Item - 2014.AU16.16

City Council on July 8, 9, 10 and 11, 2014, adopted the following:

1.         City Council request the Chief Information Officer to develop a process for reviewing contract compliance during the time the contract is awarded as well as during the contract period.

2.         City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to review existing payment processes for traffic light circuits and evaluate the need to obtain a formal contract for traffic light circuits to include payment requirements, terms, conditions and service levels.

3.         City Council request the City Manager to direct divisions to implement a process for ongoing review and monitoring of telecommunication costs including costs incurred by management employees responsible for approving billing invoices.  Costs incurred as a result of personal use should be reimbursed to the City.

4.         City Council request the City Manager to direct divisions to review controls over access and use of group wireless devices.  The inventory of group wireless devices should be reviewed and those not required should be cancelled.

5.         City Council request the City Manager in consultation with the Chief Information Officer to consider placing limitations and restrictions on long distance calls outside North America.  In particular, long distance calling capability should be disabled on group devices.

6.         City Council request the Chief Information Officer to implement a process for timely reporting of telecommunication expenses and related details to divisions.  Wireless service providers should be directed to provide additional billing details to assist in divisional review and analysis of voice and data use charges.

7.         City Council request the City Manager to direct divisions to ensure wireless device users purchase appropriate wireless voice and data travel packages before travelling outside Canada.

8.         City Council request the City Manager to direct divisional management to ensure users understand wireless service plan usage limits.  Appropriate changes to plans should be requested on a timely basis to avoid unnecessary costs.

9.         City Council request the Chief Information Officer to review options for conference calling and evaluate whether cost savings could be achieved.

10.       City Council request the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer to develop a process to periodically reconcile invoices paid from SAP with the invoices approved in the NetPlus telecommunication system.

11.       City Council request the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer to review the existing process of manually updating invoice payment information from SAP to the NetPlus telecommunication system and evaluate whether the process can be automated.

12.       City Council request the Chief Information Officer to implement a process ensuring vendor invoices agree with amounts provided in vendor contracts before payments are approved.

13.       City Council request the Chief Information Officer to perform a detailed review of 2013 and any prior period invoices for telecommunication service providers.  Respective wireless vendors should be contacted regarding refund of any overpayments identified.

14.       City Council request the Chief Information Officer to implement measures to ensure extra work order invoices are validated with price quotes where appropriate and accompanied by work completion reports before payment.

15.       City Council request the City Manager to direct divisions to review their respective inventory of telecommunication devices to ensure that it reflects the current status of such devices.  Inventories should be adjusted where appropriate and reviews should be performed on a periodic basis.

16.       City Council request the City Manager to develop exception reporting criteria to assist in evaluating unnecessary telecommunication costs.  Criteria identified should include devices and services with no activity, suspended phones beyond a specified period and phones no longer in use.  Devices and services no longer required should be cancelled.

17.       City Council request the Chief Information Officer to develop a process requiring formal written documentation for granting access to the NetPlus telecommunication system.  Periodic review of NetPlus system user access should be conducted to ensure continued access aligns with job duties.

18.       City Council request the Chief Executive Officers of City Agencies and Corporations to review the issues and recommendations included in this report and consider the relevance to their respective organizations.  Particular emphasis should be placed on evaluating the cost benefit of converting landlines to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP).

19.       City Council adopt the confidential recommendations in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (June 10, 2014) from the Auditor General.

20.       City Council not authorize the public release of the information contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (June 10, 2014) from the Auditor General as it relates to litigation or potential litigation that affects the City or its agencies and corporations.

Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (June 10, 2014) from the Auditor General remains confidential in its entirety in accordance with the provisions of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, as it relates to litigation or potential litigation that affects the City or its agencies and corporations.