(Emergency after hours and weekend services are provided only to the 911 center)
The Crawford County ITS Office provides support primarily for the county offices and departments. Currently public support is limited to production of lists. The staff of 6 professionals handles 19 Servers, 300+ workstations, and network equipment required to support the county departments and the Wide Area Network (WAN). Remote offices can connect to the main network using Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) offered by local vendors. The ITS Office also maintains the Crawford County Network (CCN) Internet website (www.co.crawford.pa.us), the county intranet, and various other connections to state systems. The County network provides the local hub for the Pennsylvania Justice Network (JNET) for the municipalities to receive access to information pertinent to operating the police services.
Disaster Recovery:
Your county data is protected by offsite storage from each of the nodes of the WAN on at least a weekly basis. This means that if a catastrophe occurred at a facility, the electronic data could be recovered up to the last 7 days. We are constantly looking at new methods to improve disaster recovery that are both technically and fiscally feasible!
MAJOR PROJECTS AND COMPLETION:
2001:
Full implementation of Anti-virus software to all Courthouse users. Contract for Fiber Lease and installation signed with Armstrong Cable. Full county audit of software and equipment.
2002:
Wide Area Network (WAN) completed. Most county departments share email, financial software, and Internet high speed services. Off-site storage plan developed and implemented. Full network monitoring implemented.
2003:
County Web Portal and Intranet
Allows select county managers, supervisors and employees access to specific county data and email from any location with Internet access.
The portal interface allows Human Service vendors to fill out invoices online saving county personnel from re-keying the data.
As the county continues to upgrade services, the Portal may be used in the future as a conduit for county residents and other interested parties to view public data and records. The cost of this system will be borne by the users of the system rather than the county residents!
ITS Helpdesk Created
Support now provided on a work-order direct charge basis to the departments. This allows tracking of ITS time and resources with reimbursement by state and federal funded departments to the county.
Remote Support Process
IT personnel receive software that allows them to remotely assist department users without the need of traveling to the computer location.
2004:
Deployment of new Video Conference system for the Courts
The new Video-conferencing ystem replaces outdated technology that worked intermittently. The system uses existing county infrastructure and eliminates the need for separate ISDN lines at the Jail and Courthouse. New system is more mobile and can be used anywhere in the Courthouse or Jail that has a fast Ethernet network connection compared to the previous system had only three locations for operation.
Server Replacements for Financial Software, File System, and Web Server Initiated
2005:
Server Replacements Completed
Installation of New Suite of Tax Software. Support to Deploy Vision Assessment Software. Deployment of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for the County Server Room.
The new Tax Suite and Assessment software replaces a venerable old system that is no longer supported by the manufacturer and software companies. The UPS system was procured to protect the County's investment in Server infrastructure from electrical delivery problems and support 911 operations.
Public Sales
The ITS Office is responsible for approved sales of technology equipment as systems and peripherals are replaced or taken out of service. If a sale is being held it is published in accordance with the county code and also on this website.
Summary
The ITS Office is focused on keeping county and department operations running and providing solutions that enhance productivity for the county and departments.
The Staff of the Office of Information Technology and Services are:
