County buys computer equipment
Christmas came a little early Nov. 30 when Marion County Commission approved expenses for a new computer server, a voice mail system for employees, and a laptop computer for road and bridge department.
Computer server, upgrades
Lloyd Davies of Great Plains Computers & Networking, reported the county had experienced corruption on the computer network server. The county has been using one server for the past four years, Davies said, which is quite a load to carry.
Power surges in August caused problems, Davies said, causing the computers to perform improperly.
An increase in users also has contributed to the computer dilemma.
"The county started with 26 accounts (computer users)," Davies said. "We now have 60."
Existing software can support up to 75 users which will be surpassed soon, Davies said.
Davies recommended the county purchase a second server, update the existing server, firewall, and backup system. Total cost would be approximately $25,000.
The unplanned expense will be paid by various departments. Jeannine Bateman, county treasurer, said she could justify the expense from a vehicle fund for the server at an approximate cost of $14,500.
Michele Abbott-Becker, director of communications and emergency management, said she could use homeland security funds for the firewall and backup systems at an approximate cost of $8,000.
Funds for the labor to install the equipment and software could be taken from a line item in the county clerk's budget, said Carol Maggard, county clerk.
Davies had several bids from vendors, including Great Plains Computers & Networking, for the project. The commission approved the expense with low bids as recommended by Davies.
County officials and Davies expressed the importance of making the necessary upgrades and installations to keep the county's computers operating.
The county's main computer system was down for eight days in October, Maggard said.
Commission chairman Leroy Wetta asked what could be done about the power surges?
Davies said low power voltage has contributed to the problem which is partly the city's fault and poor wiring in the courthouse.
Abbott-Becker said the generator at the sheriff's office "kicks on all the time due to low voltage."
The low or poor voltage causes damage to computer equipment which necessitates replacement sooner than anticipated.
Voice mail
County department heads requested and received funding for the implementation of voice mail.
It was made clear to the commission the system will not take the place of an employee when a customer calls a county office.
Currently, when a customer calls a county office and the person they wish to speak with is not available, a message is written by a person answering the telephone and passed on to the necessary party.
With voice mail, if the county employee is not available, the caller will be transferred to an answering system. This will enable county personnel to receive the message directly from the individual instead of being interpreted and written by personnel.
County attorney Susan Robson said it will be extremely helpful in her office because there are times when there is only one person in the office to answer the telephone and wait on clients.
Ricky Roberts, county extension agent, agreed with Robson.
"In the small offices, there are times when there isn't anyone there," Roberts said. Callers could automatically get the voice mail option if office personnel leaves his/her desk.
Abbott-Becker said it will be helpful in her department because of the various shifts her employees work and assurance employees will receive their messages.
"You'll get the exact message and not an interpretation," county sheriff Lee Becker said.
SBC had visited with county personnel and provided approximate cost information. Several payment scenarios were presented to the commission. One option was to have courthouse funds pay for the system. A second option was for the commission to pay for the main installation and each department pay for the individual service within the departments.
Prior to the commission meeting with the department heads, Maggard had given the voice mail proposals to the commission for review. She distributed a budget update for each department, and she reported there was $244,000 expendable cash available in the general fund to pay for the system. The sales tax fund also had funds available.
The commission decided there were sufficient funds in sales tax to cover the entire expense of $10,500.
The health department will have a separate system, since it is not located in the courthouse.
The cost did not include the sheriff's office because voice mail will be included in the 911 system upgrade, said Abbott-Becker.
Laptop computer
Acting road and bridge superintendent Jim Herzet requested a laptop computer for shop personnel. He said a computer that previously was located in the shop was given to road and bridge office personnel.
He presented three bids for a Pentium 4 computer. Great Plains Computers and Networking had the low bid of $1,216. Dell presented a bid for $1,249 and Gateway had a bid for $1,299 plus shipping.
