013-050 Acquisition of Telecommunications Services by State Agencies

013-050 Acquisition of Telecommunications Services by State Agencies ITS statute, Mississippi Code Section 25-53-111, requires that ITS: • Establish and coordinate through either state ownership or commercial leasing, all telecommunications systems and services affecting the management and operations of the state • Act as the sole centralized customer for the acquisition, billing and record keeping of all telecommunications systems or services provided to state agencies whether obtained through lease or purchase • Charge the respective user agencies for their proportional cost of the installation, maintenance and operation of the telecommunications systems and services To fulfill this statutory mandate, ITS issues Requests for Proposals to obtain the lowest and best provider of local and long distance voice access services and of data communications services. The resulting contracts are for the use of ITS in furnishing these services to all state agencies. The contracts aggregate all telecommunications traffic into one account with ITS as the sole customer on behalf of the state, as required in the above statute. This aggregation allows ITS to get the best possible pricing for the state as a whole; to better manage telecommunications facilities within the state; and to have an accurate inventory of all telecommunications services within state government. There is no delegation of procurement authority for telecommunications services for state agencies. All such services must be obtained through the Telecom Services and Data Services Divisions of ITS. See ITS Telecommunications Contracts and Services for State Agencies for a list of products and services within the scope of this policy and for links to the associated pricing. In addition to the line and access services provided via vendor contracts, ITS is the direct provider of basic telephone installation services and basic data cable installation services for customers in the Capitol Complex and greater Jackson area. Note that neither agency staff nor third-party vendors are to provide any cabling or telephone installation or update services unless prior written approval has been obtained from ITS on a case-by-case basis. As an ITS telecommunications customer, a state agency receives the following "value-add" services: • Contractual terms and conditions negotiated and enforced by ITS on behalf of the state • Renegotiation for lower pricing at set intervals throughout the life of each contract • Uniform service and cost to all areas of the state • Facility reviews on request to evaluate opportunities for cost savings (voice and data) • Statewide authorization codes for long distance • Customized telephone billing to accommodate the accounting requirements of the individual agency, including electronic billing options • State government telephone operator services • Trouble/Help Desk support (voice and data) • Customer service support (voice and data) • Telecommunications training on request • Voice communications needs analysis on request • On-line state telephone directory listings and service • Network Operations Center • Core security administration (IDS and VPN) • Domain name services • System design and configuration (voice and data) • 24x7x365 operations (voice and data) • Problem determination (voice and data) • Disaster recovery (voice and data) • Capacity planning • Telecommunications Express Products Lists (2-way radios, E-911) • Master Cellular Contract To request additional information or to order services, contact TelecomRequest@its.ms.gov.