City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: IT Department
Meeting Date: April 20, 2026
Report #:2602-5980
TITLE
Approval of Amendment Number 1 to Contract C23187554 with Vox Network Solutions to Increase Compensation by $212,819 and to Extend the Term to June 30, 2027, for Maintenance of the City’s Enterprise Phone System; CEQA Status – exempt under section 15061(b)(3).
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or designee to execute Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. C23187554 with Vox Network Solutions (Attachment A) for an additional year for the maintenance of the City’s Enterprise Phone System and to increase compensation by $136,897 for basic services and $75,921 for additional services. This amendment results in a revised total contract not-to-exceed amount of $713,740.
BACKGROUND
The City’s enterprise phone system was replaced under a VOX contract following a 2012 RFP process after the prior system was no longer supported by the manufacturer. City Council approved replacing the City’s legacy phone system with a modern Avaya VoIP/hybrid system on June 6, 2012, and the new system was fully implemented in October 20131. After implementation, the City continued to procure ongoing maintenance and support from VOX Most recently, on June 19, 2023, City Council approved Contract no. C23187554 to upgrade the City’s phone system and provide a three-year support term using a National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA) cooperative agreement2. Amendment No. 1 maintains service continuity by adding a one-year extension and increasing not-to-exceed authority to address additional, unforeseen licensing necessary to sustain the City’s phone system.
1 June 4, 2012 City Council Staff Report: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/from- archive/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/2012/cmr-2760.pdf 2 June 19, 2023 City Council Staff Report:
https://recordsportal.paloalto.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=82463&dbid=0&repo=PaloAlto&cr=1
ANALYSIS
Staff recommends extending services with VOX Network Solutions for one more year to maintain stable, uninterrupted support for the City’s enterprise phone system while the City completes a structured assessment of the best long-term direction (continued on-premises Avaya modernization vs. a cloud solution). The City’s current phone environment supports essential municipal operations and integrations, particularly those tied to public safety, call center reporting, payment-by-phone/IVR workflows, outage/emergency operations, call accounting/audit needs, and hybrid work which are not always supported “out of the box” by basic cloud phone offerings. The existing system is now antiquated and approaching the end of its vendor-supported lifecycle. The City anticipates replacing and modernizing the phone system in the next fiscal year.
As authorized under PAMC section 2.30.360(j), the current contract was procured through NCPA cooperative agreement5, which is reduced pricing available to local government agencies and provides a compliant, efficient procurement path for this interim period. The one-year renewal provides the City time to: (1) assess the City’s current Avaya platform and remaining lifecycle needs, (2) evaluate cost and risk options to upgrade or optimize the City’s on-premises Avaya environment, and (3) competitively investigate leading industry providers for a cloud- based solution without introducing avoidable service disruption or emergency/after-hours support gaps during the evaluation period.
The requested contingency will fund payment of an outstanding $30,383 invoice that could not be paid because additional services funds were exhausted and provide a 10% contingency for unforeseen licensing adjustments during the extension period. This will help maintain continuity of the City’s telecommunications systems during ongoing changes and transition planning.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The costs are expected to occur in FY 2027. Funding for this one-year amendment will be included in the FY 2027 annual budget development process, subject to City Council approval consistent with how multi-year technology support contracts are funded in future years. The Information Technology Department (ITD) is supported through an internal service fund model. Approximately 49% of ITD’s costs are funded by the General Fund, with the remaining 51% supported by enterprise and special revenue funds.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The services were coordinated with internal stakeholders and the service provider. 5 NCPA Cloud and On-Premise Communications Solutions Contract No. 01-125:
https://www.omniapartners.com/suppliers/jenne/public-sector/contract-documents
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The approval of this contract is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. C23187554 APPROVED BY:
Darren Numoto, Chief Information Officer; Lisa Bolger, Assistant Director Information Technology/CTO