To: Board of Supervisors
From: Lewis Broschard, Chief, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District
Report Title: Contract with Grasshopper Group, LLC
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Acting as the governing board for the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Fire Chief, or designee to execute a contract with a limitation of liability with Grasshopper Group, LLC with an initial annual amount of $1,500 to provide a virtual phone messaging service to connect on-call operations with the media for an initial term of June 25, 2024 through June 30, 2025 with automatic annual renewals.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Budgeted. 100% CCCFPD General Operating Fund.
BACKGROUND:
Grasshopper is a professional virtual phone system application used by the Fire District’s on-call public information officers to connect with the media in the event of a critical emergency. The application works with existing phone services to receive phone calls, voicemails, and text messages to multiple cellular phones simultaneously. The software also facilitates seamless information handoff between users. During periods of limited or no cellular service, the application enables VoIP and Wi-Fi calls.
The Fire District’s ability to communicate with the media is vital to providing timely incident related information to keep the public informed.
This agreement includes a provision for a limitation of liability for Grasshopper with an initial contract cost of $1,500 that will renew automatically with annual escalators as outlined in the software service agreement.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this Agreement is not approved, the District will not have the necessary tools to assist our public information officers in providing timely incident related information to the media.