Phone system switch improves 911 service

Rock County recently switched to a new phone service and so far has had no issues with emergency 9-1-1 services.
Deputy county administrator Susan Skattum oversaw the transition that finished in late April.
“The E911 issues were resolved immediately once the call paths were built within our network and the (phone) numbers were ported/switched carriers,” she said.
The county’s phone provider is now Alliance Communications. Previously the service was provided by Vast Broadband.
The law enforcement center on North Blue Mound Avenue was the first to be switched from the hybrid system of copper lines and fiber, Skattum said.
All of the county’s 15 departments are now entirely on the fiber network.
County commissioners supported the change from Vast Broadband to Alliance Communications in March, shortly after a problem with the copper phone connections through Vast.
The problem left the county intermittently without emergency 9-1-1 and/or administrative phone services over a two-month period.
County administrator Kyle Oldre brought the problem and potential solution to commissioners at the March 16 meeting.
“We are having a bad time with our phone system,” Oldre said. “A lot of it is out at the law enforcement center and that is a bad place to be having trouble with phones.”
On March 8 the Rock County Sheriff’s Office posted on their social media page that the office was without administrative phone lines as well as the 9-1-1 services.
“Our 911 is being rerouted to Nobles County,” the social media post said. “They will answer and call us over the radio if it is an emergency.”
The problem was traced to the copper lines and a third-party phone company trying to transfer out-of-state calls to Rock County.
Under Alliance the phone system is entirely on the fiber network. The county now pays rent for handsets located in each office.
“At this time it is difficult to determine what the savings are as things are still changing,” Skattum said. “The biggest benefits we have seen are efficiency and quality of service.”
Since the transition the county’s number of phone lines went from 51 to 36 lines, a 70 percent reduction.
Fifteen phone lines remain with Vast for fire alarms, elevator and boiler alarm services.
In two months, Alliance technicians reduced the original 20 call paths down to 12, which are used by the 22 business numbers (office and fax numbers) and 68 phone extensions.
The rental for 68 handsets averages $4.75 a month.
“This rental cost replaces a phone system purchase and will ensure that the equipment remains current,” Skattum said.
The county purchased the previous phone system in 2016 for $54,500. That system used copper lines for incoming/outgoing calls and the county’s fiber network for interoffice and transfer calls.