Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Santa Rosa cuts costs by combining services

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 19:09:40 -0400

Santa Rosa cuts costs by combining services
Derek Pivnick
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

Consolidating mobile phone and two-way radio service is paying dividends for Santa Rosa County.
County officials expect to save at least $40,000 a year by combining the two functions into one, with a single handset provided by one company.
"At first glance, it looks like we'll save the county around $44,000 a year," said commission Chairman W.A. "Buck" Lee. "It was amazing - the savings to get it all under one umbrella."
Lee said he had seen county employees with several electronic devices clipped to their belts.
Some workers carried cellular phones, two-way radios and pagers. Often, each device was from a different company, Lee said.

So after shopping around, the county made the switch to Nextel, which combined the cellular phone and two-way radio in one unit and was cheaper than Southern Linc. Also, Sheriff's Office employees and a handful of other county departments already were using Nextel. So switching also improved communication between departments.
"I think everyone's real pleased with it," said Orrin Smith, county procurement officer.
About 160 units were purchased and handed out in May to commission employees.
"Some of them were carrying three and four different (communication) items," Smith said. "It's not necessary anymore."

Additional savings came from combining minutes instead of assigning minutes to each device. Phone and radio minutes now are shared among all commission employees.
Lee said the county paid about $2,500 to get the new phones but is paying at least $4,000 a month less for the new service.
The new service is for commission employees only. Employees of other departments - such as the property appraiser or tax collector - are not covered in the plan.
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/060703/Local/ST011.shtml#

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