Westmoreland commissioners change cellular providers to save money
Westmoreland County officials are hoping to save over $100,000 a year on cellphone bills for county employees.
At their meeting Thursday, the county commissioners agreed to have T-Mobile USA Inc. provide cellular voice and data service to designated county employees with a Mobile Device Management Solution.
David Ridilla, chief information officer for the county, said they currently pay about $16,000 a month to Verizon for 281 devices. The same services through T-Mobile will cost approximately $7,000 a month.
As part of the contract, the county will have control of what apps can be downloaded, and social service caseworkers will be required to have a pin number on their phone to unlock it so that no one is able to access any e-mails dealing with individual cases.
Ridilla said there is no way to track texting or data usage on the employees’ phones, but they will have a log of phone calls made and received.
The contract with T-Mobile is subject to whether the coverage is effective for the county’s needs.
Ridilla said they will be testing the coverage with seven or eight different departments over the next couple of weeks.
Commissioner Gina Cerilli said adequate cell coverage is a safety factor.
“It’s important for our caseworkers, public safety workers and probation officers to have adequate cell coverage,” she said. “We want our caseworkers to be able to make calls if needed when they are going into homes.”
Ridilla said, to the best of his knowledge, no elected officials have county-issued cellphones.
In other business, commissioners approved resolutions to accept the bid of $794,000 by Pennsylvania Roofing Systems, Inc. for the re-roofing project in the A and B wing of the court house and to accept the bid of $229,000 by Johnson Controls for the direct digital controls system at Westmoreland Manor.
Commissioners also made a proclamation in honor of the Westmoreland County Symphony Orchesta and Academy for their success and distinction as a leader in the art of classical music.
Sisters and academy students Talbot and Maddox Maruca, ages 15 and 13 respectively, of Connellsville were on hand to play a couple of musical numbers on their violin and cello at the end of the meeting.