Statement_of_Work.docx

Statement of Work for the Pre-Trip Notification System (PTNS) Answering Services

Background:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) collects scientific and management data for fisheries by placing NMFS-certified observers aboard U.S. domestic fishing vessels. These data are needed for the in-season management and monitoring of fisheries occurring in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the high seas beyond the EEZ. These data are collected through the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) and At-Sea Monitoring Program (ASM) managed by the NEFSC’s Fisheries Sampling Branch (FSB).

In order to select vessel trips for observer coverage, the Pre-Trip Notification System (PTNS) was developed as a user-friendly, web-based system that uses an algorithm to randomly select trips for observer coverage as the vessels notify of their intent to fish. Trip notifications must be made 48 hours prior to departure and three methods of notification are allowed: direct entry via website and entry by PTNS Coordinators via phone call or email. Trips lasting 3 days or more are generally notified for individually, a few times per month, whereas day trip vessels are allowed to notify for all trips taken in a given week, leaving them to generally notify once weekly. Observer providers are notified of trip coverage opportunities via emails generated automatically from the web-based system and on specific offer pages within the application. Providers are given 12 to 24 hours, depending on the type of coverage and sector-provider relationship, to either accept a trip to cover or to decline the trip. Constant monitoring of phone messages and emails is necessary, as notifications can be made any time of the day. Vessels often depart early in the morning and may need assistance with problems. Providing timely and appropriate support to the industry assists NMFS with developing and maintaining positive public relations with fishermen and other members of the commercial fishing industry. At this time, the PTNS supports observer selection and deployment for approximately 800 permit holders participating in the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish fishery. Vessels sail primarily from ports in Maine to New Jersey and use gear types of sink gillnet, bottom trawl or bottom longline. In the spring of 2020, the PTNS will be updated to support observer selection for the Industry Funded monitoring and observer coverage in the Atlantic Herring fishery. This will add approximately 50 new vessel users, 3 new gear types (midwater trawl, pair trawl and purse seine) and an entirely new fishery.

Scope:

The contractor shall provide live, in-person answering services and complete tasks related to the daily maintenance and monitoring of the NEFSC’s Pre-trip Notification System at the vendor’s home office location. Taking routine trip notifications and troubleshooting problems related to commercial fishing operations is almost always a new experience for call service providers and their employees. Although time to learn is expected to be needed by a contractor, it is also expected and required that the contractor eliminate the occurrence of significant errors and the recurrence of errors within one month’s time. The nature, language, common terms, etc. of this industry can be complex; therefore high-quality customer service representatives (CSRs) are required. Vessel owners and representatives sometimes feel the administrative and observer coverage requirements are burdensome and challenging. This frustration can be directed at NMFS and PTNS and any associated representatives. CSRs should have appropriate training in dealing with these situations. Access to the PTNS website will either be done through a single login account that adheres to NEFSC account security protocol or individual login accounts that will include individual NEFSC network access agreements.

Requirements:

1. The contractor shall provide live, in-person answering services for the PTNS system after PTNS business hours (from 5:01 p.m. to 7:59 a.m., EST) on weekdays, all day Saturday and Sunday (24 hours per day), and on all federally-recognized holidays (24 hours per day).

2. The contractor’s home office location shall be located within the Eastern Standard Time Zone.

3. The contractor shall enter trips after hours that are received via email if this is deemed necessary by NMFS and should a mutually agreeable process be developed between NMFS and the contractor.

4. The contractor shall provide a list of the number of CSRs providing call answering services for the PTNS account for all shifts. For example, shift A: 1700 – 0100hrs comprises 5 staff taking calls for PTNS; shift B: 0101 – 0800hrs comprises 3 staff taking calls for PTNS; and so on.

5. The contractor shall abide by and follow the protocols established in the PTNS Instruction Manual (See Appendix 1).

6. Updates to the functionality and operation of the PTNS system and website, as well as to the PTNS Instruction Manual, can occur at any time. The FSB shall provide a minimum of 48 hours notice before any update, so that proper training can be provided.

7. The contractor’s supervisory staff shall engage in comprehensive PTNS training conducted by FSB to establish thorough understanding of the system by the contractor.

8. The contractor shall be familiar with FSB polices related to the PTNS (e.g., the Late Observer Policy).

9. The contractor shall provide comprehensive training to all CSRs to ensure understanding of and adherence to PTNS protocol.

