Attachment 14 Questions from Industry with Answers.pdf
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- Solicitation number
- 15JPSS25R00000007
About this file
This document is a Questions and Answers (Q&A) file for a Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Interpretation Services contract solicitation. The document contains 80 questions from potential vendors and the government's corresponding responses, covering technical, administrative, and pricing aspects of the solicitation. Key details include: the contract is a re-compete for language interpretation services with the current contractor being SOS International, with a target award date on or before August 1, 2025. The contract requires interpreters to be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents physically located in the United States, covering on-site interpretation, telephonic interpretation, video remote interpretation, computer-aided real-time transcription, and written translation services across 72 Immigration Courts and three Immigration Adjudicating Centers.
Notable responses address contract specifics such as: requiring offerors to submit proposals for all service categories, a transition period of up to 60 days for a new vendor, mandating 6,000 unique interpreter ID numbers, and prohibiting offshore resources or artificial intelligence. Pricing will be based on hourly rates with minimum hours for different service types, and price increases will be limited to the Consumer Price Index. The government emphasized that the primary function is in-person interpretation for immigration court, and past performance references from federal government customers will be considered more relevant. Proposals must be submitted in hard copy (original and three copies), and the contract aims to ensure high-quality, responsive interpretation services across diverse languages and court locations.
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Department of Justice (DOJ) | Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Interpretation Solicitation Number: 15JPSS25R00000007
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
1 Admin
C.3.2.a, page 9;
C.3.6.e, page 12;
C.4.d, page 17;
C.4.2, page 17
Comment: Some Attachment references appear to contain a discrepancy between their respective file name's attachment number and the attachment number text identifier within the RFP.
Question: Would the Government confirm that the references to Attachment 2, Attachment 3, Attachment 4, and Attachment 6 align with Section C references?
Please see the changed to the RFP in bold and strikethrough language.
2 Price
L.3.1.2 (a), page 94 of 107; RFP Section J, page 86 of 107
RFP Language: L.3.1.2 (a) states "Attachment 6 provides a sample format for a subcontracting plan."
Comment: Attachment 6 as provided in the solicitation is "Languages by Location
– January 1 through December 31, 2024". Section J - List of Attachments does not currently contain a sample format for subcontracting plan.
Question: Would the Government confirm that offerors should submit their subcontracting plans according to FAR 19.7?
Yes. Please submit subcontracting plans in accordance with
FAR 19.7.
3 Admin I.2.4, page 82 of
RFP Language: I.2.4 states "Quoters will be asked to answer and provide information responsive to the questions in the attachment to this solicitation entitled 'Acquisition Risk Questions' to assist the Government in assessing whether the acquisition poses a national security risk."
Question: Would the Government provide the "Acquisition Risk Questions" attachment referenced in I.2.4?
DOJ-06 has been deleted.
4 Admin L.3.1.1.a, page 93 of 107
RFP Language:L.3.1.1.a Section A - Cover Sheet (Standard Form 33) states "Insert your DUNS number in the block with your name and address with the annotation “DUNS” followed by the DUNS number that identifies your name and address exactly as stated in the offer."
Question: Would the Government confirm the offeror is to insert their Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in this block, in lieu of the now obsolete DUNS Number?
The RFP has been corrected to reflect UEI.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
5 Admin L.5, page 100 of
RFP Language: The Government will not accept facsimile submissions of offers for this procurement. It is important that the outer envelope or wrapping of your offer be addressed as follows: (NOTE: Failure to so mark the outer cover could be the cause of your offer being misdirected and received too late at the required destination shown below.) Note: The Department of Justice continues to experience severe disruptions in delivery of mail to its facilities. For this reason, only courier or overnight mail is acceptable.
Question: Would the Government confirm an offeror may elect to courier its proposal directly to the Government in lieu of using commercial carriers? Such an approach would minimize the risk of overnight mail delays due to circumstances outside of an offerors control.
The Department of Justice continues to experience severe disruptions in delivery of mail to its facilities. For this reason, only courier or overnight mail is acceptable. Each Offeror is responsible for to ensure their proposal is delivered and received on time. The Government will not be responsible if a proposal received by the date and time specified in the RFP.
