S-13-0002QuestionsAnswers121712.pdf

Solicitation Number AG‐024B‐S‐13‐0002 Monday, December 17, 2012

Web Based Text Messaging

Questions and Answers:

On the Contract Line Items, e.g., Line Item 001, how do you define an "account"?

Typically an account in messaging vernacular means an Inbox (whether that Inbox is used by one person or shared by a handful that rotate through a specific role like "operations manager") An account could be defined as an inbox. We envision accounts being established for individual National Forests or fires or other emergency incidents with the ability for multiple users to send mass emails and text messages using the same account as needed. Currently, U.S. Forest Service accounts are established for individual employees, which doesn’t work well during fires and other emergency incidents when multiple public information officers are often responsible for creating and distributing mass emails, in addition, we do not currently have the ability to send mass text messages.

Based on the definition of an account, how does that relate to the subsequent line items, i.e., 101, 201, 301? Are these asking for 10,000 email and 10,000 text messages from one inbox to another inbox or among 3,000 inboxes? We are asking for the ability to send up to 10,000 email and 10,000 text messages from one inbox to up to several thousand inboxes. In other words, we are looking for the capability for public information officers working on a fire or other emergency incident to be able to send multiple email and/or text messages each day from the same account (or inbox) to individuals on a distribution list. Since there could be somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 individuals on a distribution list during a big incident and public information officers may want to send them four or five emails or text messages per day, we may need to be able to send up to 10,000 emails or text messages within a 24 hour period.

In our conversation, I believe you said FS is not exactly sure what they are looking for and are interested in understanding available alternatives. Would you accept a proposal that met the requirements but used a different "pay by the drink" model than the Line Items described in the RFP? The quote states that we would accept alternate proposals.

How many at‐risk forests are there? ~There are more than 100 National Forests located across the United States, virtually all of them can have wildfires or other emergency incidents (i.e. floods, hazardous material spills, etc.) that would cause them to need mass email and text messaging services.

What is the expectation for the number of account activations per year? ~ This is impossible to predict. The number and size of wildfires varies widely from year to year based on weather and fuel conditions and human and natural ignitions. Other factors, such as whether fires are located near heavily populated areas and budget conditions on individual National Forests, will also likely affect the number of account activations per year.

How many fires incidents happen per year that would need separate accounts? ~ See answer above, fire/incident seasons are not predictable.

How many PIOs would need to be trained? That will be determined by National Forests and incidents that activate accounts. Ideally, training will be structured so that multiple individuals can be trained remotely at different times (i.e. for example, webinars that are presented live and then recorded so they can be posted on internet and intranet sites).

Do subscriber lists already exist or would the Department allow people to subscribe to lists via the website? By geographic location? By Forest? ~ Some forests may already have basic subscriber lists that they have used for past fires and other incidents to start from, others may not. People must be able to subscribe to lists via a website or other means, most likely by Forest.

How quickly do the accounts need to be activated and ready to go during an incident? ~ Ideally, national forests would activate accounts ahead of time, however, the statement of work states that contractors shall have the capability to provide internet‐based mass unencrypted email and text messaging services on short notice (within 24 hours).

Would that include adding subscription links to the FAM Program’s website? ~ No. Not at this time.

Will the same PIOs need access to multiple accounts? ~ Possibly. Accounts may be activated for an individual National Forest or for an incident. It is possible that PIOs would be working on different national forests and different incidents but most likely not at the same time.

What ways would the Department promote the ability for subscribers to sign up for fire notifications? (i.e., website, social media, media, widgets, etc) ~That will be up to public affairs officers and public information officers assigned to national forests and incidents that activate accounts, we would welcome assistance from contractors with this task.

Are the incident messages branded differently or is there a standard template that will be used? ~That is not developed at this time rather the hope is for the contractor to have some type of format for this to occur, a standard template is within the realm of possibility.

Will PIOs need access to create messages and access their email lists from the incident site via mobile device? ~ Yes.

Does this solicitation have requirements for accessibility based on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) or any additional agency specific accessibility requirements? ~ This requirement has been vetted through the CIO office and has passed their Section 508 test.

Is there a requirement that the contractor shall establish practices for protection of any connections between NIFC websites and the e‐mail subscription management system consistent with Federal guidance and regulations, specifically a review of the Certification and Accreditation (C&A) granted by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)? ~The contractor is not expected to have any connections that will necessitate protection.

Can you confirm whether the Forest Service desires a full email system, i.e., a user has a separate Inbox to use on the proposed system, or do we assume people use their own existing email accounts, e.g., a user would create an account on the proposed system with an existing email address so emails created from the Forest Service with this system arrive at the user's existing email address? ~ Yes, the FS desires a full email system and a user has a separate inbox to use on the proposed system, we do not want people to use their own existing email accounts. Ideally, multiple users would be able to use the same separate inbox on the proposed system because we often have public information officers working on different shifts and coming and going on 14 day rotations.

Should I assume the there is no minimum commitment under this BPA? ~ Your assumption is correct, there is no min. and we do not want to obligate funding until each individual order is placed.