The Barry County Board  of Commissioners committee of the whole recommended approval of a request by the county IT Director David Shinavier to replace the panic button system for county employees, including the courts. The current copper-based system is more than 10 years old and lacks the advantages of current technology, Shinavier said.

The SecureTech System, Inc., will install 128 panic buttons in various locations for $28,750 to be paid from the Data Processing or Diverted Felon funds.

The original request was pared down from 200 buttons for $37,759 to the lower numbers.

The staff will have to be trained in the use of the new alarm systems, probably by the sheriff’s office, Shinavier said. In answer to commissioner’s questions on the number of times employees used the buttons, he said it was very few. “The problem is that they use it too little, not too much,” he said.

The commission will act on the recommendation at its next board meeting, Monday, March 27. The meeting has been moved up one day to allow commissioners to attend a Municipal Employees Retirement System conference.

Also, Tuesday, commissioners approved Shinavier’s request to seek proposals from vendors to replace the 12 to 15 copiers used by the county. The object is to have all copiers the same age, with one vendor with one contract, which will bring lower price and maintenance costs, Shinavier said. Now, the county copiers are of three different age levels with three different vendors and three different contracts.

He will ask for trade-ins for copiers from 2014, and keep some of the older models for places that use copiers infrequently, like in the basement where archives are kept. Shinavier expects at least four vendors to submit proposals. He stressed the requests are exploratory. “The numbers have to be right. If it looks good, we’ll do it. If not, we’ll put it off for another year.” The county produces about 92,000 copies a month.