AI Contact Center PWS_ Draft_Dec 2025.docx

General Services Administration Federal Acquisition Service Technology Transformation Services Digital Services Division 1800 F St NW | Washington, DC | 20405

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Contact Center Solutions Performance Work Statement (PWS)

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

The General Services Administration's (GSA)Technology Transformation Services (TTS) delivers and manages many of the federal government’s most visible, customer-facing digital programs, ensuring that the public can easily access information and services. TTS is dedicated to building better digital services for the government and improving the efficiency of federal operations while increasing overall customer satisfaction.

One of the programs TTS oversees is the Government Experience Contact Center (gXCC), which is congressionally mandated to provide government information to the public. Focused on connecting the public with Government information and services, gXCC delivers a high-quality experience to the public through a variety of delivery channels, such as chat, voice, and email, with the flexibility to support additional channels as needs evolve. gXCC supports USAGov, USAGov en Español, and four additional customer agency programs at the time of this procurement, though the number of supported agencies is subject to change.

In Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 25), gXCC responded to nearly 3 million calls, emails, and web chat inquiries from the public for both USAGov and the Customer Agency programs.

1.2 Vision

As part of TTS’s broader modernization vision, TTS is advancing AI solutions that improve service delivery, reduce operational costs, and enhance the public experience across any customer-facing TTS programs, including gXCC and its customer agencies. In line with this effort, the contractor that operates the contact center is implementing AI to deflect and resolve calls, chats, and emails, reducing overall operating costs.

As the next step in this modernization initiative, the Government is seeking a second contractor to provide agentic AI services to enhance, replace, or augment these contractor-provided solutions with the goal of autonomously or semi-autonomously handling Tier 0 (IVR-managed) and Tier 1 transactions to automate the contact center to the greatest extent possible.

1.3 Objectives

Through this contract’s contractor-provided support, the Government expects to achieve the following objectives:

· To establish a scalable, reusable AI solution that delivers a consistent, high-quality customer experience wherever TTS and its customer agencies engage with the public.

· Implement industry-leading, next-generation AI solutions that reflect the latest commercially available and emerging innovations in artificial intelligence.

· Reduce costs and increase efficiency through AI automation of Tier 0 and Tier 1 interactions.

· Continuously Improve AI Performance by leveraging analytics, feedback loops, and machine learning to regularly refine intent detection, response accuracy, and workflow effectiveness.

· Provide accurate and timely responses to public inquiries about Government programs and services in English and Spanish, and other languages as required, via the preferred channel (e.g. voice, chat, sms, web).

· Fully comply with Federal security and privacy requirements.

1.4 Overview of Customer Agency Programs

The sections below provide an overview of each customer agency program currently supported by gXCC:

GSA’s USAGov and USAGov en espanol USAGov and USAGov en español are programs that serve as a key entry point for the public seeking information about U.S. government services, programs, and resources. Members of the public often start on the USA.gov website, and then reach out via phone or live-agent chat to ask questions and get guidance on a wide variety of government topics.

Agents provide accurate answers by referencing knowledge articles from the USAGov website, which are synchronized nightly into the contact center’s Salesforce Knowledge Base. In many cases, agents navigate one or two layers deeper into URLs within the articles, which link to other federal agency websites, to provide comprehensive answers or guidance to customers.

USA.gov and USAGov en espanol receive inquiries of varying complexity; some require simple referrals to contact information (phone number, website URLs), while others require research to find a specific answer, process, referral, or service. The contact center agent must often walk customers through steps in a process, such as how to apply for a passport, or perform extensive research to find a specific answer to a question.

Login.gov Login.gov provides authentication and identity verification services. It gives users a single digital identity to access applications at participating Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government agencies. Users can create and manage their accounts securely through a platform built on modern technology designed to protect their data. With one account, users can sign in to multiple Government agencies. The goal is to make managing Federal benefits, services, and applications easier and more secure. Common topics of inquiry can be found here at https://www.login.gov/help/

Content is provided to customers via email templates, online help content, and guidance from contact center agents who service users via email (web-to-case, and freeform), and phone. Common topics of inquiry can be found here at https://www.login.gov/help/ This customer agency expects to onboard additional partner agencies, including large agencies with millions of users resulting in increased volumes.

