Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), Office of Information Technology, Technology Policy, Planning and Acquisitions Office, IT Contracting, 1 Columbus Circle NE, Room 3-170, Washington, DC 20544

D -- LOCAL TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR U.S.COURTS, HAMMOND, IN SOL USC-INND-00-R-0001 DUE 071400 POC Ms. Karen Brickner (219-246-8020 (i)This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) Solicitation No. USCINND-00-R-0001 herein is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). (iii)The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-16. (iv) This RFQ is for full and open competition and the SIC Code is 4813. The U.S. Court intends to issue a Commercial Item, Firm Fixed-Price Delivery Order contract for providing local telecommunication services from a local exchange carrier (LEC) to Federal Building/United States Courthouse which is under construction in Hammond, IN. The streets of Homan, Lyman, Douglass & Clinton in Hammond, IN 46430, border the new courthouse (at this time there is no assigned street address). (v) Clin 01 -- Initial Non Recurring Charges This is to include any ordering and/or one time installation charges per order and per circuit. Clin 02 -- Monthly Recurring Service Charge per circuit. Clin 03 -- Any additional monthly fixed charges per circuit. Clin 04 -Surcharges and fees based on either usage charges or fixed charges. Clin 05 -- State and Federal taxes applicable to the Courts. Discounts: If discounts are applicable because of multiple circuits, usage, promotional discounts, etc. provide complete clarification on the discounts and how they are applied. Please note that if discounts are applied because of multiple circuits, the multiple circuits may be billed separately to the two agencies The period of performance will be for one year with one option year. (vi) BACKGROUND: The Court requires local area dial tone services, which are currently being provided by Ameritech Telephone Company. SCOPE OF WORK -- This request is to supply network access for local telephone service. It will include ISDN/PRI service, local Central Office Trunking, and Direct Inward Dialing trunking and service, and local business service lines. MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS -- All respondents shall be authorized by the State of Indiana to provide Competitive Local Access Services within the state of Indiana, and within the Hammond, IN area. Contractors shall be carriers who can provide facilities based service to the Hammond Courthouse. Contractors who are resellers of other carrier's services will not be considered as qualified. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS -- The Contractor shall provide ISDN/PRI local service to the District Courts and the United States Marshals Service. These services will be terminated in the NEC 2400 PBX that will be in service in the building. The required business lines will not be terminated in the PBX. All services will be terminated at the building demarcation. This Request for Quotation does not include any Centrex or other business services required by GSA, the U.S. Attorney's office, or any other lines required by contractors who may occupy space in the new courthouse and require telephone service. Local Services for the District Courts will include the District Court Offices, Bankruptcy Court Offices, and the U.S. Probation and Pre-Trial Services. Primary service shall be ISDN/PRI with the call by call selection feature which allows all trunks to be used dynamically for outbound or inbound calling to the local service area. The service shall include DID access that shall be routed over the ISDN/PRI. A new DID number range of 400 numbers shall be provided. The service shall be terminated at the building demarcation point in the communications room located on the lower level of the building (Room LL28). Circuit engineering shall be compatible with a NEC 2400 series PBX. Fifteen to twenty additional business lines may be required. Local Service for the United States Marshals Service shall include analog central office trunking and DID trunking. Traffic engineering indicates a total of twelve circuits are required to handle the traffic. In the event that outbound and incoming DID service cannot be routed over the same circuits/trunk groups, additional circuits shall be required. A new DID number range of 100 numbers shall be provided. This service will also be terminated in the communications room located on the lower level of the building and terminated in the same NEC PBX as the Court Service. Three to six additional business lines may be required. The digital services included in this RFQ are for local outbound, and incoming DID calling only. The court's Primary Interexchange Carrier (PIC) for Inter-LATA, Intra-LATA, and international traffic shall be Sprint. ADDITIONAL REQUIRED FEATURES -- (1) ability to block the display of the calling party identification to the called party. If this blocking is not available through the network Central Office, the network must be able to accept calls when the calling number has been blocked by the PBX; (2) display of incoming caller ID for incoming DID calls routed over the ISDN/PRI service is required; (3) ability to redirect calls at the Central Office level to another destination in the event of power failure or disaster is desirable. Other line features commonly found on local services (i.e. call waiting, three way calling, etc.) are not required. IMPLEMENTATION -- The current schedule anticipates occupancy of the new building by late October 2000. Minimum service (i.e., assumed to be one analog DID circuit) will be immediately established at the current courthouse located at 507 State Street, Hammond, IN. 46430. The service establishment is assumed necessary to guarantee the DID number range. This is required to provide the Courts adequate lead-time to assign and publish the new DID numbers. As soon as complete service can be available to the new courthouse, the assigned DID numbers can be redirected to the new building location. Circuit engineering requirements are to be made available and communicated directly to the PBX vendor. ThePBX vendor is to have direct access to appropriate carrier personnel involved with the installation of the service. The Court will provide a LOA for the PBX vendor in order to facilitate installation, cutover, and testing. The selected carrier will be required to provide order documentation to the PBX vendor for all relevant activity. Additionally, the Court may require the selected carrier to provide copies of this documentation to court personnel or other authorized representatives of the Court. Area code and prefixes (NPA/NNX) for the local service is to be provided to the PBX vendor so the PBX can be properly programmed for call routing. BILLING FOR SERVICES -- will be designated for either