Small City Reaps Big Rewards
with Voice over IP
Powell,Wyoming, businesses and city government prosper with AltiGen phone systems

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For a small city with a tradition of being very progressive when it comes to deploying new technology, the inside joke was the “mash phones”—so called because users had to mash their fingers hard onto the handset buttons to make a call.

In addition, the central phone system at the offices of the City of Powell, Wyo., frequently needed rebooting because extensions or various other features wouldn’t work. “We badly needed to upgrade the phone system,” says Zane Logan, city administrator.

Logan heard that the First National Bank & Trust of Powell had recently deployed a communications
system built around Voice over IP (VoIP) phone
technology from AltiGen Communications. Word of the bank’s success with AltiGen’s IP telephony spread fast, and soon several other businesses were
touting their AltiGen solutions, including Eastman’s Hunting Journal, LJS Realty and Nelson Insurance.

Now it was the city’s turn, where officials have had a keen interest in using technology to attract business and promote tourism. Josh Baxter, chief technology officer at the bank, demonstrated the
AltiGen VoIP phone system to Zack Thorington, the city’s information and communications specialist.
Advanced features in the AltiGen system were particularly appealing.

Thorington was impressed. Working with AltiGen reseller CTI Communications LLC of Fort Collins, Colo., to handle the installation, the City of Powell started down the road to a new AltiGen VoIP system. With CTI’s help, the VoIP system connected right into the city’s fiber network through its existing network switch. The integration of the 911 system, a vital cog in the city’s overall communications
network, was “nearly transparent to the customer,” says Rich Browne, CTI’s president. The system
seamlessly connected into all eight major departments in a citywide effort, including police, fire, sanitation, electric, water, parks, streets and the animal shelter.

Even more impressive was the speed with which the deployment took place. CTI and the city had planned to spend an entire weekend implementing the VoIP system. They finished the job in one day. "It was true plug-and-play," says Thorington.

EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY
Since the City of Powell installed the VoIP system, “we've been more efficient and productive,” notes Thorington, who now gets calls routed to him automatically, even when he is in the field. The city currently is focused on tapping its new AltiGen VoIP functionality, such as the full-time voice recording of police calls in a central archive. Additionally, the city is saving real money by making changes, such as adding extensions or changing service, simply with its own staff instead of having to pay for additional telecom provider services.

The AltiGen system is something of a symbol of the city, and its businesses’ dedication to serving the public with the best technology. Says Logan: “We may be a small city in an out-of-the-way place, but we have a state-of-theart phone system.”