HomeMy WebLinkAbout6. MANAGERS REPORT 02/16/2010
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INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
Village of Mount Prospect
Mount Prospect, Illinois
FROM:
IT DIRECTOR
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TO:
ASSISTANT VILLAGE MANAGER DAVE STRAHL
DATE: FEBRUARY 11, 2010
SUBJECT: REQUEST TO PURCHASE POINT-TO-POINT WIRELESS SOLUTIO
There has been a long-standing need to increase bandwidth to the outlying fire stations. The
project has been on hold, waiting for the construction of the new Fire Station 14. With the new
construction coming to fruition, staff is requesting approval to purchase a point-to-point wirele
solution to increase bandwidth to both outlying fire stations.
BackQround
Each of the outlying fire stations is connected to the Village network with two point-to-point T1
lines to each station, providing 3 Mbps of bandwidth to handle both voice and data. Fire Station
12 currently has six networked PCs and the new Fire Station 14 will have just as many.
Connectivity is slow and inefficient for firefighters to enter their incident reports, work orders, and
training records into Firehouse software and to access daily schedules, preplans, and training
materials. Also there are future plans to implement video conferencing for training purposes.
A point-to-point wireless solution was selected as a means to increase bandwidth while driving
down monthly T1 costs by approximately $600 per month. The Village will eliminate one T1line
to each outlying fire station. The wireless connection will be used as the primary data link, with
the remaining T1 as a backup. The phones will use the T1 line, with the wireless connection as
the backup. Bandwidth speed will be ten to fifteen times faster than it is now.
The water tower at Northwest Highway and Maple Street provides a good vantage point. Links
will span from each of the outlying fire stations to the water tower and then from the water tower
to the Public Safety building.
Costs
Three vendors provided quotes for the wireless bridges as shown in the chart on the next page.
All three vendors recommended Motorola bridges, but not all the same model. Although the
PTP58600 would provide greater bandwidth, the PTP54500 bridge offers the best price point. It
provides up 52 Mbps of bandwidth from the outlying fire stations to the water tower and 105
Mbps of bandwidth from the water tower to Public Safety. If more bandwidth is need in the
future, the 52 Mbps links can be easily upgraded with a license key. Upgrading the 105 Mbps
connection would mean replacing the hardware.
Request to Purchase Point-to-Point Wireless Solution
February 10, 2010
Page 2
Foresite Wireless
$74,730
Recommendation
RMS Business Systems' quote provides the lowest hardware cost. Public Works has been
involved in meetings with RMS to determine how the equipment will be mounted on the water
tower to ensure there are no issues. The installation of the hardware will be coordinated with
the water tower being painted this season. Village staff works with RMS regularly and has been
pleased with their previous work. I recommend that the Village purchase the Motorola point-to-
point wireless solution from RMS Business Systems for an amount not to exceed $42,200.
Funds are available for the purchase.
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Joan Middleton
IT Director
I:\VB Request Memos\2010 P2P.doc