Livingston juggles Y2K woe

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http://www.modbee.com/metro/story/0,1113,126679,00.html Livingston juggles Y2K woe By PATTY GUERRA BEE STAFF WRITER (Published: Saturday, January 08, 2000)

LIVINGSTON -- In the end, the city's possible Y2K glitch came down to a problem with a piece of 19th century technology: the telephone.

MCS Spectrum, the company that supplied the city with its accounting software and subsequent Y2K update, has stopped returning telephone calls, said Christina Smith, the city's finance director and assistant city manager.

"They are not returning our phone calls for tech help," Smith said. "So we haven't paid the (MCS) bill, and we're not going to pay it."

The city's accounting software was not Y2K-compliant, meaning it would not recognize 2000. Repeated attempts by MCS Spectrum to update it did not work.

City Manager Mark Melville said the system is still functioning, but not well.

"It's not to the point we're writing checks by hand, but there are still some problems," he said. "It's the ongoing lack of response that's making us go out and look for a new vendor."

New accounting software for the city could cost as much as $100,000. Last month, the City Council approved Smith's request to look for a new provider.

Officials at MCS Spectrum, which is based in Niagara Falls, N.Y., did not return calls seeking comment. The company's Web site has not been updated since the new year and still acknowledges that some of its software is not Y2K-compliant. The company says, however, it will be updated.

Melville said that in the next two weeks, other vendors will be invited to make presentations. After that, Smith will visit cities that use different programs.

Once a decision is made on a vendor, a proposal will be brought back before the City Council for approval, likely in the next few months.

-- LSRY2K (admin@lsry2k.net), January 08, 2000


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