ATTACHMENT F - Solicitation Questions and Answers_Government Responses.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 203 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 36C10X24R0048
About this file
This document is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items related to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contract opportunity for VEO Contact Center Support Services. The VA is seeking a single contractor to provide 24/7 call center services to handle fluctuating call volumes and provide accurate and quality customer service to veterans on a variety of benefit inquiries.
The solicitation is an unrestricted Request for Proposal (RFP) being conducted under FAR Part 15, with a proposal due date of 6/24/2024 and questions due by 6/03/2024. The contract is for a base period plus options, with an estimated start date of September 2024. Pricing will be a combination of firm-fixed-price and labor-hour CLINs, with the government providing a not-to-exceed amount for travel and other direct costs. The government will evaluate proposals based on technical capability, past performance, and socioeconomic considerations, with socioeconomic factors being significantly more important than price. The incumbent contractor is The Bowen Consulting Group, INC.
View the file
Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| ATTACHMENT F - Solicitation Questions and Answers_Government Respones 2.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| S06 36C10X24R0048 0002.pdf | ||
| 36C10X24R0048_1.pdf | ||
| ATTACHMENT E - PRICE SCHEDULE v2.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| ATTACHMENT A - Phase 1 EXPERIENCE MATRIX.docx | DOCX document | |
| S06 36C10X24R0048 0001.pdf | ||
| ATTACHMENT F - Solicitation Questions and Answers.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| ATTACHMENT D - PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE.pdf | ||
| ATTACHMENT B - CONTRACTOR RULES OF BEHAVIOR.docx | DOCX document | |
| ATTACHMENT C - PAST PERFORMANCE REFERENCES.pdf | ||
| 36C10X24R0048_1.docx | DOCX document | |
| ATTACHMENT A - Phase 1 TECHNICAL MATRIX.docx | DOCX document | |
| ATTACHMENT E - PRICE SCHEDULE.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet |
Show all 13
On GovTribe
Work with this file
- Download the original file
- Contacts named in this file
- Similar government files
- Ask GovTribe AI about this file
Text version
Sheet1
| No. | Question | Solicitation Reference | Answer |
| 1 | Is there an incumbent? | N/A | Yes, the incumbent is The Bowen Consulting Group, INC. TMAX Government Solutions also has a call center contract specifically for PACT ACT related calls. |
| 2 | Will the Government consider extending due dates? | N/A | The Government will not respond to requests to extend due dates unless there is a reasonable request that includes the circumstances surrounding the request. |
| 3 | What is the current contract number, period of performance, and value of contract? | N/A | The current contract no. is 36C10X19C0032. The period of performance is 8/5/19 to 8/4/2024. The total value is $64M. |
| 5 | Is there an estimated contract start date? | N/A | The estimated start date for this contract is September 2024. |
| 6 | When is the anticipated award date? | N/A | The anticipated award date for this contract is September 2024. |
| 7 | Are bidders permitted to deviate in any way from any manner of quoting fees you may be expecting? For example, if there is a pricing page in the RFP, can bidders submit an alternate fee structure? If there is no pricing page in the RFP, do you have any preference for how bidders should quote fees or can bidders create their own pricing categories? | N/A | All respondees are required to utilize Attachment E Price Schedule as is. If you have deviations from the proposed price schedule, please make note of those recommendations on a separate sheet in Attachment E Price Schedule. All recommended changes will be considered. |
| 8 | Please describe your level of satisfaction with your current or recent vendor(s) for the same purchasing activity, if applicable. | N/A | The government can't go into specifc details because it's source selection sensitive. |
| 9 | Has the current contract gone full term? | N/A | Yes, the current contract has gone full term. |
| 10 | Have all options to extend the current contract been exercised? | N/A | Yes, all option periods have been exerised with the exception of the 52.217-8 Clause which will allow the Government to exercise an additional option for up to 6-months of services. |
| 11 | How are fees currently being billed by any incumbent(s), by category, and at what rates? | N/A | The Government cannot provide rates off of the current contract. |
| 12 | What estimated or actual dollars were paid last year, last month, or last quarter to any incumbent(s)? | N/A | The Government cannot provide a breakdown of current pricing. |
| 13 | Is previous experience with any specific customer information systems, phone systems, or software required? | N/A | Experience with specific systems aren't required but contractor must have experience with standard call center systems such as telephony, CRM, and WFM applications. |
| 14 | What is the minimum required total call capacity? | N/A | There is no minimum required total call capacity, however, last fiscal year, the call center answered 1.4M calls |
| 15 | What is the minimum simultaneous inbound call capacity? | N/A | There is no minimum simultaneous inbound call capacity. |
| 16 | What is the maximum hold time? | N/A | 2 minutes. |
| 17 | What percentage of inbound calls must be answered by a live operator? | N/A | All of them. |
| 18 | What percentage of calls must be resolved without a transfer, second call, or a return call? | N/A | Our goal is first call resolution. There is no requirement for percentage of calls that must be resolved with the first call. |
| 19 | Is there a minimum or maximum number of operators and supervisors? | N/A | No. |
| 20 | What are the required language options? | N/A | The government will provide translation as needed, agents are expected to be fluent in English |
| 21 | What is the required degree of dedication for the call center? (Can the call center awarded this contract work on others at the same time as this one)? | N/A | The call center will work exclusively on this contract |
| 22 | What is the required degree of dedication for the operators? (Can operators assigned to this contract work on others at the same time as this one)? | N/A | The agents (operators) will work exclusively on this contract |
| 23 | Are callers required or allowed to connect with a message verification system or pre-recorded message before connecting to a live operator, or must a live operator be the initial contact? | N/A | Callers are presented with an IVR with options to select from. Once selected, the call is connected to a live operator. |
| 24 | What are the recording requirements for inbound and outbound phone calls and how long must recordings be maintained? | N/A | All calls are recorded. Recordings are maintained indefinitely. |
