Stillwater NewsPress

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February 12, 2013

Payne County will buy more efficient phone system

By Chris Day Stillwater NewsPress

STILLWATER, Okla. — Payne County will spend $9,590 to upgrade the phone system in the County Administration Building.

Commissioners unanimously voted Monday to replace the county’s phone system, which doesn’t include modern features like voicemail or the ability to transfer calls from one elected official’s office to another.

“It has 80 features we don’t have,” County Commission chairman Chris Reding said.

Reding said the new phone system will be more efficient. It also will be less expensive than the system in use.

Payne County pays approximately $3,400 a month for phone service, Reding said. The proposed system will cost between $967 to $1,280 a month.

The new equipment will pay for itself within its first year of service, he said.

The tax assessors office uses a similar system. It now uses eight phone lines instead of 19, Assessor James Cowan said.

“Overall, the use of the system has made my office more efficient and work better,” he said.

A timetable for the switch wasn’t established at Monday’s meeting.

Commissioners also decided to spend $9,286 to repaint the offices on the second floor of the County Administration Building. Randy Harrison of Stillwater submitted the low bid. The County Commission, County Clerk and Assessors offices will be repainted. The Election Board office was repainted in 2012. County Treasurer Bonita Sadler opted for paint touchups in her office, Reding said.

The repainting will be done in the evening and night to allow the county offices to remain open during the day, he said.

County commissioners didn’t need to seek bids for the contracts because the cost was less than $10,000 — the state threshold to seek bids.

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