SOURCES SOUGHT
70 -- Automated Appointment Reminder System Equipment and Services
- Notice Date
- 6/21/2007
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 517910
— Other Telecommunications
- Contracting Office
- Social Security Administration, Office of Budget, Finance, and Management, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1st Floor, Rear Entrance 7111 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD, 21244, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-SSA-RFI-LH001
- Response Due
- 7/9/2007
- Archive Date
- 7/24/2007
- Description
- SSA is seeking contractors who can utilize the existing Government owned Automated Appointment Reminder System (AARS) equipment to make telephone calls to the public to remind them of upcoming appointments. For the past three years the equipment has been installed at the current contractor?s site in Richardson, TX. New offerors proposing to use the existing solution will have to move the existing equipment to their own site. SSA will bear no responsibility for the condition of the present equipment (hardware and software) after it is shipped to the new location. Service days are Monday through Friday. There must be no interruption in service. Shipment must be done during weekend hours with a return to service Monday morning. The present contract will be expiring on February 29, 2008 and SSA intends on continuing the service for one base year and four (4) one-year options. SSA will also consider offers for new solutions. Any solution proposed must ensure that there is no interruption of the existing AARS service. Whether offerors intend to use the existing equipment or propose a new solution, they will be totally responsible for the service, maintenance and support for the duration of the contract The AARS will make at least 550,000 appointment reminder telephone calls per month for 2 SSA components. These two components are the Office of Automation Support (OAS) and the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). OAS is located in Baltimore, MD and ODAR is located in Falls Church, VA. This Automated Appointment Reminder System shall be capable of making calls within the United States and Puerto Rico, via Government provided Primary Rate Interface (PRI) service. OAS will only require that messages be delivered and Management Information (MI) be provided to SSA. ODAR will require an interactive system that will allow the called parties to confirm they received the message and leave messages if they desire. The system should retry calls after encountering a busy signal or ring no answer, and leave a message if encountering voice mail or an answering machine. The vendor will download all appointment information and office address information from one of the two SSA computers. The following describes the downloading requirements for OAS and ODAR. OAS The contractor shall provide the capability to interface with SSA?s national FTMS for electronic transmission of designated files from SSA to the contractor?s facility(ies). The contractor must provide, at its expense, the equipment and operating software platform, and the file transfer software required at its location(s). The contractor assumes all responsibility for configuration, maintenance, and troubleshooting of its equipment and software. SSA utilizes, and the contractor must provide compatibility with, Connect:Direct software with SECURE PLUS using IP protocol product from Sterling Commerce, Inc. The Contractor may implement this Connect:Direct with SECURE PLUS using IP, or personal computers/servers capable of running Connect:Direct with SECURE PLUS using IP protocol on NT or UNIX (i.e., IBM?s AIX, SUN or HP) platforms. The contractor site is responsible for its Internet connectivity and Internet Service Provider. SSA will not permit any private class A, B or C IP addresses, i.e., 10.xxx.xxx.xxx type IP addresses from external users on it on its network. Prior to file transmission, the Contractor will be provided a suitable IP address for access to SSA?s network via a firewall. SSA will provide the necessary subnet(s) for connection at the remote site. The contractor shall be responsible for its own name/address translation to fulfill the intended purpose of data transfers. SSA will provide Connect:Direct node information to the Contractor as required to accomplish file transfers. ODAR The Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR) has a separate process for providing their data to the contractor, building on the information described above. The primary difference in the process is the manner in which the data is provided to the contractor. Through a process developed in ODAR, a file in .txt format is created Monday through Friday containing the records for the calls that are made on the day following the creation of the file. The file name contains the creation date. (The file created Monday night is used to make calls on Tuesday, etc. The file created on Friday contains the data for calls made on Monday.) Calls are not made on weekends. The output from the process is sent via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to the vendor's server. To avoid possible network traffic delays, this process occurs at 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time. The file size is less than 1 MB in size. Therefore, the download time is very short. Data encryption is not an issue since ODAR does not send a complete SSN. The system should also provide Management Information (MI) regarding the number of calls made, the completion rate, the busy rate, etc. The vendor will be required to provide all hardware, software, design, project management, implementation, and maintenance of this system. This not a request for proposal, therefore SSA will not honor or respond to written and/or verbal requests for copies of a solicitation or other information related to this announcement. SSA will use this information in their assessment of capable sources. Interested sources that believe they have the ability to perform the services required should submit a detailed statement of their capabilities in writing to Leslie Hyman, Contract Specialist, via email at Leslie.Hyman@ssa.gov. Please reference SSA-RFI-LH001 in the e-mail subject line. Responses must be received by 3:00 p.m. EST on July 9, 2007.
- Place of Performance
- Address: 6201 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD
- Zip Code: 21235
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 21235
- Record
- SN01325249-W 20070623/070621224624 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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