AGENDA - San Antonio Housing Authority

SAN ANTONIO HOUSING AUTHORITY May 16, 2013BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSOperations and Human Resources CommitteeRESOLUTION 5330, AUTHORIZING AN AWARD OF A MONTH-TO-MONTH CONTRACT TOVERIZON WIRELESS THROUGH THE TEXAS DEPARMENT OF INFORMATION RESOURCES (DIR)PROCUREMENT, FOR VOICE & DATA SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT AS NEEDED, AT A MONTHLYCOST NOT TO EXCEED $14,000.00, FOR AN ANNUAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $170,000.00._____________________ ________________________ _______________________Lourdes Castro Ramirez Ed Hinojosa Jo Ana AlvaradoPresident and CEO Chief Financial Officer Dir. of Information TechnologyREQUESTED ACTION:Consideration and appropriate action regarding Resolution 5330, authorizing an award of a month-tomonthcontract to Verizon Wireless through the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR)Procurement, for Voice & Data Services and Equipment as needed, at a monthly cost not to exceed$14,000.00, for an annual amount not to exceed $170,000.00.PURPOSE:To provide consistent and reliable PTT (Push to Talk) and cellular service to designated SAHA staff inaccordance with SAHA’s Administrative Directive - Mobile Technology, Item IV. This aligns with theAgency’s priority to provide quality and responsive service to our residents.FINANCIAL IMPACT:The annual cost for voice and data services and equipment is not expected to exceed a monthly sum of$14,000.00, or $170,000.00 annually, and will be funded through the approved operating budgets.SUMMARY:SAHA currently utilizes the Department of Information Resources (DIR) to provide PTT and cellularservice from Sprint/Nextel. The DIR contracts are competitively bid by the Texas Department ofInformation Resources. As a member of the Texas Cooperative Purchasing Program, SAHA is eligible toutilize the contract to procure information and technology resources.In September 2012, a meeting was held with several senior staff members and over 50 of SAHA’smaintenance employees. The maintenance employees expressed both their frustration and concern overthe issues they are experiencing in the field utilizing the Sprint PTT network services and cellular mobilephone devices. It was subsequently determined that the problem did not only reside with themaintenance field staff but with other mobile device users at all levels. A review of IT help logs foundthat since the adoption of Sprint as SAHA’s sole mobility provider in June 2012, approximately 50 helplogs were submitted with mobile device related issues. These issues ranged from low battery life,hardware failures, email deliver delay and dropped calls.In an effort to resolve this issue, SAHA’s IT staff contacted AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless, bothDIR and major mobile device providers with wide area cell and PTT coverage in San Antonio. Bothvendors provided SAHA with pricing and test devices that were issued to staff to test PTT services andcellular services. Through an October 2012 to April 2013 testing period, it was determined that whileVerizon Wireless and AT&T both operate vast PTT presence in San Antonio as well as saturatedcoverage of 3G and 4G cell services, AT&T did not provide competitive pricing or did not demonstrateease of use when using PTT services. Overall, staff preferred Verizon devices to AT&T for their ease ofuse for PTT services and overall cell phone service offered by the Verizon network.ATTACHMENTS:Resolution 5330Company ProfileCost Summary