6 Technical L.3.2.4, pages 98-
RFP Language: Provide five references for commensurate projects that are in progress (within one year from the date of the RFP) or were completed within the past three years (Follow-on Awards are not considered a separate reference and will not count as part of the required five projects). References may be from commercial and federal/state government contracts; however, similar court interpretation services performed for Federal government customers will be considered more relevant than those done for commercial or state government customers.
Question: Would the Government confirm each Prime Offeror should submit five past performance citations of its own work (either as a prime contractor or as a subcontractor) and may not rely on one of its subcontractor's past performances to meet this requirement?
Yes, the Prime should submit 5 references.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
7 Subk L.3.2.4.b, page 99 of 107
RFP Language: If any portion of the work in the aggregate amount of $10,000,000 will be subcontracted or performed by a team member, provide five references for the subcontractor/team member as described above.
Comment: At an anticipated ceiling value of $700m over 7 years, the $10 million threshold related to past performance submissions could require prime offerors to submit past performance citations for subcontractors that are performing just 1.5% of the contract's total value (e.g. $10 million of $700 million), an amount equal to just $1.5 million per year. This could cause many proposed large or small business subcontractors to submit past performance citations, increasing the complexity of the proposal evaluation process.
Question: Would the Government consider adjusting this instruction to require offerors to submit past performance citations for any subcontractors that will perform more than $10m per year or more than 10% of contract's total value?
Such an approach would likely simplify past performance evaluations and enable the Government to focus on the prime offeror's performance and the performance of subcontractors that will have a significant impact on the program.
Please see L.3.2.4 Past Performance both a. and b.
8 Price Attachment 1 Pricing Table with Current rates
RFP Language: Claiming SDB/HUBZone Adjustment Comment: There is no formula calculating this adjustment in cells C15 and C16.
Question: Would the Government provide an updated pricing file with formulas in cells C15 and C16?
Attachment 1 Pricing Table has been revised to remove this tab.
9 Price Attachment 1 Pricing Table with Current rates
RFP Language: Summary Tab, Line 15 Comment: Line 15 seems to suggest that the Government will consider a price evaluation preference for SDB offerors.
Question: For the avoidance of confusion among offerors, will the Government please remove Line 15 in the Summary Tab of Attachment 1 given that SDB pricing preferences were removed from the FAR in 2014 due, in part, to their unconstitutionality? (See 79 FR 61746.)
Attachment 1 Pricing Table has been revised to remove this tab.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
10 Price Attachment 1 Pricing Table with Current rates
RFP Language: Claiming SDB/HUBZone Adjustment Comment: There is no formula calculating this adjustment in cells C15 and C16.
Question: Would the Government confirm that a prime offeror that is a large business (and therefore not a SDB or a HUBZone) would only receive one 10% price adjustment and will not receive two 10% price adjustments (e.g. one each for SDB and HUBZone)?
Attachment 1 Pricing Table has been revised to remove this tab.
11 Technical H.5, page 40 of 107
RFP Language: Access to/safeguarding of classified information will be required.
Question: Would the Government confirm that it requires offerors performing on this contract to have access to and safeguard classified information, and if so, provide a DD 254 with the solicitation and indicate which staff shall need that access and what level of classified access will be required (e.g. CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, or TOP SECRET)?
H.5 has been removed.
12 Technical H.5; page 40 of 107
RFP Language: Section H.5 states that “Access to and safeguarding of classified information will be required Comment: The marking before the clause indicates that Alternate I sections applies.
Question: Could the Government please confirm that the Alternate I sections do not apply and personnel performing under the contract are not required to access or safeguard classified information that will require clearance from the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.
H.5 has been removed.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
13 Technical H.5, page 43 of 107
RFP Language: 3. Background Investigation Requirements
(a) (1) Unless otherwise stated below, all contractor personnel are subject to a Public Trust Investigation (PTI). The SPM will determine the type of investigation for each contractor employee based on the risk category (i.e., the nature of the position and degree of harm that could be caused by the individual in that position) and whether the position is long-term or short-term. The PTI risk categories are listed below.
(i) High Risk Positions. The minimum background investigation required is a Tier 4 (T4) investigation, and the five-year reinvestigation required is a Tier 4R (T4R) investigation. The 2017 version of the Standard Form (SF) 85P, Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions, is required.
(ii) Moderate Risk Positions. The minimum background investigation required is a Tier 2 (T2) investigation. The five-year reinvestigation required is a Tier 2R (T2R) investigation. The 2017 version of the SF-85P is required.
