The police department had known for a while they needed a new phone system. A nasty storm this summer made it all the more clear.
During the storm – the same one in which a tornado touched down across the Valley in Shelton – the Ansonia Police Department lost power, and, temporarily, the use of its 25-year-old phone system.
Now that the Board of Aldermen has waived bids for the department to purchase a new system, the police department’s phone problem will soon be a thing of the past. The department hopes to get the $20,600 phone system installed in the building in the next few months.
“We live and die by communications,” police Chief Kevin Hale said. “The vast majority of our calls come through the two main phone lines. If those lines are down, how do people call us?”
The “land-line” phone system had 20 phones, including the two at the front desk. Separate systems are set up for the radio calls between officers and 911 calls, two systems the department recently had upgraded as well.
Though the power outage highlighted the vulnerability of the telephone system, the bigger concern was the everyday technical problems with the phones, which were becoming obsolete.
“Replacing parts has become the bigger issue,” Hale said.
When the phone lines needed repairs, it could take time for technicians to find the parts which weren’t as common as they once were, Hale said.
The bids were waived by the Board of Aldermen so the police department could stick with AT&T as a provider. The department also uses AT&T for its 911 service and wanted to have the same provider for their regular land lines too.
The new phones, installation and computer system will cost about $20,600, Hale said.
About $14,000 of the money will come from federal homeland security grants and partially from the city’s telephone budget. A one-year service plan comes free with the new phones, so the cost savings will be applied to the purchase, officials said.
The new phones will be a hybrid system, Hale said, which will be able to adapt to internet phone lines if the department decides to move to that type of service.
Hale said the new phones gave the department “confidence that we have a new system that’s reliable. It allows us to be ready for the future.”