the "Courts" or the "U.S. Marshals Service". Separate billing and accounts are to be established for each group and billed separately. SCHEDULE FOR IMPLEMENTATION -- The implementation schedule planned by the Court is: Carrier Selection Completed 07/31/00; Initial DID service installed 08/25/00; Complete services working at new Courthouse 09/29/00. In the event the building will not be occupied on the current schedule, installation of full services will be delayed to meet the occupancy schedule. OFFEROR'S RESPONSE due 07/14/00 -- Carrier/Vendor responses are to provide all information needed for the Courts to make a decision. At this time the exact quantity of circuits is estimated based on current usage. However, prior to installation, the quantities may be increased based on future growth, and/or concerns for capacity. Two ISDN/PRI circuits are projected for the Courts. The Marshals Service will require six analog DID circuits and six analog ground start C.O. trunks. Depending upon the comparative pricing and availability of digital services, the Marshals Service may select digital services as an alternative. Circuits may be added or deleted after full occupancy and usage traffic patterns are developed. If a different cost structure will be applicable after initial installation, that price schedule should be included. Complete pricing and price breakdowns are required. This is to include any discounts available because of multiple quantities of circuits. Any applicable usage charges must be completely detailed. The initial establishment of the single DID line with associated DID numbers may be billed at the month-to-month rate. CALLING AREAS -- Provide complete information on the local calling area. This is to include mileage ranges and/or listings of NPA/NNX if applicable. If possible provide a schematic map illustrating the calling areas. Provide a sample of the billing format that will be used. PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS -- All LEC Contractor's technical personnel who will be assigned to this contract effort and will work on the premises of the courthouse may be required to have a background investigation completed prior to commencing work. The contractor shall provide the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers for all such personnel upon award of this contract to the COTR. This informationwill be provided to the U.S. Marshal's Service. There is no charge to the Contractor for this service. CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES -- The LEC Contractor shall be responsible for (1) ensuring that all areas in which work is performed are left broom clean and free of debris; (2) removing and replacing ceiling tiles associated with maintenance or installation of telecommunication services; (3) removing all debris and scrap wire generated in the performance of the contract; (4) repairing and returning to its original condition, at no cost to the Government, all surfaces (to include, but not limited to floors, walls, ceilings, doors and windows) which are damaged or marred by contractor personnel; and (5) ensuring that all moves, additions, or changes to the contractor-furnished and installed telecommunications services are approved by the Court designee. The Government will not be responsible for any changes made to LEC contractor furnished and/or installed services that are not approved by the government. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS -- The Contractor shall provide services in accordance with the rates, terms and conditions set forth in the applicable tariffs of the contractor, as filed with, and approved by, the Indiana Public Utility Commission and/or the Federal Communications Commission. Contractor services shall be in conformance with the following applicable accepted Industry standards, codes and regulations and Federal standards. In the event of a conflict between industry standards and this contract, the contract shall govern. Electronic Industries Association /Telecommunication Industries Association Standards, 42AAAA-1989. (viii) -- FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial applies to this acquisition; (ix) EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS -- FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items is hereby incorporated by reference. The government will award a commercial item purchase order using simplified acquisition procedures to the responsible offeror whose offer is most advantageous to the government. The quotes will be evaluated using the criteria listed below in order of importance from most important to least important. (1) Proven capability to deliver both digital and analog services within the local Lata and to the physical location of the new building. Digital service will include ISDN/PRI services. (2) Ability to provide separate and accurate billing for different services to the various agencies. (3) Ability to meet an implementation schedule satisfactory to the Courts. (4) Ability to assume responsibility for the existing number range within the implementation satisfactory to the Courts. (5) Cost of the service, including both initial non-recurring charges for installation, and recurring monthly service charges. (6) Proposed implementation, test, and acceptance plan. (7) Evidence of satisfactory past performance in providing similar services. (x) FAR 212-3, OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS-COMMERCIAL ITEMS apply to this acquisition. (xi) TERMS AND CONDITIONS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS -- Addenda to 52.212-4 include: (d) disputes. N/A; (g) invoice and (i) Payment. The Prompt Payment Act (31 U.S.C. 3903) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-125, Prompt Payment DOES NOT apply to the Judiciary; (n) Title.N/A; FAR 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 1989); FAR 52.232-19, Availability of Funds for the Next Fiscal Year (Apr 1984); FAR 52.222-37, VETS 100 Compliance Report (Jan 1999), and FAR 52.204-6, Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. The clauses may be viewed at http://www.arnet.gov/far. Judiciary has other clauses that may reviewed by contacting POC . (xii)FAR 52.212-5, CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT STATUTES OR EXECUTIVE ORDERS -- COMMERCIAL ITEMS apply to this solicitation. Interested offerors are required to contact the point of contact (POC) for full text clauses; (xiii)N/A; (xiv) N/A; (xv) N/A; (xvi) PROPOSAL DUE DATE -- Proposals are to be received no later than 5:00 pm, 07/14/00. OFFERS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED TO:Ms. Karen Brickner, Administrative Analyst, U.S. District Courts, 204 South Main Street, South Bend, IN 46607. For further information or clarification, contact Ms. Karen Brickner at 219-246-8020 Posted 06/23/00 (W-SN468078). (0175)

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