote point connecting to a
central connection with a communications carrier. By contrast, a point-to-point connection
has a separate connection between each remote point and the courthouse
Earlier, commissioners approved changes to
the county's voice mail system and long distance that will result in a savings of $269,000
over the next five years. Combined with these most recent modifications, the county will
save more than $1 million over that period.
For more information on Westmoreland
County, visit the county homepage at www.co.westmoreland.pa.us. |