Currently Supported Languages: Spanish, Mandarin (Chinese (Simplified) in text / content; Mandarin for phones), French Future Languages (2026): Mandarin [Chinese (Simplified) in text/content; Mandarin for phones]CantoneseFrenchGermanJapaneseKorean and / or Vietnamese GSA’s Office of Awards, Regulatory & Oversight Systems (AROS) (Formerly Integrated Award Environment) AROS manages a suite of systems that are part of the federal awards lifecycle.

The help desk serves as the initial point of contact for users, resolving basic inquiries and escalating complex issues to higher tiers.

The current customer agency systems were initially developed over several years as free-standing, web-based systems to fulfill different roles throughout the acquisition, grants-making, and other processes. This customer agency has been consolidating these services, and the current customer agency system portfolio consists of the following:

1. System for Award Management (SAM)

2. Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)

3. Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS)

4. Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)

5. eRulemaking

6. Other AROS Related systems

Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Food & Drug Administration (FDA)The FDA Emergency Call Center The FDA Emergency Call Center receives calls related to experimental drug use, drug interactions and side effects, food safety issues such as spoiled and outdated food products and illnesses, tampering of food items, baby formula concerns, and questions about medical devices.

FDA-related calls may originate from multiple audiences including health care providers, local/state health departments, other government agencies including senior FDA personnel or other FDA personnel requiring immediate assistance, and the general public. All inquiry transfers to the duty officer require that the agent use a warm transfer procedure and explain the nature of the inquiry prior to completing the warm transfer. More information about the FDA can be found at www.fda.gov. Content for inquiry handling is provided by FDA in a Word document. The contractor updates the Word document to list categories and link to the appropriate area within the document.

Department of State (DOS), Overseas Citizen Services (OCS) The Department of State’s Overseas Citizen Services (OCS) works with U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world to protect Americans. Common topics of inquiry include emergencies abroad, child abductions, international adoptions, international travel, visas, and services to U.S. citizens overseas. Contact center agents handle inquiries by consulting FAQs, and Talking Points provided by the DOS, along with researching State Dept websites. During emergencies, DOS provides frequent updates—including IVR messages, scripts, and talking points—to respond to callers worldwide. Agents may be required to collect information, such as name, travel dates, and locations, for entry into a national registry maintained by DOS.

The chart below shows which communication channels gxCC uses to support participating Customer Agencies, including phone, email, and chat, Channels Leveraged

Office of Awards, Regulatory & Oversight Systems (AROS)

2.0 Scope

The Government may add and adjust in-scope services to meet the evolving needs of the public and agency programs. Any additions will be via bilateral modifications to the contract agreed upon by both the Government and the contractor.

The contractor will:

· Provide, deploy, and maintain AI solutions using state-of-the-art technologies, such as agentic and generative AI, large language models, autonomous agents, real-time knowledge retrieval, and multimodal intent recognition, to fully resolve Tier 0 (Self Service) and Tier 1 (basic FAQ) inquiries. Vendors may also propose alternative solutions that achieve the same objectives.

· Provide accurate, timely, and contextually appropriate responses to both routine and complex inquiries, resolving complex and multi-step inquiries to the greatest extent possible.

· Integrate its AI solutions with, or on top of, existing vendor and Government systems or other AI solutions, or deploy them as a stand-alone solution, as needed, to ensure smooth operation, secure data exchange, and effective support across all channels.

· Provide virtual voice assistants, chat and text agents, email responders, web-to-case platforms, and SMS interfaces, to handle a wide range of inquiries about Federal Government programs. These AI tools will support communication across multiple channels and respond to inquiries from the general public, congressional offices, business communities, and other stakeholders.

· Provide the best solutions for the presented use cases, including full or partial automation and supplemental agentic assistance capabilities. This includes AI that can proactively draft responses, recommend next-best actions, retrieve relevant knowledge, summarize multi-channel interactions, monitor sentiment, and provide real-time guidance, enabling human agents to handle inquiries more efficiently and effectively.

· Provide all necessary personnel for design, deployment, integrations, quality assurance, analytics, and ongoing management of AI Solutions.

· Coordinate proactively with the contact center contractor on AI integration, data exchange, and workflows.

· Employ an agile, innovative workspace consistent with TTS’ mission and objectives.

· Maintain budget sustainability by, in part, actively looking for—and suggesting ways to—reduce costs while maintaining or improving quality.

