Mobile County Wins Alabama Digital Innovation Award

Posted on: Dec 6th, 2009 | Announcements

The Mobile County Commission received the 2009 Digital Government Innovation Award from Auburn University at Montgomery Friday. The statewide ?Overall Winner? award honored the county for its innovation and cost savings through Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). The county made the switch this year for those offices in need of upgrades to their phone systems. The changeover dropped costs from $30,000 to $18,000 per month for the county, while providing more phone connections and features. It also allows for more secure disaster response through computer backup systems. ?We were challenged to replace an outmoded communications system and our staff came up with the idea of combining our telephone and data networks,? said Mobile County Commission president Mike Dean. ?It costs less and gives us much more.? The new phones lines offer greater manageability because both data and phone lines can be managed from a computer. There are fewer lines to maintain as well, since phone lines serve also as the data lines. Speed and capacity are increased by a touch of a software switch, rather than the laying of additional cable, as with traditional phone lines. The phone lines now are more portable as well, since they are not tied to specific wall jacks. ###