Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20534

D -- VIDO CONFERENCING SYSTEM FOR FCI OTISVILLE/NEW YORK CVITY POC Francine M. Cox, Contracting Officer, 202/616-6150. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is seeking comments on a proposal to invite vendors to provide a video conferencing system linking the Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, New York, to unspecified locations(s) in New York City. The purpose of the system is to allow attorneys and others who need to visit inmates at Otisville for pre-trial interviews, to obtain depositions, and for numerous other reasons, to do so via video conferencing system instead of actually travelling three hours each way to the institution. A recent study indicates that there are an average of 150 attorney trips per month to interview inmates and the 70% of survey respondents indicated a willingness to use video conferencing in lieu of making the trip. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is attempting to determine whether there is a sufficient market for vendors to consider investing in the video conferencing equipment and communications services necessary to provide such a service in return for the exclusive right to provide the service and to levy and collect fees for the service. The minimum configuration under consideration is one camera and one monitor at each location. Transmission may be compressed, but must be encrypted. The minimum acceptable bandwidth is 112 kbps. Applicable CCITT standards must be adhered to. Options under consideration include co-located fax machines, document cameras, telephones, upgrade to higher bandwidth, and additional links. There is a potential for using the system for inmate social visits which may occur at any time during the day or evening and on weekends. Users may include lawyers, public defenders, court officials, law enforcement officials, investigators, government officials, family and friends of inmates. Interested vendors are requested to submit comments and proposed solutions regarding all aspects of the proposed operation, including: market potential, hardware configuration, communications, locations, operating procedures, hourly pricing, suggested locations in New York City, etc. From the comments received, vendors will be selected for detailed discussion. A determination will then be made as to whether sufficient interest exists in the vendor community to proceed with a solicitation to acquire the services. If so, a solicitation for competitive proposals, based on comments received, will be issued. Comments must be received by June 23, 1995. Submit comments in writing to Francine M. Cox, ADP Contracting Officer, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First Street, NW, Washington, DC 20534. (0153)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0019 19950605\D-0003.SOL)