· Meet current and evolving Government information systems and personnel security requirements (e.g., National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-37, 800-53, etc., and GSA information technology (IT) security requirements.

· Responsibly incorporate AI technologies for contact center operations in collaboration with the TTS program while following all relevant GSA and Federal AI policies, including Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-25-21. The contractor shall plan accordingly and prioritize the initial transition of core operations to ensure service continuity and minimize the risk of delays or disruptions.

· Develop, execute, and continuously update a post-award transition plan that includes a detailed schedule, defined interface points, and coordination procedures with the current contractor and GSA.

· Comply with Federal information systems security requirements established in the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), which is currently at a moderate level, and GSA as the Government’s requirements evolve (e.g., NIST SP 800-37, 800-53, etc.).

· Provide timely access to a backup solution that supports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, operations to ensure continuity of operation in case of system failure, service outage, and / or disaster.

· Analyze all relevant contact center data including interaction volumes, channel usage, customer intent patterns, workflow performance, and AI / agent handoff behavior to identify trends, uncover optimization opportunities, and inform continuous improvements to customer experience and operational efficiency.

3.0 Administration

3.1 Government Personnel

This acquisition will be administered by the following individuals, who will also monitor the contractor’s performance:

1. Contracting Officer (CO): To be determined

Role: Only person to bind the Government in contract. Makes final decisions for all contractual matters. Signs the official awarded contract

2. TTS Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): To be determined

Role: Monitors the contract’s performance once it is awarded. Primary COR to interface between gXCC and the contractor.

3. Technical Lead (Tech Lead): To be determined

Role: Provides technical expertise for the Government’s requirement.

3.2 Contractor Personnel Requirements

3.2.1 Non-Personal Services

The services provided under this contract are not related to Federal employment requirements nor do they involve temporary help services that may be authorized under 5 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 300. This contract will not be for personal services. In order to preclude an employer / employee relationship, the Government shall only provide technical instructions sufficient for contractor employees to properly perform services under the contract. See FAR Part 37 for more details.

Performance under this contract will be by individuals employed by a private sector firm. The contractor, and not the Government, is the legally responsible employer and supervisor and will maintain that relationship during the contract’ s period of performance. All matters related to the employment, supervision, compensation, promotion, discipline, and discharge of the contractor's employees will be the responsibility of the contractor, which is in all respects the employer of such employees.

3.2.2 Staffing

The contractor will perform background checks on all prospective employees in accordance with applicable GSA Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) policy prior to providing them for service under the contract.

3.2.3 Key Personnel

The Government considers key personnel to include all contractor team members (e.g., firm employees, independent contractors, subcontractor employees, etc.) that are necessary to demonstrate the contractor’s technical capability to fully deliver the requirements.

The Government requires the designation of a Program Manager and Information Assurance Office. Beyond these positions, the contractor shall propose all other personnel necessary to successfully design, implement, operate, and support the AI contact center solution. The proposed team should include all roles required to meet contract performance objectives, including technical, AI, integration, UX, security, and analytics functions. The Government reserves the right to review and approve the qualifications of proposed personnel and to request replacements if personnel do not meet performance or security requirements.

Program Manager (PM) - Overall responsibility for contract performance, schedule, budget, and stakeholder communication.

Responsibilities

· Manage and implement the overall contract requirements and tasks including staffing, operations, and budget.

· Maintain open communication with the Government to ensure support for the program and a positive relationship with the contracting organization.

· Ensure that contractor staff is fully informed of Government communications.

· Ensure that all contract deliverables and key performance indicators (KPIs) are met.

· Organize, direct, coordinate planning, and implement all contract support activities.

· Coordinate financial and staffing resources.

· Monitor and analyze contract and performance data and report results to senior Government officials.

· Coordinate recruitment and training activities to keep staff current on customer agency programs and KPIs.

· Suggest improvements, efficiencies, and cost-cutting strategies based on observations of the operation and quality of customer experiences

· Accomplishes the administrative, managerial, and financial aspects of this contract

· Is authorized to make decisions on behalf of the contractor

· Is a direct liaison to the CO, COR, and the program office and attends periodic check-in meetings.

· Has a full understanding of the technical approach, labor categories, and rates.

· Oversees contractor personnel security requirements in accordance with the Personnel Security Requirements section below.

· Assists the COR in updating the GSA HSPD-12 Requesting Official Contractor Approval List (ROCAL) for this contract on a monthly basis.

