PL PACKET 12171996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes November 26, 1996 Page 11 I Mayor Ranallo questioned that Mr. Anderson could provide the specifications requested 2 by the City of St. Anthony in the older version of software but not in the new software. 3 Mr. Anderson stated that his company does a lot of modem communication with Version 4 4. It has a built in communication hub. He could provide this communication if it is 5 what the City is requesting. 6 Mr. Larson stated at the beginning of his research he worked with Mr. Anderson a lot 7 He then detennined that the communication services he was requesting were not available 8 and he also determined that the system was not user friendly. At that point, he requested 9 bids for other systems. Mr., Larson stated he had asked cities why they had chosen the 10 system they had. Four of the.five cities who had selected TRS stated they had done so due to the low bid process. 12 Mr. Larson explained the hardware proposed by RDS included Acer Pentium 75 13 megahertz computers with Intel processors. TRS is proposing three 486-80 megahertz 14 systems. Mr. Larson stated he felt Pentium are the computers of the future. The 486 15 systems would eventually require upgrades. 16 Mr. Larson stated RDS was more experienced in this type of installation with 20,000 17 applications and$2.5 millions annual sales. It is a larger company with more support. 18 Mr. Larson explained that RDS is providing a synchronics software. TRS can provide 19 the same feature but it would require the purchase of software options. 20 Mr. Larson stated the biggest factors affecting his recommendation are the 21 communications ability and the user friendliness. He noted the staff at the liquor stores 22 are not versed in computers. The user friendliness is important relative to the stress of the 23 employees at the stores. Mr. Larson stated he felt the system provided by RDS was much 24 more user friendly. 25 Michael Allen, Retail Data Systems, stated RDS is utilizing the Windows NT Platform 26 from Microsoft. They have in the past utilized LANtastic and Novell but have 27 determined that they do not have the capacity to maintain a large volume. Windows NT 28 Platform does have this capacity. He stated he felt it is important for the City to start out 29 with the best hardware and software available. 30 Mayor Ranallo suggested Council wait one week and obtain more information from RDS 31 and TRS and a letter from City Attorney stating they can go without the lowest bidder. 32 Marks asked if RDS was utilizing the NT Advanced Server. Mr. Allen stated they were 33 currently using NT Version 4.0.