36C26222Q0919 0001.docx

5. PROJECT NUMBER (if applicable)

CODE

7.

ADMINISTERED BY

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER

CODE

6. ISSUED BY

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NUMBER

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED

PAGE OF

PAGES

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED

BPA NO.

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

FACILITY CODE

CODE

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

E. IMPORTANT:

is extended,

(a) By completing Items 8 and 15, and returning __________ copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted; or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE

OF YOUR

ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

(REV. 11/2016)

is required to sign this document and return ___________ copies to the issuing office.

is not, A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

15C. DATE SIGNED

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERE

D CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES

SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR

OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendmen t, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER

Contractor

16C. DATE SIGNED

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION

16B. UNITED

STATES OF AMERICA

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF

CONTRACTING OFFICER

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

STANDARD FORM 30

PREVIOUS EDITION NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.243 (Type or print) (Type or print) (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

(Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (If other than Item 6) (Specify type of modification and authority) (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.)

(If required)

(SEE ITEM 11)

(SEE ITEM 13)

(X)

CHECK

ONE

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS,

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF

SOLICITATIONS

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer) N/A 36C262 Department of Veterans Affairs NCO 22 - Network Contracting 3601 S. 6th Avenue Tucson AZ 85723 36C262 Department of Veterans Affairs NCO 22 - Network Contracting 3601 S. 6th Avenue Tucson AZ 85723 To all Offerors/Bidders

36C26222Q0919 07-29-2022

X X

X The purpose of this amendment to Solicitation 36C26222Q0919 is to:

a. Answers to Solicitation RFIs numbers 1 thru 47. (see attached)

OFFER DUE BY 08-08-2022 4:00 PM PDT

Carlos Acosta Contracting Officer

1. Why is this solicitation being released at this time?

ANSWER: The VA San Diego Healthcare System has a need for 24/7 Onsite Telephone Operators.

2. Are there any operator or supervisor workstations that have special equipment or software provided by the contractor such as software for the visually impaired? How many workstations have special equipment?

ANSWER: Equipment and software are provided by the VA San Diego Healthcare System. We are not allowing software by the contractor to be installed. If there is a special request for those equipment or software, it needs to be clearly stated in the proposal. We currently do not have any workstations that have special equipment.

3. How many of the current operators are full time?

ANSWER: VA San Diego Healthcare System has no official full time operators, the Call Center currently utilizes Medical Support Assistants as operators and rotate different Medical Support Assistants for the operator role.

4. How many of the current operators are part time?

ANSWER: VA San Diego Healthcare System has no official part-time operators, the Call Center currently utilizes Medical Support Assistants as operators.

5. How many new operators were onboarded in 2021 at San Diego VA Health Care System?

ANSWER: None.

6. Are there currently any lead operators in addition to the supervisor? How many lead operators?

ANSWER: We currently do not have anyone officially in a lead operator position that are contractors, we have Supervisory Medical Support Assistants that work in the Call Center who supervisor Medical Support Assistants.

7. How many operator positions are currently vacant?

ANSWER: We are currently utilizing on average two Medical Support Assistants as operators and we have two Supervisory Medical Support Assistants. Please see SOW for our Contracting needs.

8. What telephony platform does the switchboard team use at the San Diego VA Health Care System?

ANSWER: Per SOW, “Telephone operators will use M2550 Nortel electronic telephone attendant consoles to process incoming and outgoing telephone calls. All calls will be recorded for quality assurance to ensure they are completed in a timely, courteous and efficient manner. Abandonment rate and average speed to answer are monitored with Cisco Finesse or Jabber software. Contractor employees are required to assist in placing outgoing local and long-distance calls, using the commercial system, to include U.S. Sprint, AT&T, MCI and any other commercial phone service providers as necessary to conduct the daily activity at Jennifer Moreno VA Medical Center.”

9. What challenges are facing the switchboard operations program that the VA would like to see resolved?

ANSWER: We need 24/7 Onsite Operator(s) solely designated for Switchboard duties in order to take that workload off our current Medical Support Assistants that are currently doing this.

10. Please reconfirm the due date for this procurement by providing it in response to answers to questions.

ANSWER: Due Date is 08/08/2022 4:00PM PDT

11. What is the date by which you will answer these questions?

ANSWER: 07/28/2022

12. Why has this bid been released at this time?

ANSWER: See #1.

13. Is there a deadline for questions?

ANSWER: See Solicitation 36C26222Q0919, Section E.1 - Questions

14. When is the anticipated award date?

ANSWER: 09/01/2022

15. When is the contract start date?

ANSWER: Contractor will furnish all applicable employee information required within 10 days of contract award.

16. 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?

ANSWER: See Solicitation 36C26222Q0919, Section E.1, Addendum to FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors

17. Please describe your level of satisfaction with your current or recent vendor(s) for the same purchasing activity, if applicable.

ANSWER: No current contract

18. Has the current contract gone full term?

ANSWER: No current contract

19. Have all options to extend the current contract been exercised?

ANSWER: No current contract

20. Who is the incumbent, and how long has the incumbent been providing the requested services?

ANSWER: No current contract

21. How are fees currently being billed by any incumbent(s), by category, and at what rates?

ANSWER: No current contract

22. What estimated or actual dollars were paid last year, last month, or last quarter to any incumbent(s)?

ANSWER: No current contract

23. Is previous experience with any specific customer information systems, phone systems, or software required?

We will provide training to the Project Manager/Supervisor or if operators all onboard at the same time, we will train as well. In addition, Supervisory Medical Support Assistants are within close proximity to Contracted Operators to allow quick responses to questions during the 7a.m – 5p.m timeframe that the Call Center is open. However, below are the personnel qualifications per the SOW.

PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS:

a) Project Manager Qualifications: Project Manager must have at least two years telephone operating experience, of which one year involved substantial responsibility for placing a variety of special calls (e.g., conference calls, collect calls, appointment calls) over varied circuits or routings or performing information operator work which required a knowledge of organization.

The Project Manager must have one or more year of experience in the supervision, organization, and training of staff. The Project Manager must be experienced in maintaining discipline, devising work methods and assignments, establishing performance requirements, and in arranging work schedules to conform to peak telephone requirements for adequate service.

b) Telephone Operator Qualifications: Telephone operator must be able to assume the responsibility for placing a variety of special long-distance calls (e.g., conference calls, collect calls, appointment calls) over varied circuits or routings, or performing information operator work, which requires a knowledge of the organizational units and major functions of a large multi-division organization. Operators must have the ability to meet and deal with people from a variety of backgrounds with varying levels of understanding, work under pressure and stressful conditions, and adapt to changing work conditions. PM must not allow new personnel to perform duties alone until he/she has received at least two full, 7-days a week, On-The-Job Training (OJT) on each tour of duty.

24. What is the minimum required total call capacity?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 – Total calls received – 16,022

25. What is the minimum simultaneous inbound call capacity?

ANSWER: We do not have this information at this time.

26. What is the maximum wait time?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 – 02:25 – 20:00 minutes, varies depending on the day and how many “operators” are on.

27. What is the maximum hold time?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 – 02:00 minutes.

28. What percentage of inbound calls must be answered by a live operator?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 - 100% of operator calls must be answered. For this time period 77% were answered.

29. What percentage of calls must be resolved without a transfer, second call, or a return call?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 - <1%

30. What is the maximum percentage of calls that can be terminated by the caller without resolution?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 - <1%

31. Is there a minimum or maximum number of operators and supervisors?

ANSWER: No, however, based on the Medical Support Assistants that we are currently using as operators and the volume of calls, we have the need for the follow.

Hours of work are as follows:

Supervisor: 40 hours per week

Monday – Friday:

Morning Shift (7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.) 3 – 2 Operators plus 1 supervisor Overlap Shift (3:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.) 1 – Operator Evening Shift (4:00 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.) 1– Operator Midnight Shift (12:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.) 1 – Operator Lunch 30 minutes

Saturday & Sunday:

Saturday - Morning Shift (7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) 2 – Operators, Saturday only Evening Shift (3:30 p.m. – Midnight) 1 – Operator Night Shift (11:30 – 8:00 a.m.) 1 – Operator Lunch 30 minutes Sunday - Morning Shift (7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) 1 – Operator Evening Shift (3:30 p.m. – Midnight) 1 – Operator Night Shift (11:30 – 8:00 a.m.) 1 – Operator Lunch 30 minutes

32. What are the required language options?

ANSWER: English only. We have interpreter line available.

33. What is the required degree of dedication for the call center?

ANSWER: Unsure the intent of this question and therefore cannot answer it.

34. What is the required degree of dedication for the operators?

ANSWER: Unsure the intent of this question and therefore cannot answer it.

35. 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?

ANSWER: Callers are connected to a pre-recorded message before reaching a live operator.

36. What are the recording requirements for inbound and outbound phone calls and how long must recordings be maintained?

ANSWER: All calls are recorded.

37. What are the recording and storage requirements for non-phone communications?

ANSWER: We do not have this information at this time.

38. What information is to be included in call logs?

ANSWER: We do not have this information at this time.

39. What was your average monthly call volume over the past year?

ANSWER: 20,000

40. What is the current number of seats for operators and supervisors at your existing call center?

ANSWER: Currently we have on average two Medical Support Assistant being used as operators and two supervisors who manage the Call Center and the operators. Operator is a duty that is embedded with call center.

41. What is the current average wait time for phone calls?

ANSWER: We do not have this information at this time.

42. What is the current average handle time for phone calls and other types of communications?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 – 01:00 minute.

43. What is the current average after-call work time for operators?

ANSWER: Based on time period 7/1/22-7/28/2022 – 15 seconds.

44. Over the past year, what is the percentage of calls received in English versus non-English?

ANSWER: <1% were non-English.

45. Over the past year, what percentage of calls received were in Spanish?

ANSWER: <1% were in Spanish.

46. What time of day, days of the week, or times of the year do calls typically peak?

ANSWER: Usually Mondays and Tuesdays between 0700-1630

47. Do you know how many operators you need and for how long?

ANSWER: The contract will be a base year plus 4 option years. Period of Performance will begin 09/01/2022.

See answer to question 31 and the Statement of Work for how many operators are needed.