| 25 | What are the recording and storage requirements for non-phone communications? | N/A | None. |
| 26 | What information is to be included in call logs? | N/A | The agent captures demographic information, and creates a case with case type, case notes, and a summary of the call. Cases that are concerns are routed for resolution. |
| 27 | What was your average monthly call volume over the past year? | N/A | Approx. 130,000 |
| 28 | What is the current number of seats for operators and supervisors at your existing call center? | N/A | Our current number of seats for operators are based on operational needs. |
| 29 | What is the current average wait time for phone calls? | N/A | 30 seconds |
| 30 | What is the current average handle time for phone calls and other types of communications? | N/A | Approx. 11 minutes |
| 31 | What is the current average after-call work time for operators? | N/A | 2 minutes |
| 32 | Over the past year, what is the percentage of calls received in English versus non-English? | N/A | Nearly all calls are received in English |
| 33 | Over the past year, what percentage of calls received were in Spanish? | N/A | Less than 1%. |
| 34 | What time of day, days of the week, or times of the year do calls typically peak? | N/A | Calls peak on Mondays and the day after federal holidays |
| 35 | What insurance types are required? | N/A | N/A |
| 36 | What are the Department’s annual service-disabled veteran-owned small business and veteran owned small business subcontracting goals ? | N/A | |
| 37 | Agent onboarding and technology support is currently supported in three locations - (Northern Virginia; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Sheperdstown, West Virginia). Will the government add these three locations to Section 5: Place of Performances? | Synopsis/Solicitation Section 5, page 10 | Agent onboarding and technology support will be coordinated at a location which may or may not include the current locations. |
| 38 | The RFP is missing a definition for the Deputy Program Manager role, specifically Deputy Program Manager Tasks and Responsibilities. Will the government add in Deputy Program Manager Tasks as appropriate to the role? | Synopsis/Solicitation Section 7.x, page 15 | No; the Deputy Manager shall function under the supervision of the Program Manager (PM) to assist with the operation of the contact center and to serve as Acting Program Manager in the absence of the PM. |
| 39 | The current contract includes 2 Supervisor Leads with primary responsibilities including geographical oversight of all call center supervisors and agents. The Supervisor Lead positions and duties/responsibilities are not in this solicitation. Please confirm that this was intentional and, if so, which role will assume these critical duties and responsibilities. If this was an oversight, are the Supervisor Leads considered Key Personnel? | Synopsis/Solicitation Section 7/x, page 15; Section 8, page 19; B.3 Price/Cost Schedule, page 42; and Attachment E - Price Schedule | This was intentional as the agents will not be assigned based on geographical locations. |
| 40 | The current contract includes an Operations Manager with primary responsibilities including onboarding, data/statistical analysis, and PMAA supervision. The Operations Manager and duties/responsibilities are not in this solicitation. Please confirm that this was intentional and, if so, which role will assume these critical duties and responsibilities. If this was an oversight, is the Operations Manager considered Key Personnel? | Synopsis/Solicitation Section 7/x, page 15; Section 8, page 19; B.3 Price/Cost Schedule, page 42; and Attachment E - Price Schedule | The Operations Manager would be the same as the Program Manager, who is considered Key Personnel. This solicitation does not include an "Operations Manager." |
| 41 | Please confirm that the requirements for Key Personnel (identification and biographies/resume) and pricing include all key personnel in optional CLINS. | Synopsis/Solicitation Section 8, page 19 | Yes |
| 42 | Deputy Program Manager isn’t specified as Key Personnel. Please confirm that this is accurate. | Synopsis/Solicitation Section 8, page 19 | Deputy Program Manager is considered Key Personnel. |
| 43 | The RFP key personnel section states that “These individuals are defined as Key Personnel whose experience biographies shall be submitted and marked by the Contractor as Key Personnel”. (Synopsis/Solicitation Section 8, page 19). It’s unclear where these biographies/resumes should be included in the offerors response. We recommend biographies/resumes be included in Volume II. We further recommend page count limited to 1 page each and total biography/resume page count be excluded from the Volume II 15 page limit. | Synopsis/Solicitation Section E.1, page 85 | Resumes will be uploaded to Volume II - Section II and will be limited to 3 pages per resume. Resumes will be excluded from the page counts. |
| 44 | The "Page Limitations" section limits Past Performance submissions to no more than one page each however the form provided for each Past Performance is 2 pages. Will the Government consider limiting PP entries to two pages consistent with the form? | Synopsis/Solicitation Section E.A.8, page 85 | Yes, the Past Performance submissions will be limited to 2 pages to remain consistent with the form. |
| 45 | The total hours for CLINs 5, 6, and 7 are the same for the base period (9 month period level of effort) and ALL option periods (12 month periods). It appears that the hours for these CLINs for all option periods need to be adjusted for a 12-month level of effort period. Will the government review and adjust the total hours for those CLINs for all option periods? | Synopsis/Solicitation Section B.3, page 41 AND Attachment E – Price Schedule | No, the option periods are funded as money comes in so there is no need to adjust. |
| 46 | Our understanding from talking to the VA OSDBU office is that they are no longer responsible for approving an Offerors Mentor Protege Agreement and the responsibility has shifted to the SBA. Please confirm that the Government will assign equal credit to a large business with an SBA approved Mentor Protege Agreement with an SDVOSB. | Synopsis/Solicitation Section E Volume IV - Factor 3: Socio Economic Considerations, Page 88 | VA no longer has a Mentor Protégé program. Follow the guidance for the SBA All Small Mentor Protégé program. Only if a large business has an approved Joint Venture with an SDVOSB and the SDVOSB is an approved Protege under the SBA Mentor Protege program, (with the SDVOSB as managing venturer) will full credit be applied. |
| 47 | If Supervisor Leads are still required, will the government consider adding additional Supervisor Leads to Optional Tasks. | Attachment E - Price Schedule | Supervisor Leads are not required. |
