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ITD's 'full-court press' enables new
Canyon County DMV office to open on schedule
– Technology team scrambles to add new data connection –

All of the details for consolidating and relocating vehicle and driver's licensing services in Canyon County were complete before the April 27 opening of the new Canyon County DMV office.

Almost.

Less than a week before moving to the new location on Graye Lane north of Cleveland Boulevard, ITD’s Enterprise Technology Services network staff discovered a potential setback. The network lines to the new office’s Division of Motor Vehicles terminals were routed through a county-owned network designed primarily for telephone service.

The data lines that had been installed for providing DMV services could not have handled the capacity, explains DMV Administrator Alan Frew. The “full-court press” was on.

Information technology staff, led by Kathryn Romano of ETS and Richard Holloran of DMV Administrative Services met with network staff on Tuesday (April 21) to evaluate alternatives and identify a solution.

That set in motion a scramble to install a new T-1 data circuit at that location and to rewire the new facility at a cost of about $5,000. Data lines in the building serve 22 computer terminals (10 for driver’s license functions and 12 for vehicle services) and nine automated driver’s license testing stations, Holloran explains.

Work on the new data lines began Wednesday and by the close of business on Friday (April 24) was completely installed, tested and functional for the facility’s Monday morning opening. Quality Electric installed the additional cabling in the office and Syringa Networks responded quickly to install the new T-1 data circuit.

Existing lines would have been adequate for telephone service, Frew said. A new data line was needed to connect the computer terminals, printers and peripherals.

“The reason Canyon County was able to open its new DMV office on time was a direct result of Kathryn and Richard, our ETS staff and our contractors,” Frew said. “They were really awesome. They did a heck of a job.”

More than 183,000 vehicles are licensed in Canyon County and there are more than 102,000 licensed drivers, all of whom benefit from the new centralized office and the network services.