SOURCES SOUGHT
D -- Radio control over IP (RCoIP) system upgrade.
- Notice Date
- 5/5/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 517919
— All Other Telecommunications
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, WO-AQM IT Support, Albuquerque Service Center, Pan American Bldg, Suite 200, 101 B Sun Ave NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87109, United States
- ZIP Code
- 87109
- Solicitation Number
- AG-7604-S-11-001B
- Archive Date
- 5/31/2011
- Point of Contact
- James R. Jefferis, Phone: 5055637264
- E-Mail Address
-
jjefferis@fs.fed.us
(jjefferis@fs.fed.us)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- FEDBIZOPPS ANNOUNCEMENT SOURCES SOUGHT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) This is not an announcement or notice of solicitation issuance. This RFI is issued to obtain industry's input for the purpose of developing a viable solicitation that will best communicate to industry the government's requirements. The information being requested is for the government's planning purposes only, is not a request for any proposal information, and shall not be considered in any way as a commitment by the government for any purpose. Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary and the government will not reimburse contractors for any costs associated with the submittal of the requested information. The government does not request any proprietary information be submitted. Any information submitted in response to this RFI is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 USC § 552(a). 1. INTRODUCTION The US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (USFS), is seeking sources for the upgrade of all hardware and software components of the installed radio control over IP (RCoIP) systems on two Forests in Region 4 which currently use the WAVE RCoIP Technology. These forests are the Bridger Teton, and Payette National Forests. This includes upgrading all software and hardware to current supportable versions as well as the installation of RAVIN compatible hardware on the Payette which is necessary to migrate away from multicasting on the IP network. The Bridger-Teton system will not include RAVIN compatible hardware and the system will remain as a multicast system. The successful offeror will be required to supply all labor, configuration, programming and testing necessary to create the infrastructure to have a functional RCoIP transport system on the USFS IP network. The final product system shall be fully operational on the above listed National Forests and will offer the ability for USFS employees to use a desktop software client to access their appropriate radio channels. The system is required to support all legacy hardware radio control equipment such as analog dispatch consoles and tone remotes. 2. BACKGROUND Six National Forests in Region 4 use a Radio Control over IP (RCoIP) system known as the WAVE system. This system is a server-based radio control system which enables users to use a software program on individual PCs to access radio channels. These systems have been in place for many years and have generally been well received and quite reliable. Several years ago, an Enterprise decision was made to not fund support contracts for the WAVE systems. The result is that the hardware and software of these systems is no longer supported by the manufacturer. One of the goals for this acquisition is to upgrade the hardware and software of the installed systems up to current, supported versions and to re-establish a support contract. The USFS IP network has also evolved since the WAVE systems were first installed. The IP network architecture is now transitioning away from the traditional hub-and-spoke systems based upon point-to-point T1 circuits. These traditional networks allowed for Forest networks to isolate themselves from each other. Network architecture now necessitates the requirement to move toward new network technologies; notably migration toward multi-packet label switching (MPLS) networks. While this architecture allows for greater performance for the Forest Service's information technology (IT) program overall, it does have some negative aspects for RCoIP. The current WAVE RCoIP systems use multicast technology to distribute radio signals and audio through the IP network. Multicast technology has worked well and met our needs but there are known vulnerabilities associated with using it when using MPLS technology. These vulnerabilities can result in the loss of radio packets in the IP network and degraded or unavailable radio system performance. 3. ACQUISITION HISTORY All six WAVE systems in Region 4 were installed by Network Integration & Consulting Services. When the systems were first installed in Region 4 each Forest had its own server which managed the radio channels and user profiles. Each server only served the Forest on which it was located. This architecture is being replaced with Primary and Redundant servers. These servers will host all radio channels, all users, and all remote hardware on the Forests. This centralized-server architecture will allow for migration of other similar systems within the Forest Service and also for new systems. It reduces the number of discrete servers which must be maintained. The Primary/Redundant configuration allows for failover. As currently deployed, none of the individual Forest servers have any backup. 4. REQUIREMENT The Contractor shall provide all hardware and software components necessary to provide RCoIP systems for these two National Forests named above hosted by Primary and Redundant servers. The Payette system shall move away from multicast technology, while the Bridger-Teton shall remain a multicasting application. The Contractor shall also provide and install LMR gateways and other hardware devices at all necessary locations to migrate the Payette National Forest radio channels to unicast technology. The Contractor shall provide all software and configure all components on both Forests so that the application is fully functional and compatible with current RAVIN hardware and software. The Contractor shall provide, install, configure, and test all components. The system shall use the existing USFS Enterprise network. The RCoIP transport through the IP network shall generally be configured as a zero-in, zero-out transport; that is, no gain shall be added by the RAVIN hardware. 5. RFI OBJECTIVES The objective of this RFI is to identify interested parties capable of upgrading the current Forest Service RCoIP systems while maintaining compatibility with the currently installed NICS RAVIN equipment and software. Interested parties are encouraged to respond with a capabilities statement which is relevant to this requirement. 6. HOW TO RESPOND Interested parties are encouraged reply to this RFI no later than Monday, 16 May 2011, 4:00 PM Mountain Time, by email to jjefferis@fs.fed.us. Please use Microsoft WORD to record your responses and attach the WORD document to your email. The format of your response shall be as follows: • Font size of Times New Roman 12 or a font of similar size and clarity. • 8.5 X 11 paper with 1 inch margins on all sides. • While there is no page limit, overly verbose qualification statements are strongly discouraged. • Responses shall include a cover sheet identifying your company's name, address, telephone number, point of contact, and cage code. Respondents should also provide whether your company is a large or small business and identify if your company is an 8(a) concern, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, or historically black college or university (HBCU) or minority institution (MI).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA/FS/WOAQMITS/AG-7604-S-11-001B/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Forest Service Albuquerque Service Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87102, United States
- Zip Code: 87102
- Zip Code: 87102
- Record
- SN02440564-W 20110507/110505234255-cc0b07f2d9705d8018ca5b4089a52e82 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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