Attachment 4 GOVERNMENT Responses 1.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 15 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 205AE9-26-Q-00053
About this file
This file is a Government Responses Q&A Log addressing Phase 1 clarification requests for a Master IDIQ solicitation (205AE9-26-Q-00053) for IRS Audio-Visual and Video Teleconferencing Enterprise Systems Integration.
The Government clarifies critical administrative and technical requirements for offerors submitting Phase 1 proposals by the revised deadline of Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 5:00 PM EST. Key corrections include: Attachment #1 (Revision 1) now contains the previously missing "Installed Equipment Baseline" worksheet detailing 410 active conference spaces; sub-CLIN 0002A2 does not exist and requires no pricing; CLIN 0002 maintenance is priced per device per year, net of active OEM warranties; all formula errors in pricing and travel summation have been corrected; duplicate part numbers for Poly Studio X52/X72 and lines 0005AJ/0005AK have been resolved; no product substitutions or "equal" offerings are permitted at the Master IDIQ level; and all installation, integration, programming, and commissioning labor must be fully burdened into CLIN 0005/0006 hardware unit prices. For Phase 1 compliance, offerors must submit Volume I (Brand Authorizations and Cybersecurity Addendum) and native Excel Attachment #3 (51% Prime Performance calculation and Technical Certification Matrix) showing that proposed personnel collectively hold active Crestron CCP/CTS, HP Poly video collaboration, and Q-SYS Level 2/Architect credentials. Representations and Certifications need only be certified as current in SAM.gov via transmittal letter rather than submitted physically. Past Performance Questionnaires must be embedded in Volume III; email submissions may not exceed 25 MB per attachment and may be split across multiple emails with sequence notation. Only vendors passing the binary Phase 1 gate will receive formal Phase 2 invitations by September 23, 2026, to submit detailed technical narratives and pricing proposals by October 13, 2026.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| II_2 205AE9-26-Q-00053 0002 Amendment.pdf | ||
| II_2 205AE9-26-Q-00053 0001 Amendment.pdf | ||
| II_2 Attachment 1_Pricing Sheet_UPDATE 1.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| V_1_205AE9-26-Q-00053 0001 Amendment.pdf | ||
| Phase 1 Staffing Workbook Attachment 3 Update 1.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| I_4 JOFOC Final August 2026 Redacted.pdf | ||
| Attachment 3_Monthly Staffing Report.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Cover Notice.pdf | ||
| Attachment 1_Pricing Sheet.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment 2_Past_Performance_Questionnaire_PPQ.pdf | ||
| II_1 RFP 205AE9-26-Q-00053 August 2026 phased 9.pdf |
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Sheet1
| QUESTIONS | RESPONSES |
| SPECIAL MANDATORY ORDER: PHASE 1 INQUIRY ISOLATIONIn strict accordance with Section L.1.2.1 (Phase-Gate Inquiry Isolation Rule), the Contracting Officer is reviewing and responding exclusively to clarification requests that impact the immediate Phase 1 Administrative Dual-Artifact Gateway closing on September 21, 2026. Inquiries regarding Phase 2 technical approach formatting, qualitative narrative sub-factors, past performance templates, or out-year hardware unit pricing are completely barred at this stage and will receive no response. | |
| CLINs 0002A1 and 0002B1 cite "reference tab, Installed Equipment." The posted workbook contains no Installed Equipment tab. Please provide this inventory | The Government concurs. Attachment #1 (Revision 1) has been updated to include a fully populated "Installed Equipment Baseline" worksheet tab, detailing the explicit geographic, model, and configuration tracking metrics for the 410 active conference spaces currently deployed across nationwide IRS facilities. |
| The posted pricing matrix contains no data row or input cell for sub-CLIN 0002A2, which is listed in the RFP text. Bidders risk elimination under Section M.3.4 for missing data cells | The Government clarifies that sub-CLIN 0002A2 does not exist and is not a requirement under this solicitation. It does not appear within the RFP Schedule, Section B, Section C (PWS), or the QASP. No pricing input or calculation is required or authorized for a non-existent item. Bidders shall restrict their maintenance entries strictly to the active rows provided within Attachment #1 (Revision 1) |
| Please confirm the unit of measure for CLIN 0002 maintenance lines, and whether counts are net of active warranties | The unit of measure for CLIN 0002 maintenance lines is Per Device, Per Year, as explicitly structured in the rows of Attachment #1 (Revision 1). Baseline device counts are net of active warranties. In strict compliance with the Master IDIQ rules, no asset will incur contract maintenance charges while sitting under an active OEM or installer warranty. |
| Out-year extended-price formulas for Years 2 through 5 multiply out-year quantities by the Year 1 unit price cell ($G5), blocking year-specific escalation pricing across the five-year window. Additionally, CLIN 0003 travel total formulas omit Year 3 and Year 5 | The Government has completely rebuilt the mathematical formula loops within Attachment #1 (Revision 1). Travel summation cells have been stretched to pull all ordering periods, and yearly quantity blocks have been added for the Poly TC10/TC8 lines |