(iii) Low Risk/Non-Sensitive Positions. The minimum background investigation required for Low Risk/Non-Sensitive positions is a Tier 1 (T1) investigation and the required five-year reinvestigation is also a Tier 1 (T1) investigation. The SF 85, Questionnaire for Non� Sensitive Positions, is required.
Question: Would the Government confirm that courtroom interpreters are considered Moderate Risk Positions and require a T2 public trust investigation?
H.5 has been removed.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
14 Technical H.5, page 40 of 107
RFP Language: H.5 states “Work performed under this contract will involve any one or more of the following: access to DOJ Information, which may include Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), i.e., unclassified, sensitive DOJ information, and/or access to DOJ Information Technology (IT) systems, and/or unescorted access to DOJ space or facilities. Contractor employees will occupy Public Trust Positions, unless clause alternates are applied”.
Comment: We understand the Government requires contractors who process CUI to comply with NIST 800-171, “Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations.”
Question: Would the Government consider requiring offerors to submit evidence of their compliance with NIST 800-171 as part of their business proposal? Such compliance could most easily be demonstrated through submittal of a self-attestation form and System Security Plan (SSP) detailing use of appropriate data environments such as Microsoft's Government Community Cloud High (GCCH) .
H.5 has been removed.
15 Admin L.3.d, page 93 of
RFP Language: Type (font) size must be no less than 11 point except for labels and headings (used with graphics, tables, and figures), which may be smaller.
Question: Are screenshots/images exempt from font requirements?
Yes, but they still need to be able to be read and understood.
16 Admin L.3.d, page 93 of
RFP Language: Type (font) size must be no less than 11 point except for labels and headings (used with graphics, tables, and figures), which may be smaller.
Question: Would the Government confirm text within graphics, tables, and figures may be smaller than 11 point?
No, we request 11 point font.
17 Admin L.3.1.4(a), page 95 of 107
RFP Language: The Offeror shall complete the Price Table shown in Attachment
1. This Attachment contains unit prices for every language category and other language services for which the Offeror is bidding. The Offeror shall include unit prices for the base year and all option periods.
Question: Would the Government confirm that offerors may format the Attachment_1_Pricing_Table.xlsx to ensure the text in each cell is visible and that it can be legibly printed?
Attachment 1 Pricing Table has been adjusted.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
18 Admin L.3.1.4(a), page 95 of 107
RFP Language: The Offeror shall complete the Price Table shown in Attachment
1. This Attachment contains unit prices for every language category and other language services for which the Offeror is bidding. The Offeror shall include unit prices for the base year and all option periods.
Comment: Attachment 1_Pricing_Table.xlsx uses mixed fonts (11 point Calibri and Aptos Narrow).
Question: Would the Government confirm that offerors may format this file so that it contains a single font type?
Attachment 1 Pricing Table has been adjusted.
19 Technical
Section B.3.2(a)2, page 4 of 107;
C.3.6, page 11 of 107; C.3.7, page 12 of 107; L.3.2.2, pages 96-97 of 107;
Attachment 7
Question: Would the Government confirm offerors shall submit at least 6000 unique ID numbers for qualified interpreters as part of the Staffing Plan for this proposal, and if so, would it confirm this content may be an appendix outside of page count? Such an approach would generate a spreadsheet in excess of 100 pages if printed.
Yes, the Government confirms that they shall submit the ID numbers. Yes, it may be an Appendix.
We would like to know if this is a brand new contract OR if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services.
If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number?
This is a re-compete contract for language interpretation services. The current contract is 15JPSS20D00000366 with SOS International.
Would it be possible for us to submit our upcoming documents via email? We believe this change will help us contribute to more environmentally-friendly practices.
No, all proposals are required to be submitted in hard copy:
Original and three Copies.
22 n/a Could the Government state what are some challenges encountered on the current contract?
Challenges that the Government has encountered are-
1) Finding certain Very Uncommon Languages,
2) Interpreters needing to leave prior to dismissal by the Judge, and
3) Securing in-person interpreters when requested.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
23 L.3.2.2 Staffing Plan
Section L.3.2.2.b.1 requires offerors to discuss: "The distribution of interpreters necessary to meet all contract requirements, i.e., how many interpreters the contractor has available through existing negotiated work agreements) around the country and for what languages. NOTE: please include ONLY qualified court interpreters who are physically located within the United States and who are currently (within the past 12 months) working for your company."
