State Of Ohio Signs $15 Million Deal With Qwest To Provide Critical Services To Citizens

The State of Ohio Office of Information Technology has awarded Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) a two-year communications contract worth more than $15 million.

The contract includes Qwest Remote AccessTM, which provides secure connectivity to the state’s network for state employees on the road, and Q.Routing(R), a network-based contact center solution that directs calls to the correct individual or state office with no capital equipment outlay, as well as long-distance and toll-free services.

The contract includes Qwest Remote AccessTM, which provides secure connectivity to the state’s network for state employees on the road, and Q.Routing(R), a network-based contact center solution that directs calls to the correct individual or state office with no capital equipment outlay, as well as long-distance and toll-free services.

Critical functions - such as contingency plans for Ohio agencies during crisis situations, the Amber Alert hotline, the statewide employment service and its identity theft hotline - are covered by the contract.

“Qwest has been providing services to Ohio for 20 years and this contract enables state agencies to buy even more services from us to better complement the range of products we already provide, including domestic and international long-distance and call routing services,” said Tom Richards, executive vice president, Qwest business markets group. “As Ohio’s needs have grown and developed, the consultants in Qwest’s government and education solutions group have been there to design specific solutions, using our secure, reliable network and technologies, to help serve its citizens.”

Qwest government and education solutions is a dedicated sales and customer support channel for the public sector. Qwest is a leader in providing voice, video, data and IP solutions to more than 10,000 states, cities, counties, municipal governments, public school systems, public institutions of higher learning and Native American tribal governments.