by James Coulter
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) and other government departments will be receiving new internet-based phones and services, now that county commissioners have approved two cooperative agreements.
At their regular meeting on Tues. July 15, 2025, Polk County commissioners voted unanimously to approve cooperative agreements with Optus, Inc., and Carahsoft Technology Corp. for software-based phones and implementation services.
The agreements with Optus and Carahsoft will require one-time costs of $438,864.26 and $67,331.18, respectively. Funding is available within the Information Technology Operating Fund.
These agreements will help replace outdated equipment and services for the Sheriff, Public Defender, State Attorney, Guardian Ad Litem, and Court Administration.
“Over the last 30 years, the county has used NEC phone system equipment for the board and constitutional desk phones,” wrote Brad Howard, Senior Procurement Analyst.
“With many of the enterprise phone equipment providers transitioning their products to the cloud, IT met with the stakeholders to establish requirements, then vetted various cloud telephony providers, selecting Zoom because they met the requirements and in addition have a reputation for reliability and uptime,” he further elucidated.
Commissioner Bill Braswell inquired whether the internet-based phone services would be available in case of an emergency, especially a power outage.
“It seems like a bad idea not to have a wired backup system,” he said. “If the internet goes down, no one can call us.”
A county staff member replied that the phone and internet services use the same system. They use the same lines, only with different equipment.