Q: Please confirm that the agency does not intend to require offerors to demonstrate that they can meet the full level of effort of this contract through current personnel alone. Such a requirement would provide an unfair competitive advantage to the incumbent contractor. Given that many incumbent personnel will likely transition to the successful offeror upon award, will the agency please clarify that offerors are permitted to satisfy the solicitation’s Staffing Plan requirements through a combination of their current personnel and personnel they intend to recruit upon award?
The Government would like the offeror to demonstrate how it knows whom to recruit and how it plans do so within the 30 day transition period.
24 L.3.2.3 Management
Section L.3.2.3.f requires offerors to discuss: "A Transition Plan that addresses how the offeror will assume contract performance requirements. Assume that the contract will be awarded on July 31, 2025 with the transition/start-up period to be completed - and full performance to commence - on or about September 1, 2025.
Provide a detailed schedule and describe how you will ensure that all staff are fully trained and prepared to assume all contract duties at the close of the transition period."
Q: Given the nationwide scope, complexity, and high volume of this program, a 30-day transition period would create an unfair competitive advantage for the incumbent contractor, as a new awardee would require additional time to ensure a seamless and low-risk transition.. Will the agency please revise the solicitation to specify at least a 60-day transition period, to ensure that the successful offeror can conduct all necessary recruitment and training and implement necessary systems without disruption to ongoing operations?
If a new vendor is awarded the contract, the transition period could be up to 60 days.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
25 L.3.2.3 Management
L.3.2.3 Management Section f states: "A Transition Plan that addresses how the offeror will assume contract performance requirements. Assume that the contract will be awarded on July 31, 2025 with the transition/start-up period to be completed - and full performance to commence - on or about September 1, 2025."
Q. Will the Government provide or facilitate providing a list of incumbent interpreters to the successful offeror?
No this will not be provided.
F.7.2 Liquidated Damages for Nonperformance of Services
The first table states that "liquidated damages will not be assessed as outlined in the table below." There are 5 tables below the first table discussing liquidated damages.
Q. Will the Government clarify which tables are relevant for this contract?
All of the tables are relevant. Each one states the type of damage and associated cost.
27 L.3.2.4 Past Performance
Section L.3.2.4.b states "If any portion of the work in the aggregate amount of $10,000,000 will be subcontracted or performed by a team member, provide five references for the subcontractor/team member as described above."
Q: Will the Government confirm the prime contractor and major subcontractors are each required to submit 5 references, or is the contractor team to submit a total of 5 past performance references?
Please see the answer to 7, above.
We respectfully request that the evaluation criteria be revised to include the proposed technological solution as a scored factor, in alignment with the Administration’s and DOJ’s stated priorities around transparency, innovation, and operational efficiency.
The evaluation criteria will remain as indicated, The primary function of this contract is for In-Person Interpretation for the Immigration Court.
Will the government revise the SOW and consider a reduction in Past Performance points to prior proposal levels (10 points) and increasing other maximum point score values to better align SOW scorable requirements to Technical Evaluation Factors.
No - the points will remain at 20.
Will the government revise the SOW and consider the following, “[r]eferences may be from commercial and federal/state government contracts; however, efforts similar in scope and nature for recruitment, staffing, interpretation efforts at the federal level will be considered more relevant…”
The wording in the SOW will remain.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
We respectfully request revision to the government’s statement that “The total number of interpreter and language combination should equal 6000,” to reflect that it is not the government’s intention to replace the entire 1099 labor force currently supporting EOIR’s efforts. We recommend language that acknowledges part of a Contractor’s recruitment plan may include capture efforts of the existing 1099 labor force and recommends words to the effect of, “The total number of interpreters supporting the languages required for this effort should equal to 6000. This total may include actual resources and those derived from an assumption to capture incumbent resources.
The LSU determined that, based on 250 work days per year, there are approximately 750+ orders per day. 6,000 divided by this number equals eight interpreters. The LSU believes 6,000 is a reasonable total number having eight interpreters as possible candidates for each assignment is not out of line.
We do not record calls or store any personal information such as PII or PHI in our system. For billing purposes, we collect only essential details such as time and date of the call, language requested, the interpreter assigned, and the call duration. However, for quality assurance purposes our Senior Language Specialist my evaluate an interpreter’s performance in real time during a live session. Would this approach be acceptable?
Section C.3.8.1 states "2. To ensure each interpreter’s proficiency in his/her respective interpretation language(s) and the English language, and to ensure that the interpreter possesses adequate interpretation skills, the Contractor shall perform an ongoing interpreter evaluation process pursuant to the Interpreter Evaluation Plan originally submitted in its proposal."
33 Are vendors required to submit proposals for all service categories listed, or is it acceptable to submit for only one or two of the requested services? Yes, propose for all services.
34 What is the breakdown of VRI, OPI, On-site, CART in hours and per language as it relates to the last 12 months?
The Pricing Attachment provided breaks down the List by demand.
35 Will this be a sole source award? We are looking for a single award as indicated in Section L, L.1
36 Could the offeror provide a per minute rate instead of a per hour rate for telephonic and video remote interpretation services?
No. Telephonic, VRI, and OSI are based on the hour. The RFP states that the minimum for telephonic is 1 Hour, VRI is 2 Hours, and OSI is 3 Hours. This information is located starting in B.3.2.a.8.
37 Would it be acceptable for the offeror to include additional pricing details, such as a breakdown by language and per-word rates for written translation services? No additional pricing breakdown is needed.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
Are there times when appointments can be covered via on-demand interpreters, both audio (telephonic), assuming the interpreter has prior approval to take calls through EOIR staff or will all appointments be scheduled in advance?
On-demand is not part of this contract. All orders are scheduled in advance in this contract.
Does each location own or lease its equipment? If so, how many iPads, stands/carts, computers, etc., are in 8use, and are there plans to replace them with the new contract?
No, the courts do not provide equipment for the interpreters beyond the shared usage of the simultaneous interpretation equipment.
40 How many dual handset phones are available at each location? If not, how many of these types of phones are needed at each location?
No dual handset phones are available and will not be needed or used.
41 Does each location use analog dual handset phones? If yes, how many? Please see the answer to 40, above.
42 Could you share your current process for requesting, submitting, and finalizing / approving translation projects?
Requests are received from various components from EOIR and funneled through the LSU to the vendor in electronic format.
All translations should be certified by the vendor for accuracy.
43 Please share your usage statistics for VRI in 2023, including total minutes and total calls, broken down by top languages for each location.
All VRI statistics for 2024 were provided in the pricing attachment. No further data will be available.
Can you provide your historical volume for translation services, broken down by language and turnaround times (TAT) in the last 12 months? Please specify if this is an annual or monthly volume
Please see Attachment 2.
45 How often do you request document translations? About five translations each for the top 5 langauges per week.
Spanish and Mandarin are done mostly in house.
46 Will translation and localization projects be managed centrally, or will they be handled by individual departments or locations? All language requests are issued through the LSU.
47 Do you currently use a translation portal for submitting and retrieving files? No
48 What is the target date of the award? Target date is on or before August 1, 2025
49 Are the interpreter names providing services for the current contract public knowledge? If so, where can that list be found. No
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
Please provide historical volumes per service category (On-Site Interpretation (OSI), scheduled Over the Phone Interpretation (OPI) also referred to as telephonic (regardless of the platform used), Video Remote Interpretation (VRI), written translation, Computer Aided Real-Time Transcription (CART), and transcription/translation of recordings services).
Please see the answer to 44, above.
51 Please provide historical volumes with breakdown by language. Re breakdown by language, please separate, at the very minimum, Spanish and All Other. Please see the answer to 44, above.
52 Please list current incumbents. The current contractor is SOS International.
53 Please list incumbent(s)’ rates. We will not be providing the incumbant's rates.
54 Please provide historical spend. This will not be provided.
55 Please provide projected volumes. Please see the answer to 44, above.
56 Please provide budgeted spend, or projected budget. No this will not be provided.
Please specify what certified means in the context of L.3.1.3 Business/Pricing Questionnaire. b. Offeror’s most current certified balance sheet, income, and profit and loss statement.
We are requesting a CPA certified balance sheet, income and profit and loss statement.
Please specify the difference, if any, between income, and profit and loss statement in the context of L.3.1.3 Business/Pricing Questionnaire. b. Offeror’s most current certified balance sheet, income, and profit and loss statement.
An income statement, also known as a profit and loss (P&L) statement, is a financial report that summarizes a company's revenues, expenses, and resulting profits or losses over a specific period. It's a crucial tool for understanding a business's financial performance and profitability.
59 Please define SDB. Small Disadvantaged Business
60 Please define HUBZone. Historically Under-utilized Business Zones
Summary worksheet in Attachment 1 Pricing Table does not allow for entry of Yes / No and instructions for cell references for claiming SB and / or HUBZone do not match the worksheet.
Attachment 1 Pricing Table has been revised to remove this tab.
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
Please confirm if travel can be billed separately given that there are 72 Immigration Courts and three Immigration Adjudicating Centers. This becomes important in the context of On-Site Interpretation (OSI) for less common languages.
The contract unit prices included in the pricing table shall be fixed rates. All fixed rates unit prices must be fully loaded to include all costs (both direct and indirect costs) to include program management and travel as well as any profit necessary to provide the level of service specified in the contract.
63 Pricing Notes, line 5, in Attachment 1 Pricing Table does not correspond to L.3.1.4 Pricing Tables. B. 4. Be limited to two decimal places for services.
Please round up pricing to 2 decimal places. Excel allows for more decimal places to be utilized.
64 Are vendors allowed to use offshore resources for OPI, VRI, written translation and transcription/translation?
All asigned interpreters in additon to being a United States Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident must be physically located in the US at the time of the assignment.
65 Please expand on CART Combined SP and ENG in Attachment 1 Pricing Table.
Computer Aided Real-Time Transcription (CART) is a requirement issued by the Government, charged in accordance with Attachment 1 Pricing Table. The CART services are generally in either English or Spanish but may be requested in other languages.
The industry standard is to charge for transcription/translation of recordings services per minute. Would you consider changing the unit of measurement to per minute?
Please see the answer to 35, above.
67 Please confirm whether transcription/translation of recordings services will be always accompanied by translation. Yes, transcription will ALWAYS be accompanied by translation.
68 What are the most frequent challenges you have faced with SOSi recently? See answer 23, above.
69 What is the rationale for awarding this contract to only one primary Language Service Provider (LSP)?
Having more than one contract would not necessarily increase the number of interpreters and logistically this would be extremely difficult to manage and divide services.
Can we include our already contracted independent contractors as subcontractors to meet the minority-owned subcontractor criteria outlined in the Small Business Subcontracting Plan table?
Yes
Technical, Cost, or Admin
RFP Section, Page Question / Comments DOJ Answers / Responses
Is it possible for us to bid on separate service lines (e.g., OPI and VRI only)? If the contract is awarded to a single vendor, should we assume the answer is NO?
Please confirm if our RFP response must encompass all services.
The response to the RFP should encompass all services.
72 Could you confirm the current charges by SOSi for each service line? For instance, by minute for OPI and VRI, and by hour for Onsite services? No this will not be provided.
73 What was the total expenditure by EOIR with SOSi in FY 2024? Can you provide the FY 2024 spending details by service line? No this will not be provided.
74 What concerns has EOIR raised regarding their current vendor? No this will not be provided.
Would you be interested in incorporating VRI iPad carts as part of the remote OPI/VRI services? If so, how many would be required and at which locations? Are there any other equipment needs for interpretation sessions?
No
76 Does SOSi currently use any “offshore” resources for their remote services like OPI or VRI? No. Offshore resources may not be utilized.
77 Would EOIR consider accepting remote submissions for the proposal? No, all proposals are required to be submitted in hard copy:
Original and three (3) Copies.
78 Have you considered a billing model that charges “per minute” instead of “per hour” with minimums for remote services (OPI/VRI)?
Telephonic, VRI, and OSI are based on the hour. The RFP states that the minimum for telephonic is 1 Hour, VRI is 2 Hours, and OSI is 3 Hours. This information is located starting in B.3.2.a.8.
Our company is currently using AI for interpreter monitoring. Is EOIR open to integrating new features such as Artificial Intelligence to enhance efficiencies and interpretation sessions?
No AI.
80 Are the price increases in the subsequent years limited to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or documented labor rates? Yes for using the CPI.
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