COUNTY COMPUTER SYSTEM TO EASE WORK

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County's new computer system will cost the county nearly a half-million dollars, but data processing manager Ron Andrews said the system is state-of-the-art and worth its hefty price tag.

"We've been using our current system for 10 years and simply outgrew it," he said. "We've added more and more users."

At the end of the month, work will begin on installing a mainframe that will allow all the county offices to work on the same system. Each office currently has its own system with less memory storage.

Also, when problems arise, Andrews must look at several systems instead of just one.

First, the county will install a new administrative computer system to take in everything but the courts and sheriff's department.

Second, the document imaging system installed last December in the recorder's office will be made available to all the county offices. With the system, official documents may be scanned and saved in a computer, then easily accessed and printed out at a later date.

It keeps county workers from spending time searching through voluminous files of paperwork and allows for more storage.

Also as part of the project, fiber-optic cable will be laid between the courthouse, administrative building and jail in Jackson and between the courthouse and annex building in Cape Girardeau. The cable will allow for a telephone link between all five buildings.

The Software Exchange Inc. of St. Louis won the bid on the administrative system with a cost of $333,000. The mainframe is a Hewlett-Packard 9000K.

Business Products Center Inc. won the bid on the imaging system with a cost of $143,000.