Staff Report 2002-04

I am pleased to advise the Board that we are now ready to undertake
a program that will represent a  major upgrade of  core dial-up services
to our members, providing higher-speed modems and reliable 
connectivity.  The costs will be more than covered by the refund to us 
of  the purchase price of the 3Com equipment.

After careful analysis of  various alternatives, I recommend a phased 
implementation of an upgrade of  our modem facilities as described here:  

Phase One will consist of investing up to $8,000 on refurbished USR 
Total Control terminal servers with 33.6 kbps modems compatible with 
our analog phone lines.  This price includes any taxes which may be 
incurred.

Phase Two will involve replacing 46 analog lines with digital lines to 
provide 56 kbps access on the same terminal servers to be purchased in
Phase One.  The cost of Phase Two will be $2,700 for installation of the 
digital facilities and an extra $350 per month to cover the price 
differential for the digital lines. 

Phase Three will be a careful, detailed analysis of the results of the first 
two phases as the basis for further improvements.

Work will begin immediately upon receipt of  the 3Com refund.  The
completion of Phase One, conversion of all modems to 33.6 kbps, is 
anticipated to be 6 weeks from the receipt of the refund.  It will be 
dependant on shipping time for the equipment and the availability of 
resources for installation and configuration.

I recommend this plan because a) it is the best option available to us to 
earn increased donations by improving  service to existing members 
and attracting new members, and b) because the opportunity we have 
to take this step now will not likely be present six months or a year hence.  
Also a phased plan allows us to fully evaluate the effectiveness of each 
step of the plan before committing financial and staff resources to the 
next stage.

There will be a minimal operational impact given System Administrator 
Andre Dalle's experience with the same model terminal server we 
recently put into place. We will need to adapt the modem sharing 
software that Jim Elder wrote to the new boxes. 

We would publicize the upgrade internally via the NCF portal page, 
newsgroups, MOM messages, and in the online newsmagazine The 
Communicator.  Externally we would seek to have the story covered 
by local news media.  Finally, we would be able to highlight our new 
modem capacity in the marketing programs that will be carried out in 
connection with the  HRDC Thin Client and Smart Capital projects.
 
I have performed a careful risk analysis as part of this process.  Among 
the things  considered were the ability to fund the purchase, the future 
availability of broadband services in the region, and availability of the 
required equipment for Phase 3 and beyond.  

It is my judgment that the risk is minimal and therefore acceptable,  and 
that this dramatic improvement of our basic service will be an essential 
tool we need to increase our donation revenue by retaining current 
members and attracting new ones.