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ROTTERDAM
Upgraded town phone service adds options
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Dial any of the listed office numbers at Rotterdam’s Town Hall these days and you’ll likely get the same message.
    “Thank you for calling the town of Rotterdam Government Center,” chimes the friendly greeting. “If you know your party’s extension number, you can dial it at any time ”
    Instead of being connected to a specific office, callers are now funneled to an automatic prompt, which cheerfully lists each department’s extension or a dial-by name directory. The new service through the Clifton Park-based Grace-Com is a change from the old telephone system previously wired throughout Rotterdam’s government buildings.
    “There are just a lot more options that we didn’t have before to run the town more efficiently,” Supervisor Steve Tommasone said Wednesday.
    Among other features, Tommasone said the new system allows workers to better direct calls to their intended offices. The new service also provides voicemail for all town departments and much clearer conferencing between offices.
    Phones are also outfitted with caller identifi cation, a service that was previously unavailable in Town Hall. Tommasone said the system can also be moved and installed in a new building with ease, in the event a town office is shifted to another building.
    Rotterdam’s Highway Department was converted to the system last month and Town Hall last week. Tommasone said the Rotterdam Police Department will also be connected to the system in the coming weeks.
    Tommasone said the cost was roughly $30,000 to convert town hall and slightly more for the police department. He said the replacement was necessary because the outdated system was becoming increasingly expensive to maintain; even finding replacement phones to fit aged network was getting expensive.
    “It’s been a long time coming,” he said.

Was this phone update part of Mr. Tommasone's  platform during his campaign??  $30,000 is a lot of money.  This could spark a call for a permissive referendum.  I think Rotterdam should go back to a switch board operator.  Sending smoke signals might be cheaper yet.

Quoted from CICERO

Was this phone update part of Mr. Tommasone's  platform during his campaign??  $30,000 is a lot of money.  This could spark a call for a permissive referendum.  I think Rotterdam should go back to a switch board operator.  Sending smoke signals might be cheaper yet.

Just how are you going to get away with the smoke signals?  Don't you think Al Gore will be coming to town to see what the burning of all the trees, emitting the carbon into the air is for?  And where will you plant the replacement trees?  THere's MFRH everywhere, no place to put new trees!

We upgraded our phone system a couple of years ago.  I can't remember the exact cost, but rest assured it wasn't cheap.  I considered it the cost of doing business.  We did not have voice mail, imagine in this day and age not being able to leave a message at a place of business.  It is helpful in that when an employee is on the phone it automatically goes to voicemail rather than an annoying busy signal.  All phones went to the Town Clerks office, she was so busy answering and directing calls she didn't have time to do her work, or was constantly interrupted.  I will admit, I don't like the initial response from Town Hall to be one of a recording no matter how cheerful, that is the trade off.  It sure beats the tin can and strings

I agree with you, Rene, about having an actual human pick up the phone.  It's refreshing to say the least whenever that occurs anywhere anymore.  Alas, technology.  Like you said, it's a trade off.

Rotterdam has been fortunate to have Mrs. Esposito as Town Clerk for so many years that I'll miss her picking up...but somehow I don't think she'll let technology overtake her!  

I've got to imagine the phone system was long overdue to be updated.  I just hope that the individuals getting voicemails actually check their messages and make an effort to return calls.  It was a challenge with the old system and I expect it to be a challenge with the new system too.  Email?  Forget it because no one likes to have the "paper" trail.  Too bad Y2K didn't melt things down after all...