Information Assurance Officer (IAO) The IAO is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the contractor information systems and information technology resources needed to fulfill this contract including training, service delivery, systems, problem escalation and resolution, and performance monitoring systems in accordance with GSA IT security policies.

Responsibilities:

· Immediately report all security incidents in accordance with GSA policy.

· Work closely with the Program Manager to ensure that systems evolve to meet any changing needs of the program.

· Identify and document all problems related to technology and provide the Government with a report of these issues along with a performance improvement plan detailing how to resolve and prevent problems from reoccurring. A preliminary report must be provided within 24 hours and the final executive summary fully detailing the event, cause, fix and plan for prevention.

· Ensure that information systems used in supporting task requirements meet initial and ongoing compliance of information systems security requirements in accordance with Federal Information Publication Standards (FIPS) Publication 200, Minimum Security Requirements of Federal Information Systems, through the use of security controls in accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems, as amended.

· Oversee preparation of all required documentation for the compliance process, including security plan, risk assessments, contingency and contingency test plans, configuration management plan, system test and evaluation reports, security certification and accreditation package.

· Prepare continuing responses to reports, data calls and updates throughout the year such as quarterly Plan of Action and Milestone (POA&Ms), monthly vulnerability scans, analysis and reports of servers and applications, and annual Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) reporting. Duties may be changed during the year based on Program Manager priorities.

· Ensure that the IT security requirements (called controls in NIST SP 800-53) are incorporated in the early planning and execution of the transition as well as early in the development of new projects.

Minimum Qualifications:

· Familiarity with NIST IT security publications including NIST SP 800-37, 800-53, and related policies. An IAO should have experience and expertise with applying these policies in a Federal Government IT program and provide the experience and expertise on complying with Federal IT security requirements as defined by OMB, NIST, and GSA.

· Experience and expertise in supporting Certification and Accreditations (C&As) for IT systems within the Federal Government. This should include knowledge of all controls at the moderate level and the ability to incorporate these controls into Federal IT systems as well as to evaluate implementation of these controls into Federal IT systems.

· Experience and expertise in oversight of multiple teams supporting the completion of a C&A.

· Expertise conducting vulnerability scans at the operating system level, application level and data bases, completing code reviews and assessing compliance with Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks.

· Experience and expertise in completing POA&Ms, FISMA Assessments and other IT security data calls for Federal IT systems.

· Broad familiarity with processes and security tools to advise on strategies for complying with Federal IT security requirements and in the development of IT security architectures for Federal IT programs and related policies to IT security and their implementation for HSPD-12 and privacy requirements.

3.3 Kickoff Meeting

The Government will hold a kickoff meeting via video-conference with the contractor’s Key Personnel and other relevant parties after contract award, unless otherwise agreed upon by all parties. The purpose of the kickoff is to clarify the contractor’s responsibilities and address any questions the contractor may have.

4.0 Contract Information

4.1 Contract Type

The Government intends to procure AI solutions on an as-needed basis under a Time-and-Materials (T&M) contract. Work will be requested as specific AI capabilities, enhancements, or support needs arise; award of the contract does not guarantee immediate work or deployment. The contractor shall be prepared to provide services and deliverables in response to Government tasking throughout the contract period.

4.2 Limitation of Funds

The contractor shall not perform work resulting in charges to the Government that exceed obligated funds. The contractor shall notify the CO in writing, whenever it has reason to believe that in the next 60 days, the charges to the Government will exceed 75% of the obligated funds. The notice shall state the estimated amount of additional funds required to complete performance of this task. The Government is not obligated to reimburse the contractor for charges in excess of the obligated funds and the contractor is not obligated to continue performance or otherwise incur costs that would result in charges to the Government in excess of the amount obligated under the contract.

4.3 Period of Performance

The period of performance includes a 12-month Base Period and four 12-month Option Periods, for a total approximate period of performance of five years. These performance periods are not inclusive of the Government’s ability to utilize Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.217-8. Unused ceiling may be rolled forward to future performance periods as options are exercised (if exercised).

Period of Performance:

Base Period: 12 months from the award effective date Option Period 1: 12 months Option Period 2: 12 months Option Period 3: 12 months Option Period 4: 12 months FAR 52.217-8 Option: 6 months

4.4 Place of Performance and Travel

The primary place of performance will be at the contractor’s facilities and / or contractor personnel’s remote location. All contractor facilities must be located within the contiguous 48 states.