| 48 | In the pricing sheet, CLIN 1 and CLIN 2 appear to possibly be redundant. Please confirm or clarify the purpose for CLIN 2 if not already part of CLIN 1. If separate, will CLIN 2 require pricing separate from CLIN 1. | Attachment E - Price Schedule | CLIN 0002 is separate from CLIN 0001 and is the support needed from the contractor side to run the program not priced into the level of effort in CLIN 0001 (EX: recruitment, program reporting, and etc.) |
| 49 | Is the offeror required to price the exact number of FTEs by LCAT identified in the description for CLIN 1 (Column B)? | Attachment E - Price Schedule | Yes, please provide pricing for the exact number of FTE's identified. |
| 50 | In Attachment D, Past Performance Questionnaire, some areas of the document have inconsistencies that could prevent the vendor's past performance customers from correctly entering responses to the questions. These include inconsistencies in input fields and options, missing fields for prompts, or text boxes with missing prompts, which may potentially impact completeness and compliance for the PPQs. Will the government consider revising these aspects to ensure clarity and ease of use for all parties involved? | Attachment D, Past Performance Questionnaire | When using the Attachment, please ensure you enable all features and click "Edit Document" in the tool section. This will allow the document to be edited properly. The Government recommends you include this information in your email requests. |
| 51 | There does not appear to be either a transition-in or transition-out section to the solicitation. What is the post-award transition timeline? | No reference | The contractor will have time to transition into the contract since the first two months will not be evaluated to the standards. |
| 52 | There are 15 locations cited for Place of Performance, but none of these cite current locations of VEO contact center employees, including Salt Lake City, UT and Shepherdstown, WV. Are these two locations still considered areas where call center agents may be employed? | Section B2 PEFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT: Paragraph 5, Place of Performance, pp. 10-11 | Yes |
| 53 | If neither Salt Lake City or Shepherdstown, WV are authorized places of performance, what are the number of employees currently supporting the contract in the 15 locations identified? | Section B2 PEFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT: Paragraph 5, Place of Performance, pp. 10-11 | 0 |
| 54 | Given the period of time it generally requires for new contact center personnel to complete security clearances, including background investigations and fingerprinting (45-60 days), what is the Government's intent on how they will sustain operations from award until start of the new contract if incumbent personnel in Salt Lake City or Shepherdstown, WV are no longer authorized to perform on the contract? | Section B2 PEFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT: Paragraph 5, Place of Performance, pp. 10-11 | There are plans in place to ensure continuous operations using a mix of available resource |
| 55 | Will the Government consider other areas in Virginia as a place of performance, including either Richmond or National Capitol Region/Washington DC? | Section B2 PEFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT: Paragraph 5, Place of Performance, pp. 10-11 | Yes |
| 56 | The current contract was awarded as an SDVOSB set-aside in 2019 and managed as an SDVOSB until its acquisition in 2022. Moreover, an SDVOSB also manages the $500M contract for the VFMP Claims Processing and Provider Customer Service (36C79119D0007). Another SDVOSB Joint Venture with a large mentor partner was recently awarded a sole-source within the VEO for Tier-1 services (36C10X23Q0028). With these as examples, what exactly is the VA's standard that supersedes the Supreme Court ruling consistent with Public Law 109-461 ("Kingdomware Ruling")? | SF 1449, Block 10 | Market Research indicated that an unrestricted acquisition was appropriate based on the Performance Work Statement and capabilities of the vendor community. |
| 57 | Given the previous acquisition for this contract as an SDVOSB set-aside and consistent with 38 U.S.C. 8127 and 8128, has VA determined that there are not at least two possible SDVOSBs capable of performing this work ("Rule of Two")? If not, what were the benchmarks used during the market survey process that the SDVOSBs failed to meet? | SF 1449, Block 10 | See response to Question #56. |
| 58 | There appears to be a contradiction to VAAR 852.215-70 (found on page 75 of the solicitation) which indicates that SDVOSBs will receive full credit, VOSBs will receive partial credit, and Non-Veteran offerors proposing utilization of SDVOSBs and/or VOSBs will receive “some consideration” in an effort to achieve socioeconomic small business goals. Under the Basis for Award, Socio economic considerations are listed as the third non-price factor and when combined with the technical capability and past performance factors are "significantly more important than price." In addition, it states "the Government will assign evaluation credit for an Offeror (prime Contractor) which is a SDVOSB or a VOSB." |
•Can the Government quantify this evaluation credit for each entity type listed?
| •Will a SDVOSB Prime Offeror receive greater credit than non-Veteran offerors that otherwise meet SDVOSB (7%) and VOSB (10%) subcontracting percentages specified? | Section E2. EVALUATION, Paragraph 5. SOCIO ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS, p. 91 & 3. VOLUME IV – FACTOR 3: SOCIO ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS, paragraph 6), p. 91 | The credit is not the same. Prime offerors that are SDVOSB will receive full credit, prime offerors that are VOSB will receive partial credit, and non-veteran offereors will receive some consideration. | ||
| 59 | The solicitation states that for the Technical Matrix Phase I "if the offeror does not demonstrate that they can meet the requirements as noted by the matrix, the proposal will not be considered further in the evaluation process." However, the technical matrix in Attachment A does not provide requirements, but inquires about metrics and capabilities. Can the Government cite what the actual requirements or criteria are that must be met to pass Phase I? | Section E1. INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS, Phase I Technical Matrix, p.86 | The Government will revise the Technical Matrix, Instructions, and Evaluation language. | |
| 60 | The solicitation states that Key Personnel whose experience biographies shall be submitted and marked by the Contractor as “Key Personnel" and that Program Manager, Supervisors and Senior Customer Service Representatives are defined as Key Personnel. The solicitation proscribes one Program Manager, 10 Supervisors and 10 Senior Customer Service Representatives, for a total of 21 Key Personnel. |
Are the Key Personnel biographies included in the Volume II page count? If they are, recommend increasing page count to accommodate all 21 biographies, or alternatively, exclude the biographies from page count.
