NIGP 91549: High Volume, Telephone Call Answering Services (see 915-05 for Low Volume Services)

NIGP 91549 High Volume, Telephone Call Answering Services is an Item code encompassing enterprise-scale inbound and outbound call handling, dispatch coordination, and voice platform services that state and local governments procure to manage high-volume citizen, member, and employee communications outside and across standard business hours. Recent solicitations show the scope extends from traditional answering and dispatch services for utilities departments to cloud-based contact center platforms, AI-driven interactive voice response systems, and unified communications infrastructure for school districts and health plans. State and local issuing bodies soliciting under this code include county boards of commissioners, city government departments, independent school districts, health authorities, and special-purpose public health entities. Collier County, the City of Fort Worth, the City of San Marcos, and Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) are among recent active buyers; IEHP appears twice in the most recent opportunities, indicating sustained demand for both operational call-center capacity and platform modernization. The work typically demands 24/7/365 availability, multilingual support, compliance with security and accessibility standards, integration with existing municipal or health-plan systems, call recording and reporting capabilities, and performance benchmarks on answer time and dispatch response.

Recent activity concentrates in California, Texas, and Florida, with notable solicitations across the Southwest and Pacific regions. The City of Fort Worth issued RFP 260263 for an AI-based Interactive Voice Response solution with a best-value evaluation framework emphasizing Small Business participation (20 points), staff workflow integration (25 points), and AI performance (25 points); proposals are due October 22, 2026. Collier County issued ITB 26-8670 on August 13, 2026 for 24-hour answering and dispatch services for its Public Utilities Department under a local-vendor preference, with an approximate historical annual spend of $60,000 and a contract term of three years plus two optional renewal years. IEHP posted RFP 2607203 for Enterprise Cloud Contact Center Services due October 17, 2026, requiring vendor capability to handle Non-Medical Transportation and Non-Emergency Medical Transportation call volumes with full NEMT integration within 90 days of award. The City of San Marcos issued RFP 2026-044 for Utilities Customer Support Center Answering Services with proposals due July 9, 2026 and award scheduled for the September 1, 2026 City Council meeting.