Attachment 7 RFQ QandA Amd 1.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 23 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- ACQ230628
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Attachment 1 SOW for Court Reporting Amendment 3 dtd 6Feb23.docx | DOCX document | |
| Court Reporting RFQ Amendment_3 dtd 6Feb23_final.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 6 Vendor Metrics Report Template 27Jan23_Amd 1.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment 2 Price List 27Jan23_Amd 1.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| Attachment 1 SOW for Court Reporting Service 27Jan23_Amd1.docx | DOCX document | |
| Court Reporting RFQ Amd 1 27Jan23.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 5 Transcript Caption Templates 19Jan23.pdf | ||
| Attachment 2 Price Lists Areas 1-5 19Jan23.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| 1333BJ23Q01150001 Court Reporting RFQ 19Jan23_FINAL.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 1 SOW for Professional Court Reporting 19Jan23.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 4 Court Reporting - Sample PTAB Transcript 6Dec23.pdf | ||
| Attachment 3 Formatting for Court Reporters 4-8 19Jan23.pdf |
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Text version
Sheet1
| Question # | RFQ Page # | RFQ Section | Subject | Question | USPTO Responses |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | Proposal Due Date | The RFQ document indicates that proposals are due on 2/1/2023 (5pm ET) but the SAM.gov page says offers are due by 1/31/2023 (5pm ET). Please clarify which is correct. | Date has been extended to 2/3/23 on both the RFQ and SAM.gov. |
| 2 | 4 | Section 1 | General Information/Description | As the proposal due date on the RFQ differs from the SAM posting, will the Government please confirm the proposal due date and time? | See response to question #1. |
| 3 | 33 | Section 4.9 | Factor 3, Price - Instructions and Submission | As the quoted price must be submitted in an Excel workbook using RFQ Attachment 2, BPA Price List, will the Government please confirm if the price quote must have a cover page? | Yes, each section must have a cover page. See section 4.9 Factor 3, Price in RFQ: The quoted price must be submitted as a separate document from Factors 1 and 2. |
| 4 | 33 | 4.9 | Factor 3, Price - Instructions and Submission | The second paragraph requires GSA Schedule Contract Number, can the Government confirm this is not required as this procurement is not being solicited under a GSA schedule? | The Reference to a GSA contract was an error and has been deleted. |
| 5 | 4 | SOW | Place of Performance | Does the Government have any estimates as to the amount of virtual and in-person transcriptions? | See page 2 of SOW. For planning purposes, assume 80% virtual and 20% in-person. |
| 6 | 2 & 4 | SOW/Background/e) & Place of Performance | Estimated Volume of Work | Please provide estimated number of proceedings broken down by the five typical locations (Alexandria, Detroit, Denver, Dallas, San Francisco) as well as an estimate for proceedings not in one of these four locations? | The majority of services will be provided at the Alexandria, VA location. However, specific numbers by location cannot be provided; the past has no influence on future occurrences. The PTAB customer, who uses the services most frequently, historically has approximately 100 litigations a month (see section 1(e) on pg, 2 of the SOW). Each of these requires a court reporter. Most will be virtual, but there are is also a need for in-person attendance. |
| 7 | 3 | Transcription Services/f. | Virtual/In-person Work | Please provide the estimated volume of virtual (VTC/telephonic) work and the estimated volume of in-person work? | See response to question #5. |
| 8 | Attachment 2 - Pricing Chart | Stenographer? | On Item 1 only, why does it have "stenographer" after the delivery time "(10 Business Days)"? | That was an error and has been corrected. See revised price lists Attachment 2, dated 27 JAN 2023. | |
| 9 | 2 & 3 | SOW | PWS Element | Does the Government differentiate between a Court Reporter and Stenographer in regards to this program? In other words, are there any other performance requirements for a Court Reporter outside of those for a Stenographer? | The Government only differentiates between Court Reporter and Stenographer as it relates to the sitting fee charged. No, there are no other differences in performance requirements between a Court Reporter and a Stenographer. |
| 10 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Could the Government define "In person Reporting Fee (Digital recording)?" Does this refer to the contractor developing and submitting an audio recording the hearing? | The Attachment 2, Price List, has been updated. The term “in-person” refers to the transcriber physically sitting in the trial, deposition, hearing, and/or meeting. The term "digital recording" refers to the transcriber using a recording device only, at the time of the proceeding, and transcribing later. |
| 11 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Could the Government define what a "Virtual Reporting Fee" is? Does this simply refer to a fee for attendance? | The Attachment 2, Price List, has been updated. The term "virtual reporting" refers to the transcriber being offsite – performing the work remotely - not physically sitting in the trial, deposition, hearing, and/or meeting." |
| 12 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Could the Government confirm that a 1/2 day is 4 hours and full day is 8 hours? | Yes, 1/2 day = 4 hours and a full day = 8 hours. The SOW is updated to define 1/2 day and full day in terms of hours. |
| 13 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | For the Virtual Reporting Fee (digital recording), what is the Unit? | Several line items have been changed. See Attachment 2, Price List. |