| Section B2 PEFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT: Paragraph 8, Key Personnel, p. 20 and B3 PRICE / COST SCHEDULE, Item number 001 | Please see response to Question #43. The resumes will not count against the page count. | |||
| 61 | The PWS lists multiple states and cities with VA facilities who offer “on-site technology support” for any vendors requiring a physical location. Would the Government please clarify whether it will consider a vendor that (1) is located within close proximity to a VA facility not listed in the solicitation and (2) does NOT need a physical location for the purposes of on-site tech support? | B.2. PWS, para 5. Place of Performance | The Government may consider vendors within 50 miles to any VA facility that can provide IT support | |
| 62 | Can an offeror leverage all site locations listed for technology support, or is the intent to use one specific site? | B.2. PWS, para 5. Place of Performance | The offeror can leverage all site locations. | |
| 63 | Since remote work is highly encouraged, is the Place of Performance listed in Section 5 non-applicable? i.e. | If working from home, are agents required to reside/work within 50 miles of the nearest VA facility in the states and cities listed | B.2. PWS, para 5. Place of Performance | Agents are required to reside/work within 50 miles of the nearest VA facility that can provide tech support. Government will not pay for travel allowances |
| 64 | Are contractor leadership and supervisors required to use government furnished equipment, and be within the 50 mile radius of the specified VA sites? | B.2. PWS, para 10. Government Furnished Equipment | Yes | |
| 65 | Performance Objectives 1 & 2, how will the contractor be measured against these metrics when the government is providing the staffing model? | B.2. PWS, 11.3, Table A | The staffing model is already determined by the government based on operational needs. The contractor's responsibility is to staff to the level required by the schedule provided. | |
| 66 | Performance Objective 4 (Adherence), how can the contractor achieve the monthly target of 4 points per month when it appears 3 points is the maximum achievable per month? | B.2. PWS, 11.3, Table A | The Adherence metric is maximum of 3 points per months so that wold be the monthly target. | |
| 67 | RFP states, “Offeror’s intention to provide a proposal via email on or before close of business on the date specified on the SF1449, Block 20.” There is not a date specified on the SF1449. So, is this required, and if so, what is the due date? | E.1. Instructions to Offerors, para A.2. | The dates are located in Block 20 in written form. | |
| 68 | Will the offeror be scored better as a SDVOSB Mentor-Protégé arrangement vs having an SDVOSB sub-contractor? | E.2. Evaluation, para 5. Socio Economic Considerations | Yes, an SDVOSB will receive full credit, a VOSB will receive partial credit, and a Non SDVOSB/VOSB will receive some consideration in accordance with 852.215-70. | |
| 69 | Will the offeror be weighted differently if they prime as an SDVOSB or prime as a Large Business that includes a socio-economic subcontract plan? | E.2. Evaluation, para 5. Socio Economic Considerations | See response to Question #68. | |
| 70 | If offeror has a mentor-protégé agreement which is currently being evaluated for renewal with the SBA, can the expired agreement and letter of intent of renewal be submitted if still pending approval prior to the proposal submission deadline? | E.2. Evaluation, para 5. Socio Economic Considerations | If a Mentor Protégé agrement has expired, then there is no mentor protégé status. | |
| 71 | Please provide the historical and projected contact volume by contact type (Phone, email, mail, web chat) and day of the week. | RFP |
Pg 09 Section 2
| Nearly all contact is via phone with 1.4M calls in the past FY. | ||
| 72 | The RFP states "Contractor shall operate multi-channel operations to include various aspects of Veteran benefits, compensation, healthcare by receiving and responding to inquiries, providing information and services through various channels including telephone, a language translation service, mail, email, TDD/TTY, and web chat." Please define what the mail services referenced in this list encompasses. | RFP |
Pg 09
| Section 2 | We do not require mail services. | |
| 73 | Please provide the historical and projected surges and reductions, both planned and unplanned, by contact type. Events or other factors that may cause an increase or decrease in contact volume. |
Please provide a calendar of anticipated planned events.
