BLABY DISTRICT COUNCIL Meeting: Cabinet Executive Date: 30 June 2008 Subject: Report of: Status: Telephone Replacement System Head of ICT Services Public 1. Purpose of Report 1.1 To seek authority to allocate additional funding up to the value of 110,000 from the capital programme, to enhance the internal data network and links to remote offices and support the additional indicative costs of the replacement telephone system, as part of the telephone replacement project. 2. 2.1 3. 3.1 Recommendation That additional funding of 110,000 is agreed to support the implementation of the replacement telephone system and associated infrastructure works. Reason for Decision Recommended Following investigatory work with potential suppliers and a review of inter office links, the scope of the initial project has be increased to include upgrading wiring and links to remote sites. 4. Forward Plan 4.1 This report has not been included in the last Forward Plan. It is a key decision. The matter has become apparent since the publication of the Forward Plan and because of the need to complete the project in time to allow the Three Oaks Homes to occupy part of the building it is impracticable to defer the decision on this report until after the operative date of the next Forward Plan on which it could appear. Accordingly the Cases of Special Urgency Procedure contained in Part 4 Section 2 Paragraph 19 of the Constitution has been invoked to enable its consideration. Agreement has been obtained from a Scrutiny Commissioner pursuant to the Constitution that the decision is urgent and cannot reasonably be deferred. 5. Key Decision 5.1 Yes.
6. Matters for Consideration As members may be aware, a review has been undertaken of the current telephone system and the links to remote offices (the Littlethorpe depot, Pavilion at Huncote and the Blaby one stop shop). Extra equipment has been added to the system over a number of years (Voice mail, Call charging, System management) which has increased the complexity of the day to day operation of the system. The review has identified a number of areas for improving the ways that the council interacts with customers, will allow the expansion of the home working scheme along with opportunities to enhance the way the telephones are used internally. The new telephone system will provide improvements in the following areas: Performance statistics Home and mobile working Flexibility for supporting hot desks and office moves Support for remote offices Flexibility for dealing with fluctuations in demand from customer contact via the telephone. Call recording Reducing the complexity of systems management functions As part of the review, it has become apparent that upgrading the wiring will provide additional benefits and flexibility to the organisation. The operational difficulties associated with the remote site and complexities of the current arrangements has also highlighted the requirements to simplify and update these connections. These two elements (the wiring and links to remote offices), were not included in the original project and no budget provision was made. The replacement telephone system project now has three core components 1. The telephone system itself 2. Internal network of the main Narborough office (Local Area Network or LAN). 3. The links to the remote offices (Wide Area Network or WAN) These components are being tendered for separately and it is anticipated that the replacement telephone system, will be brought into service during the last three months of this calendar year. 1. Replacement telephone equipment Due to the value and contract period the telephone equipment is being tendered under an appropriate OGC Buying Solutions framework contract. Potential suppliers have been selected from the advertised lists and invited to express an interested in providing suitable equipment to met the business needs outlined with the tender document. The following potential suppliers were contacted. Supplier Affiniti Central Telecom Damovo Freedom Communications Siemens BT Nexteria One Status Declined Declined
The evaluation process will involve short listing suppliers, followed by supplier presentations and reference take up. The following selection criteria will be used for scoring the suppliers and informing the final recommendation. Criteria Supplier Capacity and Capability Fitness for purpose including quality Contribution to overall score 20% 50% Lifecycle costs 30% Remarks A maximum of 20% is available for ability to supply, install and maintain the solution. A maximum of 50% is available for technical compliance. A maximum of 30% is available for price based on a combination of capital and revenue costs. The indicative price for a replacement telephony system including handsets, to meet our business requirements is approximately 150,000. It is planned, to finalise the supplier for the equipment during early August 2008, with the new system being installed and ready for service during the last three months of 2008. 2. Local Area Network Cabling The existing telephone system uses a proprietary cabling system across the main Narborough offices; this requires an engineer to undertake any moves and changes and regularly requires additional cables to be installed around the building. A modern telephone system can utilise the same data cabling as the PC s/terminals and printers use around the building. However the existing data cabling was installed 13 years ago, is known to cause issues in certain parts of the building and the wiring cabinets are difficult to access and are unsuitable for a modern data and voice network. Due to the nature of the work and the possible impact on the day to day operation and also the requirement for flexibility due to potential office changes, local data cabling contractors who have undertaken similar work will be invited to quote or tender. ICT and property services will be working closely to minimise any disruption and impact. Indicative costs for the re-wiring of the Narborough offices data network and provision of wiring cabinets is approx 45,000. The rewiring work will need to be completed before the replacement telephone system can be brought into service. It is anticipated that the rewiring work will start during July 2008 and run through until September 2008. 3. Wide area network Links The current system is dependant upon a number of specialist links between the remote sites which makes the overall technical management of the telephony system complex and unwieldy, replacing the telephone system will allow a single infrastructure to be introduced to cover both the data and voice networks linking the remote sites. The three remote offices (the Littlethorpe depot, Pavilion at Huncote and the Blaby one stop shop) are all linked into the main offices in various different ways, data and voice traffic is carried separately and different technologies are installed to support these links. The replacement telephone system will enable these links to be consolidated and simplified, and hence simplify the internal technical skills required to support these link and improve reliability.
There are various suppliers available who can provide the service to link the offices together over a data network (supporting voice). It is intended to advertise for expressions of interest and invite tenders for this service as an initial three year contract. Indicative pricing for installation of this service is 25,000, with a lead time of enabling up to 60 working days. The replacement telephone system will not be able to link into the remote sites until this work is completed. Ongoing annual revenue costs for the line rentals etc, are expected to similar to the existing costs ( 25,000). Procurement and indicative costs We have been working closely with the Welland procurement unit on identifying appropriate procurement options and have appointed 4C s Strategies to assist with tender preparation and evaluation. The following is a summary of the procurement routes for the three main components:- Indicative costs summary Indicative Capital cost Original Capital Estimates Telephone Equipment 150,000 110,000 Wide area Network Links 25,000 - Local Area Network (re-wiring of data network cables at the 45,000 - Narborough offices, wiring cabinets) Total 220,000 110,000 Additional Capital funding required to complete the project is 110,000. It is not anticipated that any additional revenue implications will arise. 7. Other Relevant Considerations 7.1 None relevant to this report. 8. Other Options Considered 8.1 Not to proceed with the replacement telephone system. This is not recommended as the current telephone system does not allow the flexibility and support the functions that a modern customer facing organisation requires. 9. Appropriate Consultations 9.1 None. 10. Financial and Efficiency Implications Current year 2009/10 2010/11 Revenue - - - Capital 110,000 0 0
11. Appendices to this report 11.1 None. 12. List of Background Papers 12.1 None. The following Officers/Members have been consulted (identified by ): Head of Paid Service S. 151 Officer Monitoring Officer Portfolio Holder (Cabinet Executive/Council reports only)