Goffstown selects FirstLight to connect critical municipal services including Emergency Operations, Police and Fire as well as providing communications support for the NH Democratic Presidential Primaries
Albany, NY – June 30, 2020 – FirstLight, a leading provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud, and unified communications services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, announced today that the Town of Goffstown has selected FirstLight for its fiber optic Internet and hosted phone provider.
Goffstown, located about eight miles west of Manchester, New Hampshire, is known by some as home to Saint Anselm College. Goffstown municipal offices needed a resilient, high-speed network and fully featured unified communications systems to serve its municipal buildings. Having a low-latency network was essential to improve communication, particularly between critical services including the fire and police departments.
“We had several challenges to overcome in order to have a modern, integrated network and phone system among our municipal departments,” explained Brian Rae, Systems Administrator for the Town of Goffstown. “Last year, our police department had an independent in-house phone system, and we had a few legacy systems that other vendors didn’t want to touch, including pagers and an antiquated alarm bell in Dispatch Operations.”
Goffstown wanted to seamlessly connect its town offices to its three fire stations, public works, parks and recreation, police department, library, and TV studio using a single phone system connected via a low-latency, fiber optic network. They also wanted to connect their two data centers with fiber, which Rae said “made a world of difference” in the speed of data access.
“It was tricky business to cut over all those disparate phone lines on multiple systems and vendors and implement a modern communication system,” said Rae. With collaboration from his team and FirstLight, the process went smoothly, and the town continues to realize the benefits.
“Goffstown had approximately 150 phones that needed to be connected, and every user had different needs and preferences,” said Mary Buehrer, FirstLight’s Manager for Voice Implementation, who was on site to oversee the implementation. “We helped guide municipal staff to discover and select what options they really wanted.”
Goffstown’s relationship with FirstLight also facilitated helping Saint Anselm College provide dispatch and incident command support for the 2020 New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Primary Debate. FirstLight was able to move phone lines to a command center trailer on campus for added communications support the night of the Presidential Debate.
“The improved reliability, reduced latency, and synchronous download and upload speeds have greatly improved the experience for our users and the reliability of services that our citizens deserve,” added Rae. “Throughout this project, FirstLight was attentive and resolute in ensuring that everything was how we expected it to be.”
“Efficient communications and network speed are essential to the success of a municipality,” said Kurt Van Wagenen, President and CEO of FirstLight. “When it comes to emergency response, having a modern communications system and a redundant, dependable network will undoubtedly enhance the town’s ability to deliver critical services to its constituents.”
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About Goffstown, New Hampshire
The Town of Goffstown was incorporated June 17, 1761, and is named for Colonel John Goffe, an early settler, soldier and civic leader. Only 13 miles from the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, and an hour North of Boston, Goffstown is a business-friendly community with a school district ranked 4th in New Hampshire. It is also home to Saint Anselm College, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, and the New Hampshire Primary Presidential Debates.
