Mayfield Heights Gets New City Phone System

One could have given birth to a child and celebrated his or her high school and college graduations in the time that has passed since the City of Mayfield Heights bought a phone system.

"What people don't realize is that the phone system we have is quite antiquated," Councilwoman Gayle Teresi said. "It's difficult to get parts and the other issue is that the wiring is in the basement of the old city hall, so that just adds to all of the problems we have with the phone system and the connectivity with the police and fire departments."

That will all change now that the city has approved the purchase of a new VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) phone system. The city has accepted a request for proposal from Rocky River-based OCI Inc. for $43,195, plus a lump sum not to exceed $8,000 for additional equipment.

That price includes cable hardware, software, digital station cards, power supply, conference telephones and more to comprise the total Panasonic TDE600 system. OCI will provide installation, engineering and training for the system.

Teresi said the city received six proposals, but OCI's was the cheapest.

"We felt that OCI provided the best phone system for city hall at the best price," she said.

Skoda Minotti provided research for the city prior to agreeing on OCI. Skoda representative Jeff Beller said the city should expect to get 15 years out of this system.

"What I do like about Panasonic is that they're very good at keeping their product line so that down the road, you can still get upgrades and parts for these systems," Beller said.

Panasonic offers a seven-year, out-of-the-box warranty, Beller said.

The price the city is paying OCI only covers the system and the company's services. Beller will soon return to the city council with quotes for wiring. Teresi said moving the wiring from the old city hall basement to the current building will be "quite costly."

"What we're faced with is, as we added on to the structure, the wiring didn't really keep pace with that," Beller said. "Unfortunately, if you down into the basement on the panel, nothing is labeled, meaning you have no idea where these wires come from.

"For somebody to come in and install and extend the wiring, although that's needed, we still have to identify where all these wires go throughout the complex ... it's not difficult work, it just has to be done, labor-intensive."