Temple ISD Cloud Calling & Unified Communications

Temple Independent School District is soliciting information on fully cloud-hosted Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions through RFI 003-27, with responses due September 8, 2026. This is a planning-phase RFI that does not obligate the District to issue a subsequent solicitation, award a contract, or reimburse vendor response costs.

The District operates approximately 18 facilities serving 8,800 students and 1,500 employees with approximately 1,000 voice endpoints currently supported by on-premises Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unity, and Cisco Emergency Responder systems. The endpoint count comprises approximately 1,000 standard phones (600 classroom, 300–400 administrative), 18 receptionist phones with 18 sidecars, and 3 analog telephone adapter ports for fax and elevator connections. The District intends to transition to a fully cloud-hosted UCaaS platform and seeks vendor guidance on platform selection, carrier strategy, contract terms, and AI/analytics capabilities.

The existing network infrastructure includes Cisco switching with Power over Ethernet, UPN WAN and Internet connectivity, Grande/Astound SIP services, and UPS protection within all intermediate distribution frames. The District currently maintains 10 gigabit redundant internet connectivity at two sites with Meraki MX 250 switching and possesses 3,700 total DIDs (1,500 currently active) and 15 fax numbers to be ported to eFax service. Vendors may propose either new hardware or reuse of existing Cisco 7800 series phones based on cost-effectiveness. The District has no preference between endpoint manufacturers and is open to any UCaaS platform.

Implementation is targeted for completion by March 2028, with an initial deployment and cutover window of 12 to 18 months. Professional services must be quoted as turnkey fixed price separate from licensing and subscription fees. Vendors should quote five-year subscription, licensing-only, and licensing-with-new-IP-phones options priced on individual line-item basis for 1,000 users and basic-tier endpoint hardware. The current Cisco service provider contract extends to May 2027. The District does not require call recording, call queue live reporting, headsets, paging integration, or specialized features for common areas and emergency locations.