Health Care Financing Administration 7500 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21244-1850

D -- TOLL-FREE TELECOMMUNCATION SERVICES POC Debbie Strittmatter, Contract Specialist, 410-78-5136, Mary Jones, Contracting Officer, (410)786-5163 The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) is seeking to identify sources of telecommunications services to handle inbound, outbound and transferred calling traffic through toll-free service. HCFA currently operates national 1-800 service on a pilot for seven states commonly referred to as FTS2000 Pilot and a national 1-800 service for the entire country (which includes the United States and its territories) known as the Medicare Hotline. The current Medicare Hotline 1-800 number is used to answer inquiries from beneficiaries and the general public regarding the Medicare health insurance program. The objective of the FTS 2000 Pilot is to improve customer service to Medicare beneficiaries by providing them the convenience of dialing one number to handle all of their Medicare-related questions. The current FTS 2000 Pilot receives approximately 100,000 calls per month. (Call volumes could change.) Starting November 1, 1998, HCFA anticipates an increase in volume of calls to this FTS 200 number for inquiries due to the recently enacted Balance Budget Act provisions related to Medicare Plus Choices. This portion of the calls are referenced as "The Medicare Plus Choice Toll-Free Line". The additional volume is projected at 7.8 million calls per year, whereby 6.4 million of those calls will occur in November and December of each year. HCFA anticipates total annual usage for the current hotline and the Medicare Plus Choice portion to be 55 million minutes of usage per year. The calls will be allocated among geographically dispersed calling centers. Agents at the call centers will answer basic inquiries, but must have the ability to transfer a significant number of the calls to another out-of-state location. The agents must have the ability to redirect each call to appropriate Agents/Partners of HCFA including: Carriers, Fiscal Intermediaries, End Renal Disease Network Organizations; Peer Review Organizations, Information Counseling and Assistance Grantees, State Medicaid Agencies, or HCFA's Central or Regional Offices. These entities have either toll or toll free numbers. Calls must, therefore, be able to be transferred to any toll or toll-free number on any long-distance network. The transfers must be "network-based" which allows the incoming call to terminate, thus freeing the used trunk once the call is re-directed. Offerors will provide long-distance network services necessary to maintain the national telephone number, receive and return calls, and route calls to and from the appropriate Agent/Partner when required. Direct, toll-free service must provide single number access for all calling locations within the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The network should handle calls from either touch-tone or rotary telephones. The network must provide all end-to-end switching, network termination equipment, the demarcation point, and end-to-end facility maintenance and testing. In the event of technical trouble, the network provider will have 24 hour per day access to a maintenance center via a toll-free number. The network should also have extensive routing diversity to assure that component failures will not significantly impact service availability. Network services must include the following features and functionalities: -- single number 800 service -- automatic number identification (ANI) -- call prompter/call menu service with selection announcements -- outbound service -- area code and time-of-day, day-of-week routing -- pre-recorded announcements -- management information and call detail reports -- ability for customers to access the network and re-route calls -- ability to re-direct (transfer) calls to any toll or toll free number. Contractors interested in documenting their background experience and capability to provide the network services described above, should respond within 30 days of publication. The following specific information is requested: (1) descriptive literature of the network; (2) outline of comparable services for other Government and non-Government entities; (3) scope of capacity for carrying network traffic; (4) descriptive language of re-direction of calls, including any limitations, and types of pricing involved in transferring calls within, and outside of the vendor's network. This synopsis is for information purposes only, does not constitute an RFP, and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The information you provide will be evaluated to identify capable potential sources if funding is allocated for this effort. Your response should be limited to 25 pages or less. Respondents will be included on any mailing list for any RFP that may result from this Sources Sought. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or otherwise pay for any information solicited. Firms must specify a name and telephone number of a point of contact and indicate their size status under Standard Industrial Code (SIC) 4813 which has a size standard of 1,500 employees(see FAR 19.102). Interested firms should submit appropriate documentation on their capability to HCFA, Attn: Debbie Strittmatter, C2-16-06, 7500 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21244. (0056)

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