The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

PROJECT OVERVIEW

For more than 15 years, NIS has been the technology designer for the Tribe and has assisted in the following projects:

Conversion from Central Office Telephone Services to a Premises Based PBX
NIS performed an extensive study of the voice services provided to the Tribe and helped them formulate a model showing the positive aspects of installing a private branch exchange (PBX) to service their administrative facilities. NIS crafted the Request for Proposal (RFP) that allowed the Tribe to competitively solicit bids from multiple vendors and select the appropriate system (Northern Telecom) to provide voice services. Since the initial installation of this system, NIS has continued to assist the Tribe as they have expanded services to incorporate voice and data delivery to their family and elder housing communities.
Fiber Optic Network
NIS assisted the tribe in the design of a high capacity fiber optic network that allows the Tribe to communicate between their governance campus, cell tower, and Spirit Mountain Casino. This effort involved complex drawings detailing pole locations and underground routing of nearly two miles of fiber optic cable. Since its installation, the Tribe has also connected to their fire station, retail gas station and convenience store, and a recently purchased school. A significant cost savings was realized when the Tribe was able to use this fiber for connectivity to CenturyLink’s Central Office for delivery of high speed internet.

Electronic Health Record System
NIS provided expert guidance and project management for the Tribe in detailing their needs for an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. The Tribe opted to have NIS draft specifications and create a competitive RFP that ultimately resulted in the Tribe’s selection of NextGen as their EHR platform. NIS continues to assist in the implementation and testing of assorted modules for the NextGen system to facilitate the Tribe’s conversion from their aging government sponsored Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS).

New Construction Projects
Since 1995, NIS has worked with the Tribe and various architects and engineers to provide telecommunications specifications for new and substantial remodel efforts at the Tribe’s governance building, educational facility (to include a school, library, and community center), family housing, elder housing, and fire station.

Strategic and Business Planning
The Tribe has retained NIS to draft and publish complete business resumption and day-to-day operational and planning documents covering all aspects of information technology including staffing (with detailed position descriptions), equipment requirements for n+1 survivability, telecommunications infrastructure standards, and construction specifications.

Long Range Planning
NIS has provided conceptual/schematic design documents for the Tribe’s anticipated Regional Procurement and Maintenance Facility (includes US Post Office and GSA maintenance depot) and a regional information center to include State and Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) components in a hardened facility.