Case Study: Marion County, Iowa achieves 68% telecommunications cost savings with Avaya IP Office

Marion County’s Telecom Modernization Slashes Costs by 68%

Marion County, Iowa — a 33,000‑resident public sector organization with about 200 employees — faced an aging, fragmented telephony environment where different departments used incompatible phone systems, making transfers and unified communication difficult. The IT team needed a modern, easy‑to‑manage solution that would improve citizen routing, add features like voicemail‑to‑email and short‑digit dialing, increase safety, and substantially reduce ongoing costs.

Marion County implemented the Avaya IP Office platform in phases, keeping downtime minimal while adding voicemail, call recording, improved auto attendants, mobility/twinning, and panic‑button functionality. The new VoIP/SIP system simplified management, sped up transfers and call routing, and cut monthly telecom expenses from about $2,500 to under $800 (a 68% reduction), paying for itself in roughly one year while lowering maintenance and improving safety and constituent service.

Marion County, Iowa

Andrew DeHaan

IT Director