EnterpriseAnsweringServicesQandA.pdf

Enterprise Team Answering Services Solicitation

Questions and Answers

1. How was the price contract amount of $25,000 reached? According to the Q&A there is no historical data on the number of minutes to be used? Also, there is no previous contract or service to compare.

• See prior response. No

2. Was there a Sources Sought completed for this requirement?

• Yes, see posting 1240BE21Q0091

3. The question period is showing a date of 6/28/2021, however the offer due date is also 6/28/2021 @ 2:00 p.m. Will there be an amendment?

• This was done to allow as much time for questions as possible. However, if a question was presented that needed to be posted on SAM.GOV, it would have been extended.

4. Are you currently working with an answering service for this solution?

• This is a new requirement.

5. How exactly is the 15 hours estimated? Does that include the time estimated to look for the missing employee, or just the phone calls themselves?

• The 15 hours was estimated based on the amount of field going employees. The contractor will only report to the supervisor or POC. As stated in the solicitation:

The contractor will not be asked to complete any additional services other than recording and sharing the employee’s location and timeframe with Forest Service contact If employee needs further assistance after their check-in, the Forest Service will be in charge at that point.

6. Is there an escalation process is we do not reach the supervisor?

• As stated in the solicitation: Contractor will alert designated contacts with a call, text, or both to Supervisors/Line Staff Officers etc. if employee(s) have failed to check-in. The contractor will not be asked to complete any additional services other than recording and sharing the employee’s location and timeframe with Forest Service contact If employee needs further assistance after their check-in, the Forest Service will be in charge at that point.

7. How will supervisors be notified? Are we sending an SMS, or calling?

• Contractor will alert designated contacts with a call, text, or both to Supervisors/Line Staff Officers etc.

8. How will the recent enactment of a $15/hour minimum wage for federal contractors that is set to begin in 2022 affect the contract resulting from this bid?

Will a reasonable increase in pricing be allowed after contract execution if the current wage determination requested above is less than the upcoming mandated wage increase?

• Our requirement is to follow the most recent wage determination. The contractor should use those rates when determining their quote.

9. Are we correct in saying that the intent of this project to create a centralized, “always on” Check In/Check Out call center in the event that one or more of the local Dispatch Centers are unavailable (i.e., The services provided by the

Contractor would not be a consistent schedule of services, but rather an “as-needed” service)?

• The solicitation states the intent of the project.

10. How many local Dispatch Centers are in existence currently? Are they organized by region or some other structure?

• Not Applicable

11. Under Item A of the Statement of Work attachment, there is a mention that “all

Enterprise employees” could make use of the answering service; would the scope of services required for these employees differ from that of the CICO plan for field-going employees?

• No

12. Can you elaborate/give more specifics about the requirement in Item D under the

Specifications heading in the Statement of Work attachment? Is it the Forest

Service’s intent that this document be a brief overview of how to reach the answering service and what happens to an employee’s call/text when they make contact?

• We are not elaborating on how brief this document needs to be. As long as it: Gives instructions for the process of getting ahold of the check-in contact and the call-in number.

13. What language fluencies (other than English) will be required for this project?

• Not Applicable, English is the requirement

14. Does the 15 hour per month service use estimation include only the live operator minutes required, or is there administrative/management time included in this figure as well?

• This is the estimated number of hours for the entire service.

15. Do the Field Supervisors/Line Staff Officers rotate their on-call status or is it a static roster of supervisory personnel?

• The solicitation does not list on-call status or a roster. Their direct supervisory should be the one getting called regardless of the time.

16. Other than the stated inconsistent availability of local dispatch centers, what other challenges has the Forest Service experienced with its current CICO plan in relation to the services requested by this solicitation?

• Not Applicable