| Section M.3.4 states any proposal that leaves a single cell blank or inputs a zero value will be eliminated, but the Government template pre-populates zero quantities in numerous out-year cells. Please clarify | The zero-tolerance cell completeness prohibition applies strictly to offeror-entered unit price fields. Extended price columns that naturally compute to $0.00 against a Government-provided zero-quantity cell are mathematically compliant. Offerors must input a valid unit price ceiling for all ordering rows where a quantity greater than zero is specified by the agency. |
| Line 0006A (Poly Studio X52) and line 0006E (Poly Studio X72) both cite an identical part number. Similarly, lines 0005AJ and 0005AK contain duplicate part numbers. Please correct | Part-number discrepancies have been resolved inside Attachment #1 (Revision 1). |
| For items designated Brand or Equal (BE), must offerors price the exact part number listed or can they propose an equal product at the IDIQ level? | Yes. To maintain strict configuration control across the unified enterprise ecosystem, no substitutions or "equal" product placements will be evaluated or accepted at the Master IDIQ level |
| Please confirm how installation, integration, programming, and commissioning labor for CLIN 0005/0006 deployments is to be priced, since Attachment #1 contains no room deployment milestone line items | All engineering, installation, programming, configuration mapping, and commissioning labor costs must be fully burdened and wrapped directly into the FFP hardware unit prices listed under CLIN 0005 and CLIN 0006. The price evaluation will account for this integrated burden when assessing unit-price reasonableness under FAR 15.404-1(b) |
| Please confirm whether CLIN 0004 extended labor rate amounts are included in the Total Evaluated Price (TEP), or whether the stated hours serve only to normalize rate evaluation | The extended values for the FFP Labor Categories (CLIN 0004 Rows 19–28) serve exclusively as a standardized pricing baseline to normalize rate evaluation for the contract file |
| Please confirm whether the management solution is contractor-hosted or deployed within the IRS enclave, and where the software and endpoint licenses are to be priced | The management platform will be deployed within the secure IRS network enclave under an agency-managed Approval to Operate (ATO). Bidders must bundle and burden all software utilities, license costs, and maintenance hooks into the core conference hardware components listed under CLIN 0005. |
| The PWS requires Assistive Listening Systems, occupancy/environmental sensors, and room scheduling display tablets, but Attachment #1 contains no line items for this equipment | This ancillary hardware footprint is completely decoupled from the master hardware list and will be acquired dynamically via the Novel Asset Class framework (Section 4.3.A.2) at the individual task order layer utilizing the contract's pre-negotiated fully burdened labor category caps |
| Please confirm offerors propose their own flat-rate per-trip charges under CLIN 0003, with $1,931,704.71 operating as a ceiling. | Confirmed. Offerors must input their own localized, flat-rate per-trip charges within the CLIN 0003 fields. |
| Will an Authorized Purchaser Letter suffice in lieu of an Authorized Reseller Letter for all six core enterprise platforms | No. To clear the ecosystem branding screen, offerors must submit clear, physical evidence (such as manufacturer-signed partnership letters) explicitly proving Authorized Reseller Standing directly from the OEMs. An Authorized Purchaser designation through unvetted third-party distributors fails this safety control and will be rated Unacceptable. |
| Please confirm whether Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) is a required platform for which Offerors must provide corporate authorization and support-track evidence in Phase 1 Volume I. | Confirmed. For Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR), because authorizations are anchored at the hardware compute layer, the Government will accept a formal corporate statement certifying that the offeror is an approved partner of an OEM hardware provider whose computing cores are natively certified by Microsoft to run MTR software architectures. |
| Please clarify what evidence satisfies the “Verified Technical Support Track” requirement for each platform. | The Government will accept manufacturer-signed partnership letters explicitly referencing support or service entitlements, an OEM partner-tier confirmation that details direct access to technical support channels, or active service agreements showing an open technical escalation track with the manufacturer |
| Must the Offeror attach a full signed copy of Section K with its Phase 1 submission, or is it sufficient to state in the transmittal letter that its Representations and Certifications are current in SAM.gov? | In accordance with streamlined RFO commercial optimization procedures, offerors are NOT required to submit or attach a physical, written copy of Section K with their initial Phase 1 administrative package. It is fully sufficient for the offeror to include a clear certification statement within their Volume I transmittal letter affirming that their corporate Representations, Certifications, and Acknowledgements are current, active, and thoroughly updated within the online SAM.gov database |
