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Page 1 of 2 <br />Information Technology “Study Session Staff Report”, 11/25/24 <br />KITTITAS COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />STAFF REPORT FOR <br />STUDY SESSION <br /> <br />Information Technology <br /> <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: 11/25/2024 <br /> <br />TOPIC: Discussion of the County’s Emergency Notification System – Informacast <br /> <br />ACTION REQUESTED: No Action - Information Only <br /> <br />LEAD STAFF: IT Director, Doug Fessler & Network/Sys Admin Manager, Bill Davis <br /> <br />RECOMMENDATION: None <br /> <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br /> <br />The County determined that their current emergency notification system, Netsupport <br />Notify, has been insufficient in notifying staff and the public of incidents. The IT <br />department has vetted a new system, Informacast, as a potential replacement with a small <br />team undergoing a demo. The sub-security committee chose Informacast over a few other <br />options and IT is working to acquire licenses for all County staff. Judicial Admin Barbara <br />Demory offered to pay for the 1st year subscription out of her department’s AOC Grant <br />Fund. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: <br /> <br />Netsupport Notify has limited features and many issues that make them an outdated and <br />unreliable service by today’s notifying standard. A replacement that offers a richer set of <br />features with greater messaging capability is needed to better ensure safety. The IT <br />department vetted a software called Informacast that has a wider range of device <br />notifying options, customizing templates, filesharing, and various other features that <br />make it the optimal solution. IT, along with the sub-security committee, went through an <br />Ednetics presentation of Informacast and found it to be the ideal choice. <br /> <br />Ednetics has a tech specialist who is an expert with Informacast. Their expertise with the <br />software and Ednetic’s long history working with the County made them the best choice <br />to manage the County’s accounts as well as being the best administrative and technical <br />escalation path for support. <br /> <br />Ednetics has quoted 450 Informacast Fusion licenses at $7.5K for a 1-year term that will <br />begin 12/30/24 and end 12/31/25. <br /> <br />FISCAL IMPACTS: 1st year subscription will be paid by an AOC Grant, No Impact to <br />County Funds.