The contractor’s facilities (if applicable) and systems will be designed to provide physical and information access security with security monitoring and access restriction at all times. Access to contractor-provided systems, including remote access by contractor employees and authorized Government employees, will be restricted to authorized personnel at all times.

Designated Government employees and / or their authorized representatives may visit any facility used to support its programs without prior notice for the purpose of conducting on-site reviews, information gathering, or program observation.

Travel may be required from the contractor to the headquarters or offices of the customer agency programs.

4.5 Hours of Operation

The AI solution will be available 24 / 7 and configurable to disable escalations to human agents when agents are unavailable during off hours. These configurations must be adjustable, as hours of operation may vary across programs.

4.6 Government-Furnished Property (GFP)

No GFP, including laptops or personal identity verification (PIV) cards, will be issued to the contractor.

4.7 Government-Furnished Information (GFI)

The Government will furnish any necessary data throughout the period of performance. All GFI will be approved by the COR. Anticipated GFI includes business rules, training materials, knowledge articles, website URLs and content, historical contact center volume and interaction data, quality assurance expectations, and other relevant information necessary to configure, train, and operate the AI solution.The amount and detail of content available may vary across programs.

4.8 Contract Completion

If the contract is terminated early in accordance with FAR 52.212-4 (l) or 52.212-4 (m), the contractor must transfer all materials produced during the contract to the CO / COR and the program office immediately upon receiving notice of termination or non-exercise of option.

4.9 Invoicing

4.9.1 Procedures for Payment

The contractor must submit invoices on a monthly basis promptly within 10 calendar days from the last day of the previous month and a final invoice at the end of the period of performance within 60 calendar days from contract completion. The contractor will be paid promptly upon its acceptance and verification by the COR. No further charges are to be billed following the final invoice submission. The contractor shall submit a signed and executed Release of Claims with the final invoice. A completed and signed Contractor Release Statement will be provided after payment of the final invoice.

4.9.2 Contents of Invoice

The contractor will be provided with the following information when the acquisition has been awarded:

· Period of performance covered by the award.

· Awarded contract line item number (CLIN) and title.

· The funded amount and accounting number(s) associated with each CLIN.

The following sections specify information that must be included on each invoice in addition to the requirements for a proper invoice specified in FAR 52.212-4(g); the Prompt Payment clause, FAR 52.212-4(i)(2); and Payments under Time and Materials and Labor Hours Contracts, FAR 52.232-7.

Invoices not meeting these requirements will be rejected and not paid until a corrected invoice meeting the requirements is received.

4.9.3 Additional Requirements for All Invoices and CLINs

Each invoice shall clearly indicate:

1. Contract number.

2. Period of performance covered by the invoice.

3. CLIN level detail[footnoteRef:0]. [0: In the event that multiple accounting numbers are applied to any given CLIN, all values should be further broken out by the accounting number.]

a. Each CLIN being invoiced against.

b. The current invoiced amount for each CLIN.

c. The total amount invoiced against each CLIN overall, inclusive of the current invoiced amount.

d. The remaining balance available on each CLIN.

4. Extended / total amount for that invoice.

5. Grand total of all costs incurred and invoiced.

4.9.4 Additional Requirements for T&M CLINs

In addition to the requirements outlined above, each invoice shall clearly indicate the following for each T&M CLIN:

1. Each awarded labor category and its awarded rate.

2. For each labor category, the hours worked for that invoice period, total cumulative hours worked (inclusive of the current invoice period), and total extended cost.

3. Both the current invoice’s monthly “burn rate” and the total average monthly “burn rate”.

4.9.5 Additional Requirements for Travel CLINs

Contractor costs for travel will be reimbursed at the limits set in the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) prescribed by GSA for travel in the continental United States. The Government will not accept nor allow for indirect handling fees for travel under this contract. When invoicing for the costs of travel incurred, the invoice shall clearly indicate the following for the Travel CLIN:

1. Names of people who traveled.

2. Dates of travel.

3. Number of travel days and number of days per diem charged.

4. Per diem rate used.

5. Total per diem charged.

6. Transportation costs.

7. Total charged.

8. Approved individual travel authorization request cost and variance from actual costs.

9. Explanation of variances exceeding ten percent of the approved versus actual costs.

10. Receipts and supporting documentation for all costs except for meals and incidentals.

4.9.6 Invoice Submission

The contractor is required to submit invoices to GSA Vendor Customer Self Service (VCSS). Prior to submitting the invoices in VCSS, the contractor must email a copy of the invoice and supporting documentation to the applicable CO and COR. All invoicing questions can be directed to customer support at 866-450-6588 or the VCSS customer service site https://phdc-pub.gsa.gov/vcssregistration/.

