Phone switch may save thousands

The Daily Inter Lake

In an effort to save tens of thousands of dollars in lease fees, Flathead County could soon hang up on its existing telephone system.

County Administrator Mike Pence said the current phone system is leased from CenturyTel at a cost of about $16,500 per month.

However, a recent analysis indicated that if the county purchased its own system, the monthly cost would drop to about $4,100 - a savings of almost $12,500 per month or $150,000 per year.

Based on that analysis, the county commissioners recently authorized going out to bid on the project.

The analysis was conducted by Access Consulting, a Missoula-based firm that helped design the phone system for the Earl Bennett Building.

The initial cost of the new system, which would cover the county courthouse complex and several remote sites (such as the Road Department, the libraries and the Weed and Parks Department), is estimated at about $356,000. That includes the telephones, switching equipment, cabling and engineering design fees.

If the monthly savings prove accurate, the system would have a 29-month payback period.