Phone service is no longer just about telephones and a phone line.

That’s a message city council heard Monday evening from two industry officials.

Members then voted 6-1 to have administration look at renewing a phone contract again before bringing it back to council for a decision.

Coun. Roslyn Woodcock was the lone vote against referring it back to administration.

Orange Technology co-owner Martin Lehner was the first to address council on behalf of Telin Systems Ltd., which works with Orange.

Telin provides Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP ) with its services now through six buildings to 294 stations in Whitehorse.

Telin also provides service in Calgary, Ontario and in parts of the United States. It’s regulated by the CRTC.

“There are actual other service providers in Whitehorse,” Lehner said.

Looking at the city’s proposed renewal of the contract with Northwestel Inc. at $756,000 for fixed phone line service for three years, Lehner said, reducing the contract cost by 30 per cent could be possible, though further analysis would be needed.

He proposed the city look to extend its contract with Northwestel by one year instead of three.

Doing so would give the city time to look at what’s needed, what other options may be available, and move forward with a request for proposals on a contract, Lehner said.

“Three years is a long time,” he told reporters outside council chambers.

More consumers are moving away from the type of phone system the city has now in favour of alternative options like VOIP, Lehner added.

Meanwhile, Rick Steele, TechYukon’s executive director, also encouraged council to move to a shorter-term contract renewal with Northwestel while it considers alternatives.

TechYukon is made up of a number of local IT companies with a goal of enhancing the IT sector in the territory.

As Steele told council, there’s concern the city may be “buying options that may be obsolete” in the not-too-distance future. The city may be able to save money through other options, he added.

There’s a number of options and service providers in town, he said, pointing out that Northwestel is also among those that can provide VOIP service.

Steele and Lehner acknowledged there will be a need for some city services to keep a traditional phone line – emergency services, for example.

As Coun. Rob Fendrick also pointed out later in the meeting, there’s also a need for a traditional phone line for city systems – water, sewer – that have alarms in place when there’s a problem and city staff need to respond immediately.

“It’s not just making calls with your bestie,” said Fendrick, who attended the meeting by conference call.

He argued that VOIP is great for an office environment, but in the city’s case, it’s essentially running 12 different businesses, and phone service is important.

While Fendrick said he would vote to have administration take a look at it, he also said he agrees with the points made by Woodcock.

“I’m a little worried that we’re going to rush into something,” she said.

Woodcock pointed out that in the last 10 years, she’s had one phone for her landline that hasn’t required any changes nor updates.

In that same time, she said, she’s gone through about four cell phones as each as technology and upgrades have been made.

It’s clear that eventually there will be changes to communications, but three years would be “nothing” to assess potential changes for the city, Woodcock said of the length of the contract renewal.

She stressed that “other costs” – potential increases to Internet or phone/computer replacement costs – need to be considered when looking at options.

Coun. Betty Irwin commented that since the proposed contract renewal came forward last week, she’s “certainly learned more about phone service than ever before.”

That includes the fact that Northwestel is not the only game in town, and that the city’s current phone system is becoming obsolete.

Irwin said she’d like the matter to go back to administration to have other options explored.

Coun. Samson Hartland said the issue has raised a number of questions he’d like answered.

“I would appreciate that analysis,” he said.

Shortly beforehand, Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu had said she’d like to see consideration given to moving some phone lines to a VOIP system while maintaining redundant landlines.

Mayor Dan Curtis asked acting city manager Linda Rapp about the cost of moving to a one-year renewal contract rather than the three-year deal.

Rapp said a one-year contract is approximately $100,000 more than the cost per year of the three-year deal.

“The three-year contract is the standard term,” Rapp said.

It will be about a month before administration brings the issue back to council.

Along with Fendrick, Coun. Dan Boyd attended last night’s meeting by conference call.