10. The contractor shall enter all routine phone notifications into the PTNS system via the administrator website.

11. The contractor shall be able to enter notifications into the PTNS system while on the phone with the caller and will ensure all information needed for entry is collected.

12. The contractor shall answer all calls live; no calls should be dropped or sent to voicemail.

13. The contractor shall have a maximum wait time for calls on hold of one minute.

14. The contractor shall demonstrate proficiency and readiness by coordinating mock PTNS calls with FSB staff at least two days prior to taking live calls.

15. The contractor shall ensure that trip notifications are not entered earlier than 48 hours from the time of the initial call from a vessel representative.

16. The contractor shall ensure that all call service representatives fully understand the definition of a multiday trip and single day trips.

17. The contractor shall address pending trip inquiries about a vessel's selection status (i.e., did the vessel get a waiver or observer, canceled trips, etc).

18. The contractor shall edit trip characteristics per the request of the caller but not in violation of the PTNS Instruction Manual.

19. The contractor shall update vessel registration information as requested by the caller but not in violation of the PTNS Instruction Manual.

20. The contractor shall address inquiries regarding observer service provider selection.

21. The contractor shall assess each situation as routine, non-urgent, potentially urgent, and urgent, to decide the proper course of action as outlined in the PTNS Instruction Manual.

22. The contractor shall address all caller troubleshooting issues (i.e., website access difficulties, standard error messages, etc.) and provide guidance to the caller for rectifying the problem based on the PTNS Instruction Manual.

23. The contractor shall not provide guidance on non-PTNS issues (issues not covered in the PTNS Instruction Manual) and will document all issues for FSB.

24. The contractor shall document each call that comes in to the PTNS line (this includes hang-ups, partial calls due to disconnections, wrong numbers, etc.).

25. The contractor shall document each call in a call-in record summary report (see Appendix 1), which will be emailed to the PTNS coordinator twice daily at 0800hrs and 1900hrs. This report will be crucial in determining whether calls were handled correctly and if follow-up is needed.

26. The contractor shall call the primary emergency contact immediately in the event of an urgent (emergency) situation (urgent situations are defined in the PTNS Instruction Manual). If the primary contact is unavailable, the secondary contact shall be called. In the event neither party responds, the contractor shall continue calling the emergency contacts, rotating primary and secondary contacts every 10 minutes, until either contact is reached in person. FSB will provide the names and phone numbers of the contacts and inform the contractor of any changes to the contacts.

27. The contractor shall report any urgent issues not covered in the PTNS Instruction Manual to the emergency contact immediately.

28. The contractor shall report and document all non-urgent situations for the PTNS coordinator via the call-in record summary report and will inform the caller that the PTNS Coordinator will be made aware of all situations, both non-urgent and urgent.

29. The contractor shall be available to address all questions or concerns related to urgent and non-urgent situations as needed.

30. The contractor shall evaluate new employee’s performance and understanding of terms closely to ensure trip entry accuracy. Frequent errors cause confusion and mistrust with the industry.

31. The contractor shall agree to uphold the government's security provisions for preserving the safety and integrity of the systems accessed and protecting against misuse or destruction of the computer systems and data being accessed. The contractor must also sign a non-disclosure form in accordance with government security protocols.

32. The contractor shall serve as a backup in the event of an emergency situation or closure (i.e., hurricane, snow closure) and when needed in times of FSB staff shortages.

33. The contractor shall provide service statements to account for monthly costs. The contractor shall allow for the adjustment of the calling plan via a “working dashboard.”

34. The contractor shall be in compliance with all federal, state, and local governing bodies and shall cooperate with government authorities regarding investigations of a civil or criminal nature.

35. The contractor shall ensure that average call time does not exceed 2.5 minutes.

36. The contractor shall correspond with all callers in a courteous, respectful and appropriate manner.

37. The contractor shall maintain and archive all phone correspondence in the form of electronic sound files (e.g. .wav) and forward copies of such files as requested by FSB so that staff may review for possible errors or for suspected violations by vessel representatives.

38. All CSRs shall have a minimum of an associate’s degree from an accredited college/university; bachelor’s degree strongly preferred.

Deliverables Any new development must be in accord with the stated scope of work above. The below table addresses deliverables for each situation

Type of Order: The government anticipates award of a Fixed Firm Price (FFP) contract.

Security Requirements:

All users will complete the Individual Statement of Non-Disclosure: Observer Deployment Information.