Please provide a list of other anticipated events that could impact contact volumes. RFP Pg 10
| Section 2 | Planned events occur when congressional or other senior government leaders identify new business requirements. Unplanned events can include media activity in response to national or global events. | ||
| 74 | Are there anticipated times of the year that would be considered surge? Please provide estimated surge periods to include estimated length of the surge periods. | RFP |
Pg 10
| Section 2 Scope of Work | There are no anticipated periods for surges as they depend on external factors such as expansion of benefits. | |
| 75 | The RFP states "The Contractor shall provide support to meet fluctuating 24/7 call volume in varying environments while providing accurate and quality customer service for all inquiries" Is this contact center staffed 24/7 with live agents? If not, please share the hours of operations for live agents. |
RFP
Pg 10
| Section 2 | This contact center is staffed 24/7 with live agents. | ||
| 76 | Please provide a list of observed holidays to include working holidays. | RFP |
Pg 10
| Section 2 | The contact center is staffed during all holidays, 365 days per year. | ||
| 77 | The RFP states the place of performance is to be in or in proximity (50 miles to nearest VA facility that can provide on-site technology support). Is it the Governments intent that contract staff are to be within 50 miles of any listed facilities or with in 50 miles of each of the facilities listed? | RFP |
Pg 10
| Section 5 | The intention is to have the staff be within 50 miles of a VA facility so VA IT can provide required support | ||
| 78 | Please provide the Transition-in timeline for the contract award winner. Is there an estimated roll on/roll-off period for the incumbent and contract award winner. If yes, please provide the timeline information and how that should be accounted for in pricing as there is currently not a transition CLIN. | RFP |
Pg 11
| Section 7 | There is no established transition in timeline for the awardee. Currently we are estimating a 60 day transition period. | ||
| 79 | Please provide the locations and estimated number of trips that should be used to estimate travel costs. | RFP |
Pg 12
| Section 6 | There is supervisor and senior agent training that will comprise the majority of travel. The location is currently in flux due to uncertainity of where it will be located for the new contract. As for number of trips, training usually occurs on a quarterly basis. | ||
| 80 | The RFP states "A Government Training Section will be responsible for development/delivery of initial, and subsequent training content." Please clarify if the government will be conducting all training for this contract or if the contractor will have training/trainer requirements. | RFP |
Pg 12
| 7. Task Statement | The government will conduct all training related to operations. There are additional training requirements for the contractor for mandatory VA training | ||
| 81 | Please confirm if the contractor will be performing all workforce management activities (scheduling) or if the government will be providing this support in addition to the tool. | RFP |
Pg 16
| Section 7.4 | The government will provide scheduling. | ||
| 82 | Please clarify if the contractor needs to provide quality support services in addition to the supervisors. | RFP |
Pg 18
| Section 7.2 | No. | |
| 83 | As per the RFP, "the Contractor shall develop and implement a plan to incrementally and sequentially start key personnel, such as Program Manager, Deputy Program Manager, Administrative Assistant(s), Senior Agents, and Agents." |
The key personnel table only lists Program Manager, Contact Center Supervisor, and Contact Center Sr. Customer Service representative as key personnel.
Please clarify which positions on this contract are considered key and are required to be named within 3 business days after contract award. RFP Pg 21
| Section 8 | The Program Manager, Deputy Program Manager, Supervisors, and Senior Customer Service Representatives are key personnel. The PM and Deputy PM shall be named within 3 business days after contract award. | ||
| 84 | Please provide the systems that are GFE used for Workforce Management, Telephony, Quality, Training, Internal Communications and CRM. | RFP |
Pg 22
| Section 10 | Currently the government uses Calabrio, Cisco, Medallia, Salesforce, Teams, and a variety of MS Office tools but this is subject to change. | ||
| 85 | Please provide historical and projected metrics for Average Handle Time (AHT) and After Call Work (ACW) for each channel. | RFP |
Pg 24
| Section 11.3 | The AHT is not a performance metric in this contact center. The quality of the encounter is more important than the length of the call. All agents are allocated a set amount of time for ACW based on historical utilization. | ||
| 86 | Under the GFE materials to be provided, will the government confirm if this includes PIV card readers and all necessary cables needed for connectivity (cat5/cat6)? | RFP |
Pg 25
| Section 10 | GFE will include PIV card readers, but no special cables other than those the can connect the laptop to power and internet | ||
| 87 | The table in section 12 outlines the position sensitivity and background investigation requirements by task. This table appears to be incomplete. Please confirm if there are different sensitivity levels for tasks, if so please provide. | RFP |
Pg 35
| Section 12 | Only Tier 1 NACI investigation will be required | |
| 88 | In the RFP it states "VA will assign evaluation credit for an Offeror (prime Contractor) that is a SDVOSB or VOSB. Non-Veteran owned firms that subcontract 7% or more of the contract value to a SDVOSB or 10% or more of the contract value to VOSB will also receive evaluation credit." |
Please clarify if the credit value is the same for Non-Veteran owned businesses who prime and sub with SDVOSB/VOSBs as it is for SDVOSB/VOSB business primes? If not, please explain what will be the difference in the credit value? RFP Pg 88
| Section 3.6 | No, the credit is not the same. Prime offerors that are SDVOSB will receive full credit, prime offerors that are VOSB will receive partial credit, and non-veteran offereors will receive some consideration. | |||
| 89 | For pricing purposes please provide the yearly hours worked for all labor categories. | Attachment E | Currently 1,920 hours is used per year for labor | |
| 90 | CLINs 0001 list all Labor categories outlined in the RFP. Please confirm if the unit price for these CLINs are to be a combined rate of all labor categories. |
| If yes, please clarify the need for additional unit pricing for CLINS 0002-0007 as these labor categories are listed in CLIN 0001. | Attachment E | Yes, these will be a combined rate for all LCATS. CLIN 0002 is for Monthly Reporting (updated). The remaning CLINs are surges. | ||
| 91 | Please clarify the QTY numbers in column c for CLINs 0002-0007 and 0010-0016. Please provide the rational for these hours. | Attachment E | Hours have been updated in the base to reflect a POP of 9 months. The Government will not provide rationale for these hours. | |
