Welcome to Pike County, Pennsylvania, a not-so-small county on the northern border of the state. Located in the scenic Pocono region, the county is growing tremendously—and the county’s government, needing a new and innovative network infrastructure, came to PenTeleData to assist them with their technological goals.
They wanted to take advantage of all that current technology has to offer in order to increase efficiency within their government, cut costs for local taxpayers, as well as to prepare the county for the future.
President Judge Kameen approached the County Commissioners about wanting to update the court systems and all the related groups within the judicial community. He wanted to integrate the activities of these agencies, so they could work together more effectively and also eliminate duplication of efforts wherever possible. The commissioners then approached PenTeleData with these ideas in mind.
The Pike County Commissioners met with three representatives of PenTeleData to discuss the possibilities available to them. After the meeting, they felt confident that PenTeleData would be able to work with them to achieve their goals and meet the county’s developing technology needs.
PenTeleData then set out to build the new infrastructure necessary to bring Pike County online—including an investment in building up not only the commercial infrastructure in the county, but residential as well. It was also determined that Multiplex EtherPoint, a service available only from PenTeleData, would be the best solution for the county government’s needs.
Multiplex EtherPoint is a unique solution that allows multiple locations to be connected together and to the Internet through only one physical connection. This drastically cuts the down on the multiple line costs normally associated with T1-type solutions.
“[PenTeleData’s] relationship with Pike County has been wonderful and extremely professional. As expected, we experienced some implementation hurdles; however, they were reconciled with a great deal of patience and cooperation from PenTeleData."
Prior to the implementation of Multiplex EtherPoint, the Pike County government simply had dial-up Internet services at each location with no interaction between them. Now, they are able to share vital information between locations including streaming video and other media.
“The court will soon have the capability of video conferencing and video arraignment with the outlying district courts, the correctional facility, the sheriff’s office, and other municipal law enforcement agencies. This reduces the personnel hours required to process offenders and transport inmates. All information will be shared immediately and necessary data will be provided by each entity, thereby eliminating duplication and paperwork."
In particular, Multiplex EtherPoint is especially working well for Pike County because it allows for “instant communication of data amongst our judicial and law enforcement community.”
Anywhere from 250-300 employees are currently utilizing the technological services provided by PenTeleData. One of the county’s new goals is to assist all employees in becoming proficient with these new technologies. “More efficiency, saving man hours, ending duplication of work efforts, increased professionalism = less cost to operate government,” – summarizing their vision for the county in the next ten years.
Pike County has also been pleased with the reliability of services from PenTeleData as well as the support and staff. They have had little to no issues regarding service and have described PenTeleData’s staff as being very professional and helpful.
Speaking in particular about the PenTeleData employees involved with the Pike County project, Pike County says:
“They possess a great sense of humor to help smooth over difficult situations without compromising professionalism. They are beyond a doubt PenTeleData’s greatest asset. Kudos to each individual for their efforts to bring this project to fruition for the betterment of Pike County and its residents. Thank you.”