The system supported under this task is MODERATE

Suitability/Risk Level - The suitability or risk level for this work has been determined to be: LOW. As such, the contractor shall pre-screen their employees to eliminate anyone who does not meet the following criteria:

Contractor employees and associated subcontractors performing under this contract MUST be U.S. citizens or MUST have established and maintain legal residence in the U.S., and be authorized by the US Government to work in the United States (i.e. Green card, worker authorization, etc.).

Delivery All written and electronic documents produced by the contractor shall remain the property of the U.S. Government. Upon the completion of the contract, the contractor shall submit all PTNS documentation or destroy all acquired data.

Government-Furnished Property The Government (DOC, NOAA, NMFS, NEFSC) will provide appropriate access to the PTNS test site as needed and to the PTNS administrator website, in order for the contractor to accomplish the described tasks. The vendor will be required to sign a non-disclosure form per NEFSC security agreements. The U.S. Government may also request a data access agreement if needed at any point during the contract.

Experience CSR experience with UNIX-based computers is preferred. CSR experience and/or training in handling difficult customers are strongly preferred. Minimum of associate’s degree required.

Place of Performance The contractor shall perform duties remotely on behalf of the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program office, 25 Bernard St. Jean Drive, Falmouth, MA. The contractor will be monitored by NEFSC controlled web application security log review and must comply with the Department of Commerce Information Technology Requirement (CITR) 0008: Remote Access.

Period of Performance November 1, 2019 –October 31, 2024

1.013 Task Manager (TM): The TM is

Gina Shield NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Observer Program Office 25 Bernard St. Jean Drive, Falmouth, MA 02536 Office Phone Number: 508-495-2139 Fax: 508-495-2123 Gina.shield@noaa.gov

The TM or delegate monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration. The TM is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract; perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance; maintain written and oral communications with the contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract; issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications; monitor

1.014 Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The COR is

Jennifer O’Connell NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Observer Program Office 25 Bernard St. Jean Drive, Falmouth, MA 02536 Office Phone Number: 508-495-2251 Fax: 508-495-2123 Jennifer.o’connell@noaa.gov

The Contracting Officer (CO) is the exclusive agent of the Government with authority to enter into, administer, or terminate contracts. The CO has the responsibility to see that all requirements of law and regulation are followed; however, as the CO’s representative, COR is delegated the authority to act as technical liaison between the CO and the Contractor. COR’s primary duty is to oversee and monitor performance to ensure that all of the technical and deliverable requirements under the contract are met.

The contractor shall ensure performance in accordance with this SOW. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures specific to this requirement to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor’s performance plan is the means by which he assures himself that his work complies with the requirement of the contract.

The government shall ensure contractor’s performance under this contract is in accordance with the SOW.

Acronyms and Definitions:

· ASM – At-Sea Monitoring

· CITR - Department of Commerce Information Technology Requirement

· CO – Contracting Officer

· CSR – Customer Service Representative

· DOC – Department of Commerce

· EEZ – Exclusive Economic Zone

· FSB – Fisheries Sampling Branch

· NEFSC – Northeast Fisheries Science Center

· NEFOP – Northeast Fisheries Observer Program

· NMFS – National Marine Fisheries Service

· NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

· PTNS – Pre-Trip Notification System

· SOW – Statement of Work

· Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): A representative from the requiring activity assigned by the Contracting Officer to perform surveillance and to act as liaison to the contractor.

Appendix 1. Example of daily message ticket data elements and content:

Please note: with the addition of the Atlantic Herring fishery notifications to the PTNS in 2020, an estimate of 2-3 additional data elements will be required.

Thu 02-May-19 08:21a

TIME STAMP:05/02/2019 07:02A

CSR ID: JFK

CALLER NAME: JOHN DOE

TEL #: 123-456-9999

DAY TRIP OR MULTI DAY: DAY TRIPS

IF DAY TRIPS, # OF NOTIFICATIONS: 7

PERMIT #: 110099

VESSEL NAME: RUBY DOO

SAIL DATES:5/5 – 5/12

SAIL TIME MILITARY TIME ONLY: 2030

FISHERY: MUL

PORT OF DEPARTURE: GLOUCESTER

ESTIMATED TRIP DURATION:1

GEAR USED: OTF

MESH GROUP:5.5>

FISHING REGION:GULF OF MAINE

ARE YOU IN AN EFP? NONE

IF SO WHICH ONE:

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS: NONE

REASON FOR CALL:ROUTINE TRIP

COMMENTS: CHANGED CONTACT PHONE, NEW CAPTAIN