36C26120Q0108-0001002.pdf

RFQ Solicitation # 36C26120Q0108

PALO ALTO, FRESNO, SF

21 January 2020

Number Question Answer/Comments

1 What is the monthly volume of inbound calls to each facility? SEE BELOW.

Could the VA Northern California Healthcare system provide a call arrival pattern so that we can determine night and weekend call volume?

VA Northern Cal is not part of this contract, so this is N/A.

Is the Project Manager referenced in Section 5.8 required to be onsite for the entire duration of the contract? No

Is the Project Manager referenced in Section 5.8 required to be dedicated to the project for the entire contract term? No

5 What is the current contract number? VA261-17-C-0161

What is the current leadership position at San Francisco? The current staffing plan as explained in section 5.3 does not have a leadership role listed. One supervisor Monday-Friday

What is the current leadership position at Fresno? The current staffing plan as explained in section 5.3 does not have a leadership role listed.

Fresno has 1 front line supervisor who works on site five days a week, Monday-Friday. Supervisor works to cover the phones 24/7 when there is a staffing shortage.

Is there an existing LMS (Learning Management System) that will be available for the awardee and the awardee's operators for training purposes? Yes.

Will the awardee and the awardee's operators have access to VA training courses via an online portal? Yes

What is the expected award date for this contract? And projected start date? 6 MARCH AWARD. 1 APRIL START

Is there a set-timeline for transition-in/phase-in to handover the contract from the incumbent to the prospective contractor? We are shooting for 3 weeks.

Is the Government's expectation that the awardee recruit, hire, and process all 27 employees within 5 days of award? Attachment 2 Section 3 b. states, "The Contractor shall submit or have their contract personnel submit the following required forms to the Personnel Security Specialist or VA Contracting Officer, through the COR or Personnel Security Specialist, within five (5) business days of contract award." This requirement would favor the incumbent vendor.

This will be further discussed after award is made.

13 Who's the current incumbent? PROJECT HIRED

14 What is the total value of the contract from the incumbent? Aproximately $1.8M a year

15 What is the current incumbent contract number? VA261-17-C-0161

RFQ Solicitation # 36C26120Q0108

PALO ALTO, FRESNO, SF

21 January 2020

Will the new contractor be able to offer first refusal employment to the incumbents current employees? If yes how soon can the contractor engage with the current incumbent employees? Yes. 6 March.

BELOW IS ANSWER FOR QUESTION NUMBER 1.

Volume of calls for PAD are at 114,532 calls coming in last quarter from October 2019 to December 2019

Volume of calls for SF are at 40,208 calls coming in last quarter from October 2019 to December 2019

Volume of calls for Fresno are at 39,948 calls coming in last quarter from October 2019 to December 2019

1. Can the Government clarify Project Manager and lead operator can be dual hatted as switchboard operators?

Answer: Yes, how the contract is administered or managed is up to the vendor.

2. Can the Government please provide historical/Current call volumes per each shift during regular business days and peak hours?

Answer:

Volume of calls for PAD are at 114,532 calls coming in last quarter from October 2019 to

December 2019

Volume of calls for SF are at 40,208 calls coming in last quarter from October 2019 to

December 2019

Volume of calls for Fresno are at 39,948 calls coming in last quarter from October 2019 to

December 2019

3. Are resumes needed for all the Telephone operators Contract? can the Government confirm for what positions, we shall submit the resumes?

Answer: Resumes for management are the only resumes needed.

4. Are letters of commitment (LOCs) required at the proposal submission stage, if so for what position, does the Government wishes to see LOCs for?

Answer: LOCs for management are needed at the time of submission.

5. Is there a set-timeline for transition-in/phase-in to handover the contract from the incumbent to the prospective contractor?

Answer: There is no set timeline.

6. Can the Government confirm, if the contract is subjected to Service Contract Act clause?

Answer: The contract is subject to the Service Contract Act clause.

7. Can the Government clarify the staffing plan that is described under the section 5.3 of the

PWS? If possible, we would like request to provide offerors a staffing plan that details number of staff per shift for example (5 Operators for 1st shift, 5 Operators for 2nd shift, 3

Operators for 3rd shift).

Answer: The staffing plan reference in section 5.3 is for your information. You are welcome to provide your own staffing plan, and how you staff is up to you.

8. Regarding term “appropriate workload” mentioned in the section 5.3, to provide best value to the Government, we request Government to provide the volume of calls workload information—for all the three locations on a monthly basis. This allows us to provide a level of effort that demonstrates our overall staffing plan and ensure we meet the workload.

Answer: SEE ANSWER 2.

9. Is this Government wish to see offerors propose same number of staffing levels? Can the

Government confirm, if offerors can propose an alternate staffing number (reduce the number of operators, as long as we provide continuous coverage without having any negative effort on performance or current switchboard operations).

Answer: You are welcome to propose an alternate staffing number. The staffing level is at your discretion.

10. Regarding number of weeks a year listed as 52 weeks/year under section 5.3, Can the clarify and modify because there are 53 weeks in year 2020.

Answer: The clarification is that the telephone operator service is needed for the full year, so in the case of the year 2020 it would be for 53 weeks.

11. Can the Government please specify the page limit for Technical Approach?

Answer: No limit. But clear and concise is highly advisable.

12. Can the Government clarify, if it in its interest to see two volumes? 1. Technical Approach

2. Price information. This will provide additional clarification on Government verbiage of using term “each of the parts shall be separate and complete so that evaluation of each part can be accomplished independently” (Reference page 35 of 58, section Instructions to offerors subsection (a).sub part 3)

Answer: Yes, 2 separate parts per 52.212-1.

13. In reference to past performance, can the Government clarify if offerors are required to submit the past performance questionnaire directly to offerors current customers to complete the questionnaire and submit confidential direct email to VA to Mr. Rico

Johnson?

Answer: Past performance questionnaire do not have to come to me direct from previous vendor. They can be a part of the proposal sent in from vendor submitting proposal for this requirement.

14. Can the Government specify, if there is a requirement to provide individual Project

Managers for supervision for each of three locations ?

Answer: That is not a requirement of the contract, and is up to the vendor how to specifically manage each site.

15. Can the Government confirm, if the detailed price breakdown is required to submit as a part of pricing information?

Answer: The government does not fully understand this question. Pricing must be filled in from “Attach 5 Price Schedule” and submitted with package.

16. Can the Government confirm the contract transition period ?

Answer: The goal is to award on or about 6 March and contract begins on 1 April.

***Below is the current (as of 1/23/2020) staffing plan. Staffing plan for proposals is up to the vendor but below gives a good example to follow.

PAD -There are 5 day shift operators which include 1 Lead Operator, there are 2 swing shift Operators, 1 weekend Operator, and 1 graveyard Operators. There are also 2 part time

Operators. A total of 13 Operators who cover the 470 total hours per the contract.

Fresno- There are 3 day shift Operators which include 1 Lead Operator, there is 1 swing shift Operator and there is 1 weekday graveyard Operator. On the weekend there is 1

Operator day shift, 1 Operator on swing shift and 1 Operator on grave shift. A total of 7

Operators who cover the 276 total hours per the contract.

SF- There are 3 day shift Operators which include 1 Lead Operator, 1 Operator on swing weekday, and 1 Operator on graveyard weekday. On the weekend there is 1 Operator day shift, 1 Operator on swing shift and 1 Operator on grave shift. A total of 7 Operators who cover the 268 total hours per the contract.