| 92 | The RFP states "Other direct costs are required for expendable equipment." Please provide the governments definition of "expendable equipment". | Attachment E and RFP pg 21 Section 9. | The one example in this contract would be headsets for the agents, and other consumables | |
| 93 | Will the government consider making the Past Performance criteria relevant within four years vice three years? Rationale being many small SDVOBs had a marked slowdown of NEW business during the COVID pandemic while still serving government customers. | ATTACHMENT D and ATTACHEMNT C | No. | |
| 94 | Will the government consider adding San Antonio, Texas (“military town USA”) to the list of proximate geographical centers to the list of approved work centers of gravity? Rationale being many SDVOB businesses exist in the city or within 50 miles. Many of these small SDVOBs in San Antonio have existing brick and mortar facilities with requisite staff pools. | B.2 #5 Place of Performance | Yes, all proximate geographical centers will be considered | |
| 95 | Will the Government please provide the SF1449 and continuation pages in pdf format so that offerors can use digital signatures? The version in Microsoft Word is locked but has headers and footers that interfere with the standard forms. | SF1449 | Yes, the PDF solicitation & Amendment have been uploaded. | |
| 96 | This section references Key Personnel. In addition, the Performance Work Statement Section 8 notes that biographies should be submitted. However, they are not mentioned in a) E.1 Section 5 Format (table) or b) E.1 Phase II, Volume II, Factor 1. Please clarify if Key Personnel resume and biography requirements within the Instructions to Offerors, including where to include them and whether they will count against the stated page limitations. | E.2, Technical Capability Evaluation | Please see response to Question #43. | |
| 97 | How many Contact Center Supervisors are designated as Key Personnel? | PWS (8.) | All Contact Center Supervisors are considered Key Personnel | |
| 98 | How many Contact Center Senior Customer Service Representatives are designated as Key Personnel? | PWS (8.) | All Contact Center Senior Customer Service Representatives are considered Key Personnel | |
| 99 | Is commercial vs. Federal experience evaluated equally? | E.2 | Yes. | |
| 100 | Kindly would the Government grant a 2-week extension to allow offerors time to prepare their best and most complete proposal? | N/A | The Government will consider an extension. | |
| 101 | RFP States: Offerors may also submit past performance information regarding predecessor companies, key personnel who have relevant experience or subcontractors that will perform major or critical aspects of the requirement when such information is relevant to the acquisition. | |||
| Question: Many solicitations allow offerors within a corporate structure to utilize past performance of a parent company and or subsidiary so long as there is a meaningful relationship to the offeror and commitment letters are provided to the Government. Kindly confirm if this is allowable and if Offerors may provide Meaningful Relationship Commitment Letters for this purpose. | E.1, Volume III, Factor 2 | No | ||
| 102 | RFP States: Offerors shall indicate on Attachment D if they have no record of relevant or recent past performance. Should this reference Attachment C? | E.1, Volume III, Factor 2 | Yes, this should be referenced in Attachment C Past Performance References. | |
| 103 | RFP States: Attachment D must be submitted as a Microsoft Excel (.xls/.xlsx) file. Should this reference Attachment E? | E.1, Volume V, Factor 4 | Yes, this should be referenced in Attachment E Price Schedule | |
| 104 | Kindly would the government increase the page limitation to 30 pages in order for Offerors to be able to address all instructions and evaluation criteria? | E.1, Technical Capability | The page limit will need to remain at 30 pages. | |
| 105 | The Phase I Technical Matrix includes instructions to describe specific methodologies for accomplishing the required tasks, rather than general concepts, and clearly demonstrate knowledge of industry standards for these services. The specific methodologies shall demonstrate feasibility and meet the requirements of this PWS. | |||
| Question: Should that level of detail be elaborated within the Technical Matrix itself, or should Offerors provide a brief synopsis in the matrix and then evaluators will look to the Phase 2 Technical Capability submission to find all of the details. | E.1, Technical Matrix | Please provide responses in the Phase 1 Matrix Attachment as the Technical Capability evaluation will not be reviewed or evaluated until you pass Phase 1. Utilizing the Technical Capability to evaluate this would negate the intent of the phased approach. | ||
| 106 | Please clarify the page limit for each past performance reference. While the instructions state: “Attachment C: 3 pages (1 page per reference as shown on the form)” within the table on page 85, the Attachment C itself allots 2 pages per reference. Will the Gov. please update the instructions to allow 2 pages per reference, as shown in Attachment C? | ITO, E.1 (A, 8) | Yes, the Government will allow 2 pages per reference in accordance with the attachment. | |
| 107 | Is this procurement being procured using full and open (unrestricted) competition or is it limited only to 8(a) participants? | Block 10 of SF1449; VAAR 852.219-71 | Full and Open (unrestricted) competition in accordance with Block 10 of the SF1449. The 8(a) clause was inadvertently added and will be removed. | |
| 108 | How should we price the Program Management Support when the unit of measurement is "Each"? For example, are we to include a price for a single Program Management Support resource over the nine-month term? | Attachment E, CLIN 0002 | Price the Program Management Support on a monthly basis | |
| 109 | Will CLINS 0001-0009 be exercised simultaneously at contract award? (i.e., is it the government's expectation that offerors will have all resources that align to CLINs 0001-0009 at the time of go-live?) | Attachment E, CLINS 0001-0009 | All CLINs not labeled "OPTIONAL" will be live at the time of award. | |
| 110 | Is there a desired go-live date? How much time post contract execution will the offeror have to implement their solution? | Section 2. Scope of Work | The solution shall be implemented as soon as possible after the contract is awarded. Contact center operations continue 365/24/7. | |
| 111 | Is the incumbent meeting existing SLAs? | Attachment F - Question #1 | Yes | |
| 112 | What percent of the 1.4M calls answered by agents resulted in some type of "Service Recovery"? | Attachment E, CLIN 0001 | The percentage of cases which require SR compared to overall number of cases is approximately 13% | |
| 113 | What is the Agency’s definition of PACT and how does that impact hourly rates for supervisors, senior agents, and agents? | Section 2. Scope of Work | The PACT Act is a law which expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. | |
| 114 | How does the Agency intend to use the LH CLINs X004-X007? Aren’t those already included in CLIN X001? | Section B.3; Attachment E | The additional CLINs are there for surge capacity | |
| 115 | How does the Agency intend to use the option CLINs (X010-X016)? Are those intended for surge capacity? | Section B.3; Attachment E | The optional CLINs will be used to address PACT Act | |
| 116 | Can the Government confirm that 130 agents and 10 senior agents are sufficient to handle the current call volumes / SLAs established in the RFP? | Section B.3; Attachment E | There are additional CLINS to assist with call volume fluctuations. | |
| 117 | If the government chooses to exercise any of the optional CLINS, how much lead time will the offeror have to ramp up the incremental resources? | Section B.3; Attachment E | 45 days from notice to start of new hire training. | |
| 118 | How often does the Government conduct these classes? | Section 7.2, “Government new hire class” | Monthly up to twice a month | |
| 119 | Which staff members take tier 2 calls? (Section 7.6 defines senior agents as "Tier 1 Senior Agent Tasks") [emphasis added] | Section B.2(2) / Section 7.6 | Senior Agents and Supervisors would be taking the teir 2 calls. | |
| 120 | Please confirm what the government means by "customers with capacity issues"? | Exhibit A: Contact Center Technical Matrix | Customers with capacity issues may include acute mental health concerns, dementia, or physical impairments which impact mental acuity. | |
| 121 | Page 11 of the RFP indicates that "Contractor shall…meet fluctuating call volume". To what extent do call arrival patterns vary during the year? During the month? During a week? Each day? | Section 2. Scope of Work | Mondays and days after federal holidays are busier. January through March is our busiest quarter. | |
| 122 | What was the average handle time for the 1.4M live agent calls handled in fiscal year 2023? | Section 2. Scope of Work | The AHT was 9:38. The AHT is not a performance metric in this contact center. | |
| 123 | What percent of calls received in 2023 were "contained" by the IVR? | Section 2. Scope of Work | Very few of the calls are contained by the IVR as the IVR primarily directs which queue to route calls to. | |
| 124 | What percent of calls on average require tier 2 agent support? | Do agents providing tier 2 support require additional training? Additional upfront knowledge or skills? | The Referral Rate in FY23 was 35%. | |
| 125 | Will the vendor's personnel need to store any VA data on the GFE that is provided? | Section 10. Government Furnished Equipment | Yes | |
| 126 | Will the vendor have to do any configuration, patching, etc. to the GFE that is provided? | Section 10. Government Furnished Equipment | No | |
| 127 | Can the government confirm which of the designated VA facilities listed on pages 11-12 of the RFP are Central Printing only? | Project Management Plan | No, because that is up to individual PIV offices and we have no oversight or control over the issuing process | |
| 128 | Would the government consider expanding the number of designated VA facilities listed in the RFP to include 50 miles from any VA Center? | Section 5 - Place of Performance | Yes | |
| 129 | If an agent is working from home, please confirm they still need to be within 50 miles of a VA facility that can provide on-site technology support? | Section 5 - Place of Performance | Yes | |
| 130 | Can the VA provide the risk designation levels for the key personnel? | Section 12.1 Position / Task Risk Designation Levels(s) | Low Risk | |
| 131 | Will the Government amend the RFP to include the following related to liquidated damages under 12.4.5: "If so, the Contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident to the extent caused by the Contractor involving any SPI the Contractor/ Subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract." | Section 12.4.5 Liquidated damages for data breach | No, the Government will not add language that takes away from or adds to the liquidated damages clause that is included in this solicitation. | |
| 132 | Major subcontractors are not mentioned in paragraph 4 on page 94. Will the Government consider past performance submitted by a major or critical subcontractors in its evaluation? | Section 4 | No, only prime contractors will be evaluated | |
| 133 | To promote a more competitive procurement, would the VA consider allowing the following revision: Define “offeror” as “the bidder, its affiliates (as defined in FAR 9.403), and its subcontractor team”? The rationale behind this request is that bidders may have affiliated entities with relevant past performance handling this scale of calls. | Section 4 | No | |
| 134 | When responding to the question prompts in Attachment A, should offeror's response follow the table format provided by the government? | Attachment A - Technical Matrix | Yes | |
| 135 | The RFP indicates that the "contact center answered 1.4 million calls in fiscal year 2023". Do those 1.4 million "customer interactions" include chats and emails? If not, how many chat sessions occurred in fiscal year 2023? How many email interactions occurred in fiscal year 2023? | Section 2. Scope of Work | Nearly all of our interactions are via phone. We had less than 1300 email interactions in FY2023. | |
| 136 | What security clearance level is required to work on this program? Does the clearnace vary by staff role? | Section 12.2 - Contractor Personnel Security Requirements | Tier 1 NACI / Low Risk | |
| 137 | Are all personnel working on the contract required to submit a SF85, SF85P, or SF86? | Section 12.2 - Contractor Personnel Security Requirements | No | |
| 138 | Will personnel that have an active clearance with the VA or in DISS be exempted from submitting the required forms in Section 12.2? | Section 12.2 - Contractor Personnel Security Requirements | No, but the clearance process should be faster | |
| 139 | How many data breaches have occurred under the current contract resulting in Liquidated Damages? | Section 12.4.5 Liquidated Damages | None | |
| 140 | To prevent an offeror from submitting an unrealistic low price, will the government perform a cost realism analysis in addition to reasonableness? | Section 6 - Price Evaluation | No | |
| 141 | What is the expected contract award date? | General | Sep-24 | |
| 142 | The Government lists 15 cities for the proximate place of performance, which have VA facilities of varying size and capability. (Thirteen have VA Medical Centers, and two only have VA Outpatient Clinics). The Government's list excludes other larger or comparably-sized VA Medical Centers. Will the Government provide the criteria used to select these cities? | Solicitation Notice (SN), Pages 11-12 | Any city that meets the 50 miles and tech support requirement can be used | |
| 143 | Will the Government allow offerors to propose the use of other suitable VA facilities (e.g., Baltimore VAMC)? | SN, Pages 11-12 | Yes | |
| 144 | If Contractor staff meet all of the security and IT requirements, must each staff member be physically located within 50 miles of a VA facility? | SN, Pages 11-12 | Yes. | |
| 145 | Can the Government please provide a list of the physical addresses for the VA facilities in the locations identified as the place of performance? | SN, Pages 11-12 | You may use this tool to find addresses: https://www.va.gov/find-locations/ | |
| 146 | Does the Government's encouragement of Contractor staff to work remotely apply to key personnel? | SN, Page 12 | Yes. | |
| 147 | Can the Government confirm that they will be responsible for the scheduling of new hire training, or is that the responsibility of the Contractor? | SN, Page 12 | Government is responsible for scheduling of new hire training | |
| 148 | "Agents will use resources available such as Job Aids, Knowledge Management (KM) tool, FAQs, email alerts, Bulletins, standard operating procedures, limited quantity of mandated scripts, team chats, and reference materials to improve knowledge and utilize these materials as the only source of needed information or guidance." Will the Government provide a comprehensive list of the VA-supplied resources agents must use? | SN, Pages 12-13 | Yes, this will be part of training | |
| 149 | Section 7.1 states that the Contractor "..shall participate in a Kickoff Meeting within five (5) calendar days of contract award…" We request that calendar days be changed to business days. | SN, Page 13 | Updated. | |
| 150 | There is no transition period outlined as part of the statement of work. Would the Government consider adding a transition period of up to 90 days to support the successful standup and implementation of this contract? | SN, Page 13 | There is no established transition schedule but the Government will coordinate with the contractor on a transition period. | |
| 151 | Can the Government provide specific due dates for the Project Management Plan Deliverables? (Project Management Plan states once; others state initially). | SN, Pages 13-14 | This depends on contract award date | |
| 152 | The Government states that "The PIV is required for logging into VA systems. Similar to fingerprinting, each VA facility can have different procedures. If a facility is Central Printing only, it could take up to 10 business days for a candidate to get the PIV after the appointment." What is the average total time from document submission for Government review and approval prior to scheduling an appointment? | SN, Page 14 | It depends, one week is the earliest possible time. | |
| 153 | The Operation Reporting Deliverable table requires the Personnel status report contain the "% Vacant". How is the % Vacant calculated? | SN, Page 16 | The government does not specifically track %vacant as a performance metric but does track % staffing. The latter is staff in production compared to authorized number of staff. | |
| 154 | For the purposes of the % Vacant calculation, is a temporary assignment considered a "filled" position? | SN, Page 16 | No | |
| 155 | Can the Government please provide a detailed list of any Government Furnished Equipment that the Contractor is responsible for tracking? | SN, Page 19 | Laptops, monitors, keyboard, mouse, docking station | |
| 156 | Please specify which key personnel biographies should be included as part of the Contractor's response. |
| How many biographies of each position does the Government require as part of the proposal submission? | SN, Page 20 | No biographies are required, only resumes. | ||
| 157 | What specific information is required to be included in the experience biographies for Key Personnel? | SN, Page 20 | Only resumes are required | |
| 158 | Can the Government please clarify the description, education, and experience requirements for the Deputy Program Manager? | SN, Page 21 | It would be similar to the PM description & requirements. | |
| 159 | The RFI associated with this solicitation listed "At least 8 years of progressive management experience with Call Centers and Customer Service centers in supervisory roles" for the Program Manager on page 10. The RFP lists an increase to "At least 12 years" without a substantive change to the scope of the Program Manager's duties or competencies, which appears to be an exclusionary issue that benefits the incumbent. Will the Government consider changing the requirement back to 8 years as it was in the RFI? | SN, Page 23 | ||
| The PM is expected to also supervise and delegate to the Deputy PM, so there is a change in the scope of the duties. | ||||
| 160 | The Government states, "The initial 30 days in production will be non-evaluated time." Does this mean reports with performance objectives will not be due until Day 60? | SN, Page 27 | Reports are generally due in the month following the performance period of the previous month once the data is populated on our performance dashboards. | |
| 161 | Will the VA provide a copy of the CSAT survey so that we can address questions required for better quality? | SN, Page 30 | The CSAT survey has questions related to trust in the VA as well as questions about the agent's handling of the call. | |
| 162 | Will the VA provide the quality measures to be used in the metric? | SN, Page 30 | Yes | |
| 163 | Is the "submitted Contractor Staff Roster" referenced in B.2.12.1 expected to be submitted with Contractor proposals? | SN, Pages 34-35 | A proposed contactor staff roster can be submitted, however, government is aware of the fluidity of the industry and would not expect zero change from the proposed roster | |
| 164 | Regarding the Position Sensitivity and Background Investigation Requirements by Task table on pages 34-35, can we infer that all tasks are a Tier 1 background investigation per the Position/Task Risk Designation Level(s) table? | SN, Pages 34-35 | Yes | |
| 165 | When does the Government expect to reach the down select of Phase I? Will Contractor be notified if they are down selected at that time? | SN, Page 89 | This is a pass/fail - there is no debriefs on pass/fail. | |
| 166 | "The Government will evaluate [the Technical Matrix] on a pass/fail basis." What is the Government's criteria for passing each element listed in the matrix? | SN, Page 89 | The Government updated the Matrix, Instructions, and Evaluation language. | |
| 167 | Can the Government define the expectations of an "appropriate work breakdown structure"? | SN, Page 89 | No, contractor is expected to understand work breakdown structure and the details that is required to do the work | |
| 168 | Can the Government exclude the work breakdown structure from the 15-page limit in the Technical Capability section? | SN, Page 89 | Yes | |
| 169 | Can the Government provide a template for the appropriate work breakdown structure? | SN, Page 89 | No, the WBS has been removed from the solicitation. | |
| 170 | It is unclear if major subcontractors as defined can or must supply a past performance reference. Can the Government clarify? | SN, Page 89 | All prime contractors must provide Attachment C Past Performance References. |
This is the start of the file's text. The full file is on GovTribe.
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .