City Hall has a Avaya central telephone switch (PBX) which serves buildings on the City Hall Campus. Several other outlying offices have their own switches.

Our 311 Customer Call Center, Social Services Division and Sargent Building Offices use an Avaya PBX. Centrex services have been utilized for those offices not served by the main or smaller PBX systems.

The City of Hampton's data network is spread over approximately 50 individual locations including police stations, firehouses, and municipal buildings.

The Information Technology Department is continuously evaluating new telecommunications mediums and providers to improve bandwidth and lower costs. The City has undertaken projects that have replaced slower bandwidth mediums that typically generate a monthly recurring cost with wireless technology or DSL technology (using city-owned wiring between buildings).

Locations that can't take advantage of a DSL or Wireless solution are using ISDN, T1, or POTS (Plan Old Telephone Service) to connect back to the City's main network.

The City's wireless network holds great promise. Currently almost a dozen locations are connected through broadband wireless connections that offers robust bandwidth to end-users.

The central data network in City Hall has recently been replaced with Ethernet switches and fiber interconnections. The physical wiring of the network infrastructure has been configured to enable simultaneous voice and video over the data network (known as "Voice over IP").

The City also participates in several regional networks including a connection to CRIMES (a secure network used by Police and Criminal Justice Agencies), RIPTIDE (a shared network providing internet access at reduced rates), and a wireless connection to the City of Newport News.

These networks are designed to improve data sharing between the cities located in the metropolitan area, public safety units and the Commonwealth of Virginia.