1. That the Board enter into a four year Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management System (CAD/RMS) Maintenance and Support Agreement with Versaterm Inc. of a value not to exceed $364,662.45 in 2007, exclusive of all applicable taxes; and with a maximum annual increase equal to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1.5 per cent; and

2. That the Chair be authorized to execute a contract in accordance with Recommendation #1, subject to prior review by York Region Legal Services.

SYNOPSIS:

This report outlines the necessity for York Regional Police to enter into a Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management System (CAD/RMS) Maintenance and Support Agreement with Versaterm Inc. for a period of four years. There is no current agreement in place with Versaterm Inc. as the system was installed in 2005 with a one-year warranty period extending into 2006.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

The cost of this support maintenance agreement with Versaterm Inc. is $364,662.45 for the year 2007, excluding applicable taxes. Sufficient funds have been included in the 2007 Operating Budget to cover the cost of this maintenance and support agreement.

The Versaterm response to the Request for Proposal for the CAD/RMS system identifies the maximum increase in annual support in years two through five, as equal to the amount of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1.5 per cent.

The annual support and maintenance fee for the Versaterm application is approximately 10 per cent of the $3,762,140 acquisition cost which is within the industry standard guidelines of 10-20 per cent, and is consistent with other agencies such as Durham Regional Police. The annual fee is also comparable to other maintenance fees for York Regional Police systems that are mission critical like the voice radio system, which is less complex than the CAD/RMS system.

BACKGROUND:

In March 2004, York Regional Police issued a Request for Proposal for a replacement to the PRC Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management System. That system had been in use since 1984 and it was no longer able to meet the evolving technology needs and growth within the service. The contract for a new CAD/RMS System was awarded to Versaterm Inc. in September 2004.

Included as part of the Request for Proposal was a request for the proponent to identify the ongoing annual maintenance and support costs for years two through five. Versaterm provided a response indicating that the annual maintenance and support costs for this period would have a capped maximum increase equal to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as published by Statistics Canada plus 1.5 per cent. For purposes of illustration this was shown as a 4 per cent per year increase in the Request for Proposal response.

The Versaterm CAD/RMS application was installed during 2004/2005 with York Regional Police going live with the RMS portion of the application in July 2005, and the CAD portion in November 2005. Support costs were included for the first year and 2007 is the first full year requiring the purchase of maintenance and support services.

The Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management Systems are the core software applications used by York Regional Police. This mission critical system is also used to dispatch both emergency and non-emergency calls and provides our interface to CPIC and other police agency data contained within the Police Information Portal. CAD is the primary method of communication with officers engaged in providing frontline service delivery and 75-80 per cent of all communications go through the mobile workstations, with the remaining communication being via the voice radio system. These applications provide officers the ability to perform background checks, suspect identification and obtain information required for officer safety.

There are currently 256 RMS licences, 42 CAD licences distributed across the Communications Centre, Operational Districts, Headquarters and Specialized Units, and 210 Mobile licences, along with an interface licence for:

1. CPIC
2. ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage System)
3. PIP (Police Information Portal)
4. Cry Wolf Alarms
5. Motorola Emergency Push-to-Talk
6. ESRI Geographic Information Systems and mapping
7. Niche mug shot system.

The CAD/RMS is the primary and most important mission critical system operated by York Regional Police. Such systems are very complex and, although York Regional Police I.T. staff provide first and second line support, functional problems can arise which only the vendor can diagnose and repair within a reasonable time period. It is therefore vital that the vendor is contracted to provide emergency support twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.