Town Hall Voice Mail System Fails

By: Brent Runyon
Published: 01/05/10

The automated voice mail system at Falmouth Town Hall is broken and will not be replaced for two to four weeks.

“It’s dead,” said Thomas M. Pucci of the information technology department. “We’ve been holding off replacing this system for six years. It finally failed the other day, and it did not come back.”

This means that all calls to town hall must be answered by a receptionist, and callers will no longer be able to leave voice mail for employees at town hall.

The system was installed 12 years ago by Avaya, which dropped from support six years ago, Mr. Pucci said.

“We’ve been trying to hold off and make it work,” Mr. Pucci said. “It’s not an inexpensive thing to replace.”

Mr. Pucci said he expects to get a quote today on a new system and the new system to be in place in two to four weeks.

The system cannot be repaired, he said, because parts are no longer available.

The auto attendant function that allowed callers to access employees by their extensions or last names will also not work.

“After hours or when the receptionist is at lunch, the best thing for people to do is call people’s direct numbers, which are listed on the website and in the phone book as well,” Mr. Pucci said.

Specific departments, such as veterans affairs and the building department, rely heavily on the automated system to take messages after hours and to direct calls, Mr. Pucci said. “Every department really depends on the voice mail system.”

Mr. Pucci said he did not know yet how much the new system would cost, but estimated it would be less than $15,000, and would take several weeks to install because it would have to be hand-programmed.

He said he would discuss with Town Manager Robert L. Whritenour Jr. if he needed to file a formal request for proposals.

He said the voice mail at Falmouth Fire Rescue, Falmouth Police Department, and the Department of Public Works are all separate systems and will continue to function, for now.

“The phone system at the police department is even more limited than the one at town hall,” Mr. Pucci said. He said he would try to purchase a system that could handle both town hall and Falmouth Fire Rescue Department’s system, which were installed at the same time.