Mike Butler 

Mike Butler
Network Services Director

Network Services

Palm Beach County's Network Services is responsible for maintaining a cost effective, high speed, stable network and communications environment interconnecting Palm Beach County agencies, constitutional offices, and other local and state government agencies.  Network Services has expanded the fiber optic network over the past 20 years; and in 2008 Palm Beach County began providing direct fiber-attached broadband connections as a service to eligible organizations (i.e., governmental, education, healthcare, and non-profit.  The County network now includes more than 650 miles of private fiber optic cabling, WiMax network, and leased connections from major telecommunication providers, and connects more than 400 County facilities.  The Network Services Division also incorporates: 

  • Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN):  designs, implements, migrates, supports, troubleshoots and maintains Enterprise and Client/Server networks on multiple platforms. 
  • Secure Intranet Services:  maintains private web and application service networks. 
  • Virtual Private Networks (VPN):  facilitates the use of high speed internet access and provides remote locations with secure access to the Palm Beach County network. 
  • Voice over IP (VoIP):  maintains converged voice and data networks with Unified Communications, to deliver modern communications functions and control costs. 
  • Video Conferencing:  Network Services has deployed enterprise class video conferencing solutions to facilitate remote collaboration both within Palm Beach County as well as to external agencies, governments and private corporations. 
  • E-Government Initiatives:  leveraging the existing network infrastructure Network Services enables Palm Beach County to deploy e-Government initiatives such as e-Communication, e-Collaboration and e-Learning with the use of video conferencing, live video streaming and on-demand video applications. 

PBCnet Services:  Provides advanced broadband for local connectivity and internet services.  Palm Beach County has multiple partners and providers, including Florida LambdaRail, which enable cost effective solutions to eligible organizations.​

Voice and Cellular Services

The primary role of Voice Services is to facilitate voice communications for employees to perform their jobs and provide county services.  Telecommunications infrastructure includes the following components:

  • Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology with enhanced technical functionality and features; 
  • Automated attendant and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services; and 
  • Mobility features for smart phones and tablets with single number reach. 

Voice Services operates over the County-owned and operated fiber optic and WiMax network.  A separate internet connection via AT&T is brought directly into our Emergency Operation Center for an additional level of redundancy.

 

Unified Communications - OpenScape

  • Easy to use GUI and voice interface
  • Rich, intuitive user experience
  • Operates on multiple devices, on the PBC network or the Internet

UC.PNG 

  • Desktop Client
  • Mobile Clients
  • Web Client
  • Web Collaboration Client
  • Microsoft Outlook Plug-ins
  • OpenScape Phone
  • Video Clients

    

Wireless Services


Palm Beach County provides free indoor and outdoor public internet access throughout the County with over 1,000 access points deployed in 225+ buildings and 20+ parks and outdoor recreational sites.

Free Public WiFi Locations

 

Free Palm Beach County WiFi Map 
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Network Design

PBC Fiber Optic Network

Palm Beach County Network by the Numbers:

  • Largest local government network in Florida
  • 650+ miles of private fiber optics
  • 450 connected facilities
  • 14,000 connected devices
  • 10,000 phones
  • 4,000,000 public WiFi sessions per month
  • 1,000 wireless access points
  • 2,500 routers and switches maintained
  • 14 x 7 x 365 support
  • 500 NG911 circuits monitored/maintained
  • 40 external agencies with network sharing ageements

 

Jabber Client