FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners approved a letter Tuesday to Zetron Inc. requesting that the one-year warranty on the dispatch console system begin after the next software installation and be followed with a two-year extended-service plan.
The Franklin County Regional Communications Center’s Zetron Max Dispatch console system, installed in spring 2017, has had audio issues, including dropped calls to emergency responders.
Zetron, based in Redmond, Washington, sent two executives to the Feb. 6 commissioners meeting to discuss concerns.
The company sent an upgraded software package to the dispatch center on Jan. 31. It was installed and the audio problems appeared to have cleared up but other problems linger.
A Zetron representative told commissioners this month that it is a software problem, not a hardware issue.
Center Director Stan Wheeler told commissioners Tuesday that one of the consoles locked up Sunday night.
The letter written by Wheeler and signed by commissioners will be sent to Scott French, vice president of Zetron and general manager. He attended the Feb. 6 meeting.
French apologized at that meeting on behalf of the company for it taking a “long time to listen” to Wheeler’s and county communications consultant Rick Davol’s concerns about the system.
Commissioners accepted Wheeler’s recommendation to wait until the successful implementation of the new software, which is expected to be released this summer before commissioners accept the new console and have the warranty reset for a year.
They also accepted Wheeler’s recommendation to require the company to provide the county with a two-year extended service plan to start at the completion of the one-year warranty.
In other matters, commissioners voted to:
• Transfer $190,216 of the $284,216 unorganized territory unassigned funds to the Unorganized Territory Roads and Bridges Capital Reserve Account. With the additional funds, the reserve account stands at $868,332.
• Accept Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr.’s recommendation to hire Georgia Riggs of Monmouth as a new civil deputy, replacing Mike Mayer.
• Approve a four-year extension of the contract with Great Works Internet of Biddeford for telephone service that also adds the District Attorney Office. The monthly cost decreased to $1,532 from $1,617.50.
• Allow the Franklin County Jail to advertise for a third, part-time cook.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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