9.
DU PAGE ETSB 9-1-1 SYSTEM DESIGN
Ms. Zerwin had nothing beyond what was reported in the monthly report.
Member Guttman asked if Ms. Zerwin was satisfied with the responses from AT&T, that when
he reads the reports each month, he feels a sense of frustration. Ms. Zerwin said, in regard to the
Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) project, there are several things at play. She said the
NG9-1-1 project is a rollout, there is the replacement of ETSB CPE equipment, and the
Session-Initiated Protocol (SIP), which all are separate siloed divisions of AT&T. Ms. Zerwin
said there has been escalation to a high level which seems to have worked so far. She said a lot
has been learned about the engineering, that one of the delays of the SIP connection is diversity
in the path, that it is important that the PSAPs have two separate ways into the building. Ms.
Zerwin said that translated from the fiber running into the buildings, the switching stations they
are routed to, and as AT&T downsizes and eliminated switching stations, it becomes more
complex. She said there is also a difference in how engineering designs the solutions versus
what optically we think it should be and it has taken a while, but she believed the right people are
in place in regard to the SIP. Ms. Zerwin said she feels somewhat more satisfied but is frustrated
by the overall project and the inability of AT&T to work amongst their own divisions to solve a
problem. She said there has been some discussion at the state level regarding the project
management for NG9-1-1, as well. From where things are today, given the issues experienced in
2019 with this equipment, she would rather things go slowly and get where they need to go, than
make quick decisions to get it deployed and have a problem because several issues have been
diagnosed along the way. Ms. Zerwin said part of the delay was the change of personnel, some of
which has been very productive. She said having DU-COMM Technician Erik Maplethorpe has
been very advantageous to the review of some of the equipment as well as a more direct member
of the team. She concluded saying the challenge with AT&T is that they have the NG9-1-1
network, they are our competitive local exchange carrier, our 9-1-1 carrier, they are a channel
partner with some of the major equipment so as much as we try to diversify, we get landlocked
into those divisions. She said it is a challenge to keep the relationship positive but get where we
need to go. Member Guttman said that was very helpful and said when he was first appointed he
had made some noise about compelling AT&T and Comcast, the utilities, to perform and while
he is glad Ms. Zerwin is satisfied, he senses frustration and thinks the next time a large contract
comes around, to work with the State's Attorney's Office to see what kind of changes can be
made to compel or influence to minimize this from happening in the future. He said that West
Chicago has been successful on a much smaller scale and he did not know if those solutions
would work on these larger contracts but it is something to pay attention to as we move into the
next working relationship with these companies.
Chair Schwarze asked the Members if there were any further questions or comments, to which
there were none.
10.
11.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS
Chair Schwarze said it was time of year again for the Ad Hoc Finance Committee to begin
discussions. He said Ms. Kraus would send out an inquiry email and that any Board Member
interested in becoming part of the Ad Hoc Finance Committee please respond. The Committee
will be seated at the next ETS Board meeting. Member Franz indicated that he would not be