If problems arise when submitting an invoice, please contact one of the following, as applicable.

Fax: (816)926-7800 Email: kc-accts-payable.finance@gsa.gov

5.0 Technology Solution

5.1 AI Solution(s) for Contact Center

The contractor will design, implement, and maintain AI solutions that leverage best-in-breed technologies and the latest innovations in artificial intelligence to automate interactions for government contact center programs. Such innovations may include, but are not limited to:

· Agentic AI or autonomous and semi-autonomous agent capabilities to manage and resolve customer inquiries and transactions.

· Advanced language models, including Generative Large Language Models (LLMs), to support natural, context-aware interactions.

· Advanced orchestration frameworks to coordinate workflows across systems, channels, and AI components.

· Real-time knowledge retrieval and grounding to ensure accurate, up-to-date responses.

· Multimodal intent recognition, enabling understanding of voice, text, and other interaction types.

· Comparable or emerging AI capabilities that provide equivalent or superior functionality.

Multichannel Engagement: The solution(s) will support multi-channel engagement, including:

· Voice-based virtual assistants integrated with IVR/telephony

· Conversational AI chat agents

· Email

· Knowledge-enabled conversational interfaces for websites and mobile apps

· SMS text interactions

· Other digital channels as needed Tiered AI Automation and Escalation: The contractor’s AI solution will provide configurable levels of automation tailored to each use case and Customer Agency program, with the stated goal of fully automating Tier 0 and Tier 1 interactions end-to-end without human intervention wherever feasible. The solution shall support:

· Tier 0 interactions: Self-service tasks and automated transactions within IVR and digital channels.

· Tier 1 interactions: Basic, FAQ-driven calls, chats, and email, targeted for full AI-driven resolution.

· Tier 2 and above: Seamless escalation to human agents when AI cannot fully resolve the request.

The contractor’s solution will include, but are not limited to, the following capabilities:

· Human-in-the-Loop (HITL): Support defined escalation paths, agent override mechanisms, and continuous feedback loops for retraining AI models.

· Scalability & Reliability: Ensure high availability uptime (99.9%), disaster recovery, and load handling. Capable of handling a minimum of 10,000 concurrent sessions across all supported channels, with the ability to scale as needed to meet peak demand without compromising performance.

· Multi-Agency Context: Differentiate policies, data, and routing for multiple agencies or programs.

· Configurable Escalation Criteria: Allow configuration of confidence thresholds, business rules, or other parameters to trigger seamless handoff to human agents when appropriate.

· Autonomous Orchestration: Manage end-to-end interactions across multiple channels without manual intervention.

· Structured Action Execution: Perform tasks and workflows via secure API integrations with internal and external systems.

· Session Context Maintenance: Maintain context throughout interactions, including persistent session memory across channels.

· Continuous Learning: Adapt and improve accuracy, response quality, and efficiency over time through ongoing training and feedback.

· Compliance: Adhere to all Federal security, privacy, and accessibility requirements.

· Configurable Autonomy Levels: Support program-specific autonomy, ranging from fully automated handling to human-in-the-loop approvals.

· Natural Language Understanding & Generation: Understand and respond in natural, human-like language in both text and voice interactions.

· Multilingual Support: Respond in English, Spanish, and other languages as required by specific programs.

· Personalization & Contextualization: Tailor responses based on user history, preferences, and interaction context.

· Error Handling & Recovery: Detect errors, ambiguities, or unsupported requests and recover gracefully, including escalation when needed

5.1.1 Knowledge Retrieval and Grounding

The solution will access, ingest, and use authoritative content to provide accurate, contextually grounded responses. This content may include, but is not limited to: website content, help and knowledge articles, FAQs, business rule documents, and other structured or unstructured sources.

The solution shall be capable of:

· Ingesting and scraping content from multiple sources, including documents, PDