Bureau of the Census, Procurement Office, FOB #3, Room 1541, Washington,(Suitland, MD) DC 20233

R -- CALL CENTER SERVICES TO SUPPORT AN INBOUND TELEPHONE ASSISTANCE OPERATION FOR CENSUS 2000 POC Frances I. Toole-301/457-1831 The Bureau of the Census (BOC) is preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire Call Center services to support an inbound telephone assistance operation for the Year 2000 Census. The BOC plans to release a formal RFP during fiscal year 1998 and to award a contract early in 1999. The contract services will focus on responding to calls from the public concerning a range of census topics, from informational type questions and requests for replacement forms, to actually conducting an interview over the phone. The following quantifies the level of scope projected for the Call Center(s) services: a) Period of Performance -- February 14, 2000 to June 5, 2000 b) Total number of calls -- 9 to 11 million c) Approximately 80% of all calls received by April 8, 2000 d) Service Level -- 90%, with overflow call backs e) Types of calls, numbers of calls, and lengths of calls: 1) Informational calls -- 4.4 to 5.3 million; 4 minutes in length 2) Requests for replacement forms -- 2.7 to 3.3million; 4 minutes in length 3) Interviews assisted -- 1.9 to 2.3 million; with 1.5 to 1.9 million, 8 minutes in length for the short form and .4 to .45 million, 35 minutes in length for the long form f) Peak call rate -- 170,000 to 213,000 per hour g) Time frame for peak calls -- March 16, 2000 to April 8, 2000 h) Languages: 1) English -- 68% of all incoming calls 2) Spanish -- 29% of all incoming calls 3) Several Asian languages -- 3% of all incoming calls i) Period of operation -- 8:00 a.m. -- 9:00 p.m., all time zones, 7 days a week The BOC needs to determine whether the capability and the capacity are sufficient within the marketplace to support the level of Call Center services required for this operation. As such, the BOC is seeking information to assist in determining (a) whether it is feasible to implement a Call Center service to support the volume of calls expected, in the time frame required, and (b) the optimum method for managing and acquiring such a service. The BOC further envisions an integrator may be required for assembling the services of multiple call centers to meet the above workloads. The BOC has not committed to any acquisition approach or strategy, nor has the BOC assumed any specific approach required to satisfy the requirements. However, it is anticipated that the service may utilize a combination of both operator and computer aided assistance. The following information is requested from any and all interested parties: a) Past experience/current capabilities of handling both inbound and outbound calls: 1) Identify the maximum capacity of your current inbound and outbound Call Center operation. 2) Identify the number of calls serviced (average hourly, daily calls processed) by your current inbound and outbound Call Center operation. 3) Identify the languages currently serviced by your Call Center operation. 4) Identify the types of computer and telecommunications equipment and the software available within your Call Center facilities. Indicate the number of circuits/operators available for dedicated or shared support. b) Identify how additional capacity would be implemented within your Call Center operation to accommodate inbound calls above the peak level of calls projected. Provide an indication of the time frame needed to increase the number of operator positions. c) Identify whether shared, or dedicated personnel (or a combination of both) would be implemented to satisfy the inbound services required by the BOC. d) Identify how languages, above those types currently serviced by your Call Center operation, would be added to your Call Center operation. Indicate the relative magnitude of cost and the level of complexity of adding a language other than English. e) Identify a general plan and approach for how the BOC's requirements would be implemented within your Call Center. f) Provide an indication of the type of system verification and testing that would be necessary to validate that the Call Centers' design satisfies the level of peak calls projected. g) Identify the extent to which the Internet is currently used within your Call Center. Identify the extent to which the Internet may be operational within your Call Center by the year 2000. Specify the ratios of Internet access per telephone operator stations currently serviced and planned to be serviced by the year 2000 within your Call Center. h) Identify other information that is pertinent to the BOC's Call Center services procurement. Point of contact for this request for information is Frances I. Toole, 301/457-1831. Please submit your response in writing to the above address or by fax (301-457-1785). (0115)

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