| Would the Government consider making the lifecycle credentials position-specific rather than requiring all field technicians to hold advanced programming certifications? | The Government clarifies that the certification gate is a collective team filter. The Phase 1 Technical Certification Matrix does not require every individual field installer to be cross-certified as a programmer. The proposed technical team roster must collectively demonstrate that they possess the certified credentials (CCP, PCVE, Q-SYS L2) required to cover the four core lifecycles. |
| Are Offerors required to include personnel certification information in the Volume I PDF, or only in Attachment #3? | The binary check occurs inside the spreadsheet. Bidders must list their credentials inside the Technical Certification Matrix worksheet tab of Attachment #3. However, the physical transcripts, manufacturer-issued certificates, and signed letters of commitment backing up that grid must be bundled inside the Volume I PDF. These personnel certificates are completely excluded from the 15-page Volume I ceiling restriction. |
| Please confirm which Crestron and Poly certifications satisfy the requirement, specifically whether CTI tracking certs or current HP equivalents qualify. | Please confirm which Crestron and Poly certifications satisfy the requirement, specifically whether CTI tracking certs or current HP equivalents qualify.Government Response: Active Crestron Certified Programmer (CCP) or Crestron Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) credentials satisfy the baseline. Basic CTI Core or Flex Design tracking courses alone are insufficient. For the Poly baseline, current active HP Poly video collaboration credentials issued under the revised vendor program satisfy the retired PCVE requirement. Active Q-SYS Level 2 or Q-SYS Architect credentials satisfy the audio tier. |
| The file provided as Attachment #3 is titled "Attachment 4b – Monthly Workforce Report," a post-award monthly deliverable. Please provide the pre-award Staffing Plan Table template intended for proposal submission | The Government has extracted the incorrect post-award log and published Attachment #3 (Revision 1) – Phase 1 Proposal Labor Hour Allocation Workbook [INDEX_0.1.179]. To maintain compliance with the original RFP instructions, no cost projections, pricing, or financial rates shall be entered within the Phase 1 Staffing Volume. Compliance with the 51% prime performance threshold under RFO 52.419-14 is evaluated purely on Level of Effort (LOE) expressed as total estimated labor hours over the 5-year lifecycle |
| Please confirm equipment, software, travel, and other materials are excluded from the denominator of the Attachment #3 51% calculation, and confirm the applicable threshold since the solicitation states 51% while the standard clause is 50% | Confirmed. In accordance with FAR 52.219-14, all hardware, materials, licenses, and travel fees are excluded from the calculation—the percentage is measured against service personnel labor hours only. The solicitation mandate of at least 51 percent remains the active, overriding evaluation threshold for this procurement. |
| Confirm that the cost of performance incurred by similarly situated small business subcontractors may be counted together with the prime contractor's performance | Confirmed. The performance hours executed by similarly situated small business subcontractors (small businesses under NAICS 541519) will be aggregated and counted together with the prime contractor’s hours to cross the 51% threshold, in full compliance with FAR 52.219-14 |
| The SAM.gov notice lists offers due 5:00 PM EDT, while Sections L and M state 5:00 PM EST. Please confirm the controlling time zone | The controlling time zone for all submission dates and Q&A gates is Eastern Time (ET), tracking Daylight or Standard time as actively in effect on the calendar date specified |
| Please confirm the intended ordering period, and the final contract maximum ceiling | The contract ordering period consists of a single five-year ordering period commencing exactly on the final date of contract execution, with a 6-month extension available under RFO 52.417-8. The total maximum aggregate ordering value for all orders issued under this Master MAC shall not exceed $24,746,987.96 |
| Please confirm whether PPQs are completed and submitted within Volume III, or returned directly to the Government by customer references | Offeros must complete the administrative project description fields within the Attachment #2 Past Performance Questionnaire (PPQ) template and embed the forms directly inside Volume III . Offerors are NOT required to have their clients return forms directly to the IRS for this Master IDIQ vehicle |
| Identify the maximum email attachment size accepted by the IRS mail gateway, and whether submissions may be split across multiple emails | The maximum aggregate email attachment size accepted by the IRS gateway is 25 Megabytes (MB). Submissions that exceed this cap may be split across multiple consecutive emails, provided that the subject line clearly denotes the sequence tracking (e.g., "Submission 1 of 2") |
| Would the Government consider extending the Phase 1 response date to allow time for Q&A and spreadsheet corrections to be addressed | The Government concurs. The calendar gates have been equitably extended via Amendment 0001 to maximize competitive small business participation. Bidders must align their systems with the revised schedule. |
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