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Approve a 3 year agreement with Sun Ridge Systems, Inc. for replacement software for the Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management System applications to include related applications and required interfaces, installation, training, and three-year support for a cost of $596,808; Delegate authority to the Chief Information Officer to execute the agreement and any amendments that remain within budgeted appropriations not to exceed $75,000; and Authorize the Sheriff or his designee, with concurrence of the Chief Information Officer, to execute amendments which are technical in nature
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Department of Information Technology (DoIT), recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve a three-year agreement with Sun Ridge Systems, Inc. for replacement software for the Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management System applications to include related applications and required interfaces, installation, training, and three-year support for a cost of $596,808; Delegate authority to the Chief Information Officer to execute the agreement and any amendments that remain within budgeted appropriations not to exceed $75,000; and Authorize the Sheriff or his designee, with concurrence of the Chief Information Officer, to execute amendments which are technical in nature.
SUMMARY:
The County’s existing Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records Management System (RMS) software applications were initially secured 18 years ago and are in need of updating to increase operational efficiency. The existing software applications are no longer supported by the vendor for upgrades. DoIT and the Sheriff’s Office formed a Public Safety Suite Replacement Workgroup with staff from each of the two departments including Dispatch, Records, Evidence, and Field Operations to complete a needs assessment and develop a replacement plan. The group researched available products and has determined that the RIMS software application best meets the needs of the County and allows for greater regional sharing of data, resulting in increased efficiencies, as the Cities of Fairfield, Rio Vista, and Vallejo already use RIMS, and the Cities of Benicia, Suisun City, and Vacaville are in the process of moving to RIMS.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The cost for the RIMS project is $578,785 plus $18,023 in interest charges for a total cost of $596,808. The RIMS project includes $350,566 for software application, enhancements, interfaces, installation, and data conversion; $101,892 for training; $1,842 to purchase a bar code scanner; and $124,485 for support costs. The Sheriff’s Office will make three installment payments, with the first payment of $198,226 due upon signing and the second and third payments due in FY2019/20 and FY2020/21 on the anniversary date of the final acceptance notice. This was an anticipated part of the dispatch upgrade and was included in the Sheriff’s Office’s FY2018/19 Approved Budget. In FY2021/22, the County will own the RIMS licenses and will only be required to pay annual support costs of approximately $40,000 for each subsequent year.
The cost associated with preparing the agenda item is nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2018/19 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Solano County Dispatch is tasked with receiving emergency and distress calls, and ensuring quick, efficient, and effective relay of related information to the appropriate emergency response agency. A CAD system is critical to this process, as it assists the Dispatcher in locating the caller, monitoring the location of responding units, etc. The RMS side of the process records all this information for future reference for law enforcement purposes and as required by law.
The Sheriff’s Office has used the VisionAIR Public Safety Suite of software applications, comprised of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Records Management System (RMS), and Vehicle Mobile System (Mobile), to provide these dispatch services since 2000. In 2011, VisionAIR was acquired by TriTech Software Systems. TriTech continues to support VisionAIR CAD and Mobile at this time but has its own product line and has announced that the VisionAIR products will not receive any future upgrades to expand or improve functionality.
The Sheriff Workgroup, Vacaville PD, and Suisun City PD collaborated to host Public Safety Suite demonstrations from the following vendors: TriTech, Zuercher, Sun Ridge (RIMS), Motorola, Hexagon, and Rapid Deploy. After these demos, the Workgroup discussed the pros and cons of each system and determined that RIMS was the best fit for the County, and ultimately selected RIMS as its recommended software. The significant factors are detailed below. The Cities of Fairfield, Rio Vista, and Vallejo already use RIMS, and the Cities of Benicia, Suisun City, and Vacaville are in the process of moving to RIMS.
• RIMS is a fully integrated system (one database) so there is native sharing of address and people data between CAD and RMS.
• RIMS comes with a “Collaborate” module which allows any of the RIMS applications to interconnect and share data natively without additional professional services development costs.
• Setting up data sharing with any other Solano RIMS running “Collaborate” would be easy across the existing Public Safety Wide Area Network (WAN).
• The existing significant investment of the two largest Solano cities (Vallejo, and Fairfield) in RIMS, and their satisfaction with the product, means a significant step towards interoperability has already been taken.
• After the initial three-year investment for the lease-purchase of the RIMS Public Safety Suite, the annual maintenance in future years would be approximately $140,000 less per year in comparison to the current TriTech Suite system we have today.
The Sheriff’s Office prepared a sole source justification to lease-purchase the RIMS Public Safety Suite. The County Administrator’s Office and Central Services-Purchasing have approved sole sourcing the lease-purchase to Sun Ridge Systems, Inc. to further strengthen regional interoperability.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose not to approve the agreement; however, this alternative is not recommended as non-approval would impede the County’s interoperability efforts.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the agreement as to form. The County Risk Manager approved the insurance provision and related liability limits.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION