Bluetooth_Lock_Boxes_RFI.pdf

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA)

500 C STREET SW, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20472

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Commercial Off-The-Shelf Lock Boxes

April 12, 2018

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Introduction

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 15.201(e) AND FAR 52.215-3, which states:

RFIs may be used when the Government does not presently intend to award a contract, but wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes. Responses to these notices are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

There is no required format for RFIs.

This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP). An RFP is not being issued at this time, and this notice shall not be considered as a commitment by the Government to issue a RFP, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response.

The purpose of this RFI is to determine if there is capability available to provide the services required to assist FEMA’s mission.

Background

FEMA provides Transportable Temporary Housing Units (TTHUs) under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (Stafford Act) and related authorities as well as through the Economy Act and other legal authorities. The primary use of TTHUs is under the Stafford Act. The Stafford Act authorizes FEMA to provide TTHUs acquired by purchase or lease, directly to individuals or households who, because a lack of available housing would be unable to make use of financial assistance.

FEMA installs TTHUs for disaster survivors at: private sites (private land owned by either the disaster survivor or someone known by the survivor); commercial sites (existing manufactured home parks operating as a commercial business); and, group sites (manufactured home parks built by FEMA for the purpose of housing disaster survivors).

FEMA seeks to procure commercial off-the-shelf Bluetooth operated lock boxes to support its TTHU

Program by providing secure access control of TTHUs during the installation phase. The Agency anticipates that the result of using this access control system will lead to better security and accountability for TTHUs and personnel involved in the installation process. Throughout the installation phase the lock boxes will be used to control, monitor and report all access to the TTHUs to provide improved security and accountability for TTHUs and installation crews.

Operational Concept and Project Summary

The lock boxes are to be mounted in a tamper proof container securely attached to the MHU and equipped with Bluetooth technology allowing the user to open the box by entering a secure code using a smartphone application. Access to the lock box activity database is to be available to government for the purpose of creating custom reports.

The software must be able to easily accommodate for thousands of key boxes and key holders.

The system software must permit segmentation of the database to allow creation of “key box groups” and “key holder divisions” to simplify administration and management of user groups.

The software must allow for this segmentation in the following ways:

1. The software must have several different levels of System Administrator hierarchy, such that local and regional managers can only administer the group of key boxes and key holders they are responsible for administering, and cannot be permitted to administer key boxes or key holders outside of their administrative segment in the database.

2. The software must have Trusted Vendor Access segmentation in which government contractors and vendors are invited by FEMA in the software to administer their own employees’ key holders for the group(s) of key boxes (sites) they need access to.

3. The software must allow for creation of both key holder divisions and key box groups, which allow for partitioning of the database for easier system management and administration for potentially thousands of key boxes and key holders.

4. Detailed reports showing individual key holder or entire division key holder activity, individual key box or group key box activity, and battery status reports, Job Notes and Leave Site notifications (where applicable) must also be available in the reporting software.

5. FEMA will maintain the ability to override and manage permissions for all vendor/contractor access and administration groups as needed, and FEMA will have ultimate authority over all system administration.

Additional requirements for the lock box system:

Ability to store up to 3 keys

7 Year Long-life lithium batteries (shorter duration field replaceable batteries not acceptable)

Ability to open box using SmartPhone via Bluetooth

SmartPhone app automatically sends an audit trail of key box access to the database in real-time after the access occurs via cellular network.

Ability to store at least 100 records of lock box access.

The cloud-based/browser based software will track all audit trail activity in “real-time”.

Programmable access hours per key holder, if needed.

Unique code is required to be entered into the SmartPhone app to open the key box.

Ability to send automatic e-mail notification alerts when key boxes are opened.

The SmartPhone app must have a Job Notes feature in which notes pertaining to site entry can be typed into the app and then automatically be sent to the database.

Ability to create canned activity reports and have the server automatically e-mail reports to administrators on a regularly scheduled basis.

The SmartPhone app must have an optional “Leave Site Notification” button, which when pressed, time stamps the Leave Site activity in the software.

Acquisition Concept

FEMA anticipates issuing a solicitation to deliver products to provide secure access control of TTHUs during the installation phase of FEMA’s TTHU program. In order to facilitate this solicitation, the Agency is seeking information from several different vendors that would be able and willing to provide the types of products described above to FEMA.

FEMA anticipates that this solicitation will result in a single award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for the products required for TTHU access control. FEMA will issue orders under this BPA as required to meet the needs of the Agency’s disaster response/recovery operation. There is no minimum guarantee under this contract.

Please provide a capability statement NLT 20 April 2018.