Tennessee Valley Authority, Procurement, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, Knoxville, TN 37901

D -- TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSET CONTROL SOFTWARE SOL TACS DUE 071699 POC Lynn Defenderfer (423)751-2138 lmdefenderfer@tva.gov E-MAIL: Please send responses to the following e-mail, lmdefenderfer@tva.gov. Tennessee Valley Authority, Post Office Box 480, Knoxville, Tennessee 37901-0480 June 23, 1999 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION -- Telecommunication Asset Control Software DUE DATE: July 16, 1999 This is not a solicitation; however, your response to this REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) will demonstrate your interest in subsequent REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFPs). Responses to this RFI will be utilized to determine recipients of possible future RFPs. The Tennessee Valley Authority ("TVA") is a U.S. Government-owned corporation established by Congress to develop the resources of the Tennessee Valley region. It is one of the largest wholesalers of electric power in the United States and maintains about 17,000 miles of transmission lines. TVA also manages the nation's fifth-largest river system for flood control, navigation, power production and recreation. To ensure competitive prices, TVA closely manages all resources used within TVA to maximize their use. The various telephone resources used by TVA represent a significant investment by TVA and so require constant management review and action. With the drive to ensure Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance, a decision was made to replace the current application instead of attempting modification to achieve Y2K compliance and to address needed functionality. TVA currently has approximately 50 individuals conducting telecommunication asset control business related processes Growth potential would make it prudent that the system have a capability to handle two times the number of current users. TVA is considering the purchase of a Windows Telecommunication Asset Control software System (TACS). The software must be able to support many different loan types, including the following : FUNCTIONAL NEEDS: TVA intends to procure application software, software training, and installation services to implement a Telecommunication Asset Control System covering the business functions of: 1. Maintain Circuit Inventory -- Maintain all telecommunication information on circuits, telephone numbers, trunks, and lines. Included in the inventory is the current status of circuits, telephone numbers, trunks and lines which will aid management in determining current and future resource needs based on utilization. 2. Maintain PBX Inventory -- Maintain all telecommunication information on PBXs and PBX Extensions. Included in the inventory is the current status of PBXs and PBX Extensions which will aid management in determining current and future resource needs based on utilization. 3. Maintain Calling Card Inventory -- Maintain all telecommunication information on Calling Cards used for domestic and international long distance calling. Included in the inventory is the current status of calling cards which will aid management in determining current and future resource needs based on utilization. 4. Maintain Service Assignment -- Maintain telecommunication services comprised of features which are assigned to individuals and organizations. Additionally this function will provide tools for editing the assignment information through the life of the service. 5. Process Service Usage Information -- Provide capability to process, validate and update usage charges from various telecommunication service providers utilizing various formats and media. Included in this function is the capability to associate the usage charges to the responsible organization and individual. Usage information includes charges for all domestic and international long distance originating from TVA on-net and off-net locations and calling cards. Additionally, all monthly recurring charges for lines, circuits, trunks, 8XX access will be considered usage. 6. Adjust Chargeback Information -- Provide capability to locate, review, and adjust telecommunication information relating to external charges from telecommunication providers. This information will be provided by individual, organization, and service type as the primary keys. Additional secondary keys will be available to extract information. Vendor, and Authorization Codes are examples of secondary keys. 7. Extract Service & Billing Information -- Provide capability to retrieve information to aid in the management of the telecommunication resource. Information will be retrievable by individual, organization or service type as primary keys. 8. Maintain Authorization Codes -- Provide ability to generate, assign and manage authorization codes used to restrict and provide traceability for telecommunication resources at selected sites. Presently authorization codes are only used at the nuclear sites. 9. Extract For External Interfaces -- Provide capability to extract defined information from the information repository for input into other TVA processes. Currently extracts feed the General Ledger System and other TVA applications. 10. Import From External Sources -- Provide capability to import defined information into the information repository from other TVA processes. Currently imports are received from the General Ledger System and the Human Resource application. 11. Maintain Reference Information -- Maintain information used for population and validation of the information repository. This information is also used to define the telecommunication services that are available at TVA. OBJECTIVES: TVA wishes to achieve the following objectives from a Telecommunication Asset Control package: a) Provide for rapid inclusion of new types of services. b) Improve the business processes for effectiveness. c) Create adequate security/controls over information and processes. d) Establish a common source for operating information. e) Eliminate transaction errors due to manual processes. f) Seamless integration between business functions. g) Quality and reliability of the software. h) User friendliness of the software. i) Ease of implementation. j) Quality of supplier support. k) Product maturity and validated upgrade schedules. l) Confidence in the Contractor. m) Vision and direction of the supplier. n) Performance of the software. o) Fit of the software into TVA's infrastructure. INTEGRATED SOLUTION: TVA is looking to implement an integrated, enterprise-wide Telecommunication Asset Control System. This solution needs to include software, system tools and documentation to extract information from the information repository to feed TVA systems external to TACS. REQUIRED FEATURES: The chosen solution for TACS must conform to a set of system requirements. The requirements are necessary to ensure that the implemented solution fits within TVA's strategic direction for automated systems. TVA's strategic direction addresses hardware and software environments as well as the tools and individuals needed to support the automated environment. a) The solution once implemented can be maintained and customized using internal TVA resources. b) Solutions should be data driven avoiding encoding of system and customizable parameters within the solution that would require rebuilding the solution. c) The software will support the encryption of user passwords on the server. d) TVA's strategic direction is a Client / Server approach for the physical environment utilizing a relational or object oriented information retrieval approach. e) Defined and documented database schema and implementation plan. f) TVA current desktop standard is either Windows 95 or NT. g) The predominant database engine used at TVA is ORACLE. h) The solution must support monthly input usage streams in excess of a million records with an online retention period of two years. i) The solution must support an equipment inventory of twenty thousand ( 25,000 ) plus individual devices. j) Allows print preview' of reports before printing. k) Ability to create user-defined fields. l) Includes standard reports, as well as a report writer tool for user-created reports. m) Includes step-by-step instructions for use of the software, either in a printed user manual or on-line. n) Provides hands-on training course on use of the software. o) Provides telephone support after purchase. YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE: Compliance to Year 2000 standards is essential to any TACS solution considered. The candidate solution should document compliance with Year 2000 requirements. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: Given the major functions, the information requirements, and the telecommunication services provided within TVA, it is clear that the candidate solution needs to be able to answer diverse queries from a wide telecommunication user community. Complicating this requirement is the need to provide the retrieved information online, in printable form, and in an electronic form that can be e-mailed and then displayed using third party tools such as Microsoft's Excel and Word. The following The solution should satisfy the following retrieval scenarios. a) Ad Hoc -- This scenario is the most open and free form retrieval scenario. This scenario will provide to the user the capability to interrogate the entire information repository to retrieve information using SQL language or a third party reporting tool. To provide this capability the information repository structures, primary and foreign keys, and data dictionary at a minimum needs to be provided with the solution. b) Dynamic -- This scenario contains structuring where the Ad Hoc does not. The user will be provided screens that will guide the user through the creation of a query to extract information. This guiding will proceed from the general down to the specific. The capability mimics what can be found in third party reporting packages. c) Structured -- This scenario represents the most limited approach in extracting information from the information repository. The choices provided to the user are limited to primary keys and compare to stock reports. The user will be presented with category of reports such as "Billing", "Circuits", and "Service". After selecting a category the user will be prompted for a specific report then the specific parameters associated with the report. Some of the critical answers that must be supplied by the solution include the following: a) What are my resources and where are they located? b) What are the characteristics connected to each resource? c) Where did I obtain these resources and what are they costing? d) Are the resources being fully utilized and are more, less or different resources required? e) Who or what organization is using the resource and what is their usage levels? TRAINING: TVA prefers a mix of on-site classroom training, off-site classroom training, computer-based training and self-study training courses be available for TVA's use in educating its staff on the use, administration, operation, and support of the system. a) System administrators and system technical support personnel b) System advanced users c) General User We appreciate your response to this RFI. Please mail information regarding qualifying loan servicing software to the address below by July 16, 1999. Also please complete the attached questionnaire to provide more information about your company and its software. As you respond to these questions, please identify your response with the corresponding question number. Please direct your reply and any questions to: Lynn Defenderfer Tennessee Valley Authority 1101 Market St. Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 e-mail address: lmdefenderfer@tva.gov Attachment QUESTIONNAIRE 1. How long has your company been in business? 2. How long has your company been providing telecommunication asset control software? 3. When was the Windows version of this telecommunication asset control software first released? 4. How many versions of the Windows-based software have you released? 5. How many companies currently use the Windows version of this software? 6. What is the base price for a your Windows-based telecommunication asset control software, based on 5 concurrent users, 10 concurrent users, 20 concurrent users? 7. Do you provide any free support with purchase of your software? 8. Which of the following areas of installation support do you offer and what do you charge for each?: a) Installation assistance (by phone or on-site?). b) Training classes (on-site or at your office?). c) Customization of the software. d) Data conversion from current software 9. What is the price for ongoing support and what is included in this price? 10. How often are software upgrades released, and what is the price if we choose not to purchase an annual maintenance agreement but pay for support on an hourly basis (if this is a choice)? 11. Do you offer either a dial-in demo or a demo disc that would allow us to view the software? 12. Can your company provide references from customers currently using your Windows-based software? 13. Please provide examples of the standard reports contained in your software. Posted 06/28/99 (W-SN347674). (0179)

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