Erik Fix was president of Genesee County Chamber for 15 months before he filled the role of assistant city manager in July 2022. He joked that his kids ask him all the time, “when will you get your next job?” even though he's enjoying his current gig and has no plans to leave any time soon, he said.

While they weren’t using anything like rotary phones, Fix said the current phone system is “antiquated” and in need of a boost. Also, the current phone system is no longer being provided by CISCO Systems, he said.

He had met with a committee comprised of the city manager’s confidential secretary, Angela Dickson, Police Chief Shawn Heubusch, Manager Rachael Tabelski and KI Consulting and Bolder IT Strategies to ferret out the best options for a new phone system.

Four vendors submitted applications, and the committee scored each one according to weighted cost, functionality, and usability, plus five other criteria, he said.

“In the end, all members agreed that Ring Central, Inc. scored the best out of the four proposals,” Fix said during City Council's Monday meeting.

The cloud-based phone system would cost $22,920 per year for five years, or 60 months, according to the contract. That includes the phones, training and installation, he said.

One of the committee’s tasks involved talking to Steuben County’s IT staff regarding that county’s usage of Ring Central. There were also conversations with the city’s own IT staff to ensure that staff members could assist with Ring Central’s installation if necessary.

All that is to say that Fix recommended that council go with this new company, which is based in California. A vote will be on council’s future business meeting, and, if approved, the new phone system would mean a budget amendment of $22,920 of contingency funds, to take effect Nov. 8.

Another spending vote to be on the next business agenda is the purchase of a new Pitney Bowes folding machine, used for automatic folding of letters, bills and other written materials being sent out from the city.

A current Pitney Bowes folding machine that was purchased in 2000 is no longer in working order, Deputy Finance Director Lisa Neary said. She recommended a machine that is a step down from a top model, but can do the required work at a savings, Neary said.  The top model was priced at $10,435.80, whereas the next one down is $6,841.58.