U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Division of Procurement Services, Room 517, Washington, DC 20207

G -- OPERATION OF THE CPSC HOTLINE SOL CPSC-P-97-1006R DUE 111896. POC Contract Specialist, Peter J. Nerret (301) 504-0444/1150, Contracting Officer, Robert J. Frost (301) 504-0444/1142. This announcement is a revision of a synopsis that appeared in the 06/24/96 edition of the CBD on page 5 under section G Social Services. Offerors that submitted a proposal in response to the previous requirement will need to submit a new proposal which responds to this RFP in order to be considered. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is seeking a highly qualified firm under the United States Small Business Administration's 8(a) program to manage and operate the CPSC Consumer Telephone Hotline. This is a performance based competitive procurement. Offerors will be required to present portions of their technical approach partially in a written format and partially in a oral format. The written portion of the proposal should be responsive to the solicitation and not be submitted prior to receipt of the solicitation. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved this competitive procurement and provided a waiver to the competitive value threshold requirement. This requirement is open to 8(a) firms only. Offerors must currently be in the SBA 8(a) program. Offerors shall currently be operating a hotline which provides information and services to the general public in such areas as consumer safety, product safety, consumer protection, customer service, dissatisfaction with products or services, or receives complaints or comments from the general public about products and/or services. In determining whether an offeror operates a hotline, CPSC does NOT consider a hotline to be an information line or help desk that provides technical information, assistance or support to a narrow audience. The hotline currently being operated by offerors can be under any appropriate SIC classification. Offerors must be approved by SBA to operate under the Standardized Industrial Classification (SIC) 8322 entitled ``Individual and Family Social Services'', no later than by the time of award. The award will be made under SIC classification 8322. Those offerors meeting the qualification criteria may be invited to given an oral presentation of their technical approach to operating the Hotline. The Hotline enables the CPSC to provide information to callers about recalled products, banned products, and product safety information. It also allows consumers to report safety-related incidents, injuries and deaths associated with consumer products to the CPSC. Based on information gathered during telephone interviews with consumers that call in, a Consumer Product Incident Report is completed and forwarded to agency technical experts. The Hotline has 24 incoming telephone lines connected to an automated answering system, with phonelines going to Hotline staff; a TTY for the hearing or speech impaired and individual work stations for each Hotline representative. The Hotline automated equipment handles routine calls, and provides recorded information about product recalls and safety recommendations. The Hotline staff also monitor and administer a fax-on-demand system coordinated with the Hotline operation, and provides and maintains related information services. These services will be provided within the context of a performance based contract. A firm fixed price, labor hour type contract is contemplated. The basic period of performance will be from the effective date of the contract through 9/30/97 and the contract will include four (4) one year option periods. Request for Proposal (RFP) CPSC-P-97-1006R will be issued on or about October 17, 1996 with the written portion of the proposals due on or about November 18, 1996. Written requests for a copy of the solicitation should be mailed to the following address: Consumer Product Safety Commission, Division of Procurement Services, Room 517 Washington, D.C. 20207. Faxed requests should be sent to (301) 504-0628. No verbal requests will be accepted. (270)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0029 19960927\G-0001.SOL)