| 14 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | For the Virtual Reporting Fee (digital recording), what is the difference between Item 9 and Item 13? | See response to Question #14. |
| 15 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Will the Government provide any equipment (i.e., laptops, video cameras, audio recorders, MS Word, etc.) to be used under this program? Or will the contractor be required to provide all equipment? | No. Government equipment will not be provided. The contractor will be required to provide all necessary equipment to complete the requirements. |
| 16 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Is there any requirement to use stenography machines (Steno Machines) under this program? | Only if that is what is required to obtain real time transcribing. We need an actual stenographer to transcribe in real-time in some instances. The method of stenography is up to the contractor, as long as it is real time, prepared by a human, and not artificial intelligence (AI). |
| 17 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Does the government prohibit the use of modern tools including AI and other COTS solutions? | Modern tools are only permissible when they are used in addition to a human transcriber and there is no requirement to access the USPTO network. No additional fees are acceptable for using modern/electronic resources/tools. |
| 18 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Can the government provide the historical LOE for each ITEM? | No. See responses to questions #5 and #6. |
| 19 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Other than where transcription is taking place, does the government reserve any difference between original and e-transcript? | No. |
| 20 | 34 | 5.2 | Evaluation Method and Basis for Award | Please confirm that offerors with accreditations in quality and management such as ISO 9001, ISO20000, ISO270001, CMMI Level 3, will be rated more favorably than offerors without? | Evaluation will be in accordance with Section 5 of the RFQ. |
| 21 | 34 | 5.2 | Evaluation Method and Basis for Award | How is the government deciding on whether or not to award more than 1 BPA? | Please see RFQ Evaluation section, including the Best Value Determination, section 5.4. |
| 22 | All Sheets | Pricing Chart | Clarificaiton | Will the contractor be expected to perform any other technical services beyond the audio and video recordings such as hosting? | In some instances, when other virtual meeting platforms are being used, i.e. ZOOM, the vendor (if it has access to such), may be asked to host the deposition, hearing, and/or meeting utilizing their virtual platform if it complies with USPTO IT standards. |
| 23 | Clarification | Can you clarify where Stenography is required? Stenographers typically prefer not to perform at meetings. | A requirement to have stenographer vs someone simply recording is dependent upon the specific litigation requirement. The requester will state which category of reporter is required at time of scheduling. This may or may not include meetings. | ||
| 24 | Locations | Can we limit performance to the Washington DC Metro Area? | No, we plan to award to contractors who can service all areas as specified in SOW. See Section 5 Place of Performance on the SOW, “contract performance may be required at locations within the Washington D.C. Metro area and continental United States as required by opposing counsel or administrative law judges.” | ||
| 25 | Locations | For locations outside of the specifics regional offices mentioned, can we charge an additional appearance fee? | The Attachment 2, Price List, has been updated. Instead of separate price sheets by location, administrative fees by location were added. | ||
| 26 | Electronic Reporting | Can we limit our performance to just electronic reporting? | No, most will be virtual, but some will be in person. Most will require digital recording, while some will require a stenographer. All will require human transcription. | ||
| 27 | This solicitation is posted as 100% Small Business Set-Aside, would you consider a HUBZone-Certified Small Business for a smaller portion of this opportunity? | No, we plan to award to contractors who can service all as specified in SOW. See Section 5 Place of Performance on the SOW, “contract performance may be required at locations within the Washington D.C. Metro area and continental United States as required by opposing counsel or administrative law judges.” | |||
| 28 | Locations | For example, would you consider accepting a bid on, say, the Detroit, Michigan location? | No, the Quoter must be able to support all regional offices, at minimum in accordance with the Statement of Work. | ||
| 29 | Historical Data | Can you provide a breakdown of historical services for each location? | No. See responses to questions #5 and #6. | ||
| 30 | Would you accept a bid on a particular service, say, depositions only? | No, the Quoter must be able to support all Statement of Work requirements. | |||
| 31 | Who is the current contractor? | Court reporting has been a USPTO requirement for at least the five years. Services have been provided by Neal R Gross and Company Inc, Hunt Reporting Company, Planet Depos LLC, and Anderson Court Reporting. | |||
| 32 | Should the awardee bill your agency for federal taxes? | No, the Federal Government is exempt from Federal taxes. | |||
| 33 | 8 | Performance Standards | Performance Standard | On page 8 of Performance Standards, under the Description “1st Corrective Action - Returned” row, you have “4-5 typographical errors” listed under the “Acceptable Quality Level”. This is not realistic. As a Registered Professional Reporter, certification is successful with a 95% accuracy. Is the current contractor working with nearly 99% accuracy? | See revised SOW. |
| 34 | Would you consider a deposit at signing? | No. | |||
| 35 | Is there a form provided to the awardee to fill out the monthly metrics and reporting requirements? | Yes, see Attachment 6. |
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