U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, Purchasing Division, Room 1230, 844 North Rush St., Chicago, IL 60611-2092

D -- REMOTE DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND PRINTING SOL 99-RFI-1 POC Karen Haskins-Brewer Voice (312) 751-4615 Fax (312) 751-4923 The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) seeks sources for hardware and/or software solutions to allow RRB employees of the agency's 53 field offices to remotely connect to the mainframe-based IDMS system at the agency's headquarters facility located in Chicago, Illinois and to receive printed materials and reports while on itinerant service. Upon written request, the RRB will provide a document detailing the current software and hardware in use at the RRB. Requests may be submitted to the address identified above or faxed to 312/751-4923. No telephone calls will be accepted. The proposed solution(s) should have the characteristics and capabilities as required below. Please describe your offered solution(s) to the RRB's remote end-user data communications and printing needs, noting the effect it will have on our IDMS system with respect to terminal/printer associations. IDMS does not provide for dynamic printer definitions. Requirements: (1) Standard analog and cell phone connectivity must be supported. (2) The proposed solution(s) must successfully work with the RRB hardware/software configuration specified by the RRB. (3) Contact representatives need to dependably produce printed material originating from our headquarters mainframe system to any site in the United States using laptop PCs and portable printers. The RRB staff has identified a number of approaches which may have value but responses should not be limited to these alternatives: (1) Connections could be established by calling in to the current AT&T FTS 2000 packet-switched network (PSN) or a future frame relay system if applicable by emulating an SNA/SDLC cluster controller or some other means. (2) An asynchronous connection could be established with the PSN utilizing the X.25 protocol. This may require network terminal option (NTO) on the FEP. (3) A connection could be established with cluster controllers at headquarters, (for example, a Memorex/Telex Model 1174). (4) A connection could be established with the IBM 3745 front end processor(FEP) at headquarters. Companies having the ability to furnish this hardware/software and support services are requested to provide written notification (including telephone number for a point of contact) and detailed data regarding the proposed solution(s) to the processing office listed in this notice within 30 calendar days from the date of publication of this synopsis. Potential vendors should respond with technical literature, pricing details, and information describing the degree to which they can comply with the requirements outlined above. RRB does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this request or to pay for the information solicited. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR OFFERS OR BIDS. No telephone calls will be accepted. The RRB shall not transmit acknowledgment of receipt of vendor submissions. Posted 10/29/98 (W-SN266620). (0302)

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