A.G. Gancarski
Monday saw Greg Anderson and Lori Boyer, president and vice president of the Jacksonville City Council respectively, again have convened to discuss communications tracking software options.
Central to the Monday meeting was a product demonstration from Smarsh, a private vendor that archives communications already for Tallahassee and Panama City.
Smarsh, over the phone, demonstrated how their software works. It captures all communications via linked accounts, and then allows for rule-based sorting according to parameters ranging from keyword to other parties in the communication.
One wrinkle in the plan is you get what you pay for. Smarsh has the ability to track communications via dozens of linkable accounts, and the city would pay $4.50 per account per user.
Smarsh retains all communications on its own servers for the life of the contract, and when the service is terminated, backups of all data would be given to the city.
Another wrinkle in communications tracking more generally was expressed by Councilwoman Boyer.
“We have no device control,” Boyer said, noting that some people use up to six devices. The possibility of a city-issued cell phone for Council members was floated.
Councilman Danny Becton identified a problem though.
“Us guys don’t carry pocketbooks,” Becton said. “We just can’t carry two or three devices for two or three things.”
A second cell phone would be left at home, he predicted.
Meanwhile, “if a customer text got on a city website, I would have a heart attack,” Becton said.
Boyer and Anderson have sought to figure out a solution that captures all potential issues. So far, the solution has been elusive.
