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City of City Coll 1101 Rep®~
Santa bionica°
City Council Meeting: May 12, 2009
Agenda Item: 0 ® N
To: Mayor and -City Council
From: Jory Wolf, Chief Information Officer
Subject: Fire Station Alerting System Purchase
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a contract with Westnet Inc. for the purchase of a Fire Station Alerting System
in an amount not to exceed $161,922.00.
Executive Summary.
On January 13, 2009, City Council approved the reactivation of the City's Fire Dispatch
Center. To support this reactivation, the Fire Department must purchase a new Fire
Station Alerting System that is compatible with the City's existing Computer Aided
Dispatch (CAD) system. The existing Fire Station Alerting System -installed by the City
of Los Angeles - is proprietary and cannot be reused with the City's current technology.
Following a competitive process, staff recommends awarding the contract to Westnet
Inc. for a total amount of $161,922.00, which is available in the current fiscal year
budget.
Discussion
The City's existing Fire Station Alerting System was customized specifically for the City
of Los Angeles and is based on older technology. Most of the hardware components
installed in the fire stations are proprietary and are compatible only with the City of
L.A.'s software. Some components, however, such as speakers and microphones may
be reused.
After releasing an RFP, Fire Department and Information Systems Department staff
received and reviewed proposals from three vendors. Two vendors responded with
viable, although cost-prohibitive, solutions to the City's needs. Due to the high costs and
complexity of the systems proposed, staff elected to reject all proposals and met with
the original three vendors to further refine the requirements. The new requirements
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would allow the City to design a system with-the vendor that would utilize components
of the City's existing system in conjunction with new components provided by the
vendor. Upon completion of a comprehensive review process, City staff selected
Westnet Inc. as the vendor that best met the City's new specifications for equipment
and services. Neither of the vendors was able to provide the same level of functionality
as the Westnet system for a comparable price. Westnet Inc. is also highly
recommended by their reference agencies, including the City of Huntington, the City of
Long Beach, the City of Oxnard and the City of Manhattan Beach.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The cost for the software and first year of maintenance will not exceed $161,922.00.
Funds are available in the Fire Dispatch CIP Account # 0014020.589000. Future
maintenance costs will be requested in each fiscal year's proposed budget and will be
subject to Council review and approval.
Prepared by:
Megan Tabibian, Systems Analyst
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
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