2-550595 RFI.pdf

Request for Information City of Detroit Housing Resources

Helpline

RFI No: 55095

Disclaimer

This Request for Information (RFI) is for information and planning purposes only, and should not be construed as a solicitation for applications or as an obligation on the part of the City of Detroit (City). The City does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted, or the City’s use of such information. Although "proposal" and "offeror"' may be used in this RFI, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

Detroit Housing Resource Helpline (RFI Helpline)

1. Overview / Purpose

The City of Detroit seeks feedback from experienced call center operators (especially those with social service delivery experience) to support and possibly upgrade the Detroit Housing Resource Helpline.

The Helpline provides a single, streamlined phone entry point for Detroiters needing housing-related services, launched/expanded to support large-scale demand.

Demand is high: the Helpline handled 100,000+ calls in 2025, and the City projects the system must triage and handle ~120,000 calls annually (with peak/high-volume days).

The goal of this RFI (Request for Information) is for the City of Detroit to capture market insight on both Call Center Operations and Call Center Technology/Integration.

Responses to this RFI may provide information for one or both tracks. The City will utilize the knowledge gained from this RFI to produce more comprehensive RFPs (Request for Proposals) for future projects.

2. Program Context

Background includes:

2021: Detroit Eviction Assistance and Prevention Program hotline (legal help and prior emergency rental assistance access)

May 2023: Transition to Detroit Housing Resource Helpline for broader housing services

August 2023: Integration of the Coordinated Access Model (CAM) for emergency shelter intake (CAM now accounts for nearly 30% of calls)

Helpline operators screen/vet eligibility, then share resources and make referrals to stabilize housing.

3. Core Goals for the System

The desired system should:

EƯiciently screen and route residents to best-fit services

Enable early and frequent intervention across housing instability stages

Consolidate siloed housing resources into one entry point

Optimize City + partner resources for highest-need residents

Reduce inflows into homelessness and improve housing stability outcomes

4. Functional Requirements (Key Capabilities)

4.1 Intake & Triage

Internal intake + triage for emergency and non-emergency needs

Multi-step scripts/logic to screen for all relevant services, including secondary supports (employment, inspections, social safety net benefits)

4.2 Data & Referral

Secure, comprehensive data capture (needs, outcomes, services delivered)

Ability to forward caller data to programs via integrations with systems such as:

Smartsheet, Snowflake, Tableau, Salesforce, Google, Corteza/Pathways, and other CRMs/case management software

End-of-intake data handoƯ to the appropriate housing programs

4.3 Service Hours & Routing

Operable Mon–Fri 8am–6pm and Sat 9am–12pm

Route to an after-hours emergency line

Maintain the existing resident-facing phone number: 866-313-2520

4.4 Multilingual Support

Phone tree greeting options with translation including (at minimum):

English, Spanish, Arabic, Bengali

“Including but not limited to” additional languages as needed

4.5 Outreach / Follow-Up

Support for text message, email, and robocall outreach

Follow-up outbound texts/calls for residents contacting Helpline after hours

Provide an updated tenant-centered housing resource inventory via email and/or text

4.6 Quality Assurance & Recordkeeping

Maintain electronic and recorded records for Helpline calls

Regular documented quality assurance process reviewing calls and reporting results/actions to the City

4.7 Tracking & Metrics

Track and report:

call volumes calls received/handled wait times handling/processing time call reasons and outcomes resources shared direct referrals made

4.8 Change Management

Update screening/logic within:

7 days for non-emergencies

24 hours for emergencies

5. Reliability, Security, and Compliance Requirements

5.1 Availability / Resilience

99.99% uptime

Backup, crisis-management, business-continuity, and disaster-recovery:

geographic diversity annual testing

15-minute RTO

30-minute RPO recovery staƯing

5.2 Access Control / Identity

Multifactor authentication

Unique accounts

Account lifecycle management

Role/group mapping

Least privilege

Admin access controls and timeouts

5.3 Data Security

Encrypt data in transit and at rest

Identify protocols, algorithms, key-management approach, and limitations

Vulnerability management, patching, penetration testing, malware protection

Security monitoring, logging, alerting, and incident response

Capability for US-based data storage and SOC 2 reporting

5.4 Audit Logging

Maintain detailed, searchable audit logs for:

access, failed logins record creation/changes/deletions configuration, permissions, integrations, exports administrative activity

6. Work Proposal / Required Responses (RFI Questions)

RFI Question / Required Response

Call Center Technology/Integration Questionnaire

1. Provide an implementation timeline for system design, installation, configuration, implementation, and testing.

2. Describe tools to review, flag, score, or audit agent interactions for QA purposes.

3. Describe solution capabilities to track and report metrics, including systems/processes/tools used.

4. Provide a complete solution architecture (contact-center, IVR, CRM/case-management, messaging, reporting, integration, hosting, security, third-party components).

5. Provide a data-flow diagram showing City/contractor/partner systems, data direction, interface method, frequency, security boundary, and system of record.

6. Identify hosting/deployment model, cloud provider, service regions, data residency, tenant model, production/test environments, and all hosting subcontractors.

7. Share maximum supported agents, concurrent calls, calls per hour, queue size, callback volume, outbound-message volume, and storage capacity.

8. Describe capabilities to measure/report answer speed, abandonment, wait time, handle time, hold time, transfer rate, callback performance, and service-level attainment.

9. Describe how the solution protects City Internal, Confidential, Restricted, PII, and other regulated data.

10. Describe the ability to integrate with and across diƯerent external data systems and CRMs.

11. Identify all proposed AI/chatbot/virtual assistant/routing/transcription/summarization/agent-assist/automated decision features and complete the City AI Factsheet for each applicable use.

12.For any AI tools: describe human oversight, accuracy testing, bias/risk controls, logging, data retention, model/provider changes, training-data use, and ability to disable AI features.

13. Please list all case management, ticketing, or workflow software that your solution natively supports, including but not limited to Smartsheet, Snowflake, Tableau, Salesforce, Google, Corteza/Pathways, SeeClickFix and Accela.

14. Does your solution have any native translation capabilities? If so, which languages are currently supported?

Call Center Operation Questionnaire

1. Provide a detailed description of your proposed solution and methodology to eƯiciently screen, triage, and connect high volumes of callers to appropriate, best-fit housing resources.

2. The Helpline has historically received ~120,000 calls per year, with high-volume days of 1,500. Describe how your proposed solution navigates high demand (staƯing, automation, logic processes) to ensure residents are promptly assisted, abandonment rates are minimized, and initial waiting times do not exceed five minutes.

3. Summarize the extent of your organization’s experience in conducting similar projects or delivering similar services for public agencies. What has that experience taught you?

4. Describe your solution’s approach (including automation) to ensure residents are identified for, connected to, and enrolled in appropriate services (seamless intake/enrollment, supportive services, waitlist management, connectivity to referral processes, etc.).

5. Describe continuous quality improvement and performance measurement. Include 1– 2 examples where you made operational/programmatic changes based on data collected.

6. Describe KPIs/performance metrics and/or compliance metrics used to track delivery and success.

7.Provide references/evidence for comparable public-sector contact-center implementations, API integrations, security controls, performance, transition, and data-management experience.

8. Please outline the staƯing roles required to operate and maintain your solution (agent, supervisor, QA, admin, etc.). Include recommended staƯing ratios based on call volume.

Additionally, summarize the level of technical expertise and role City staƯ would need to configure, manage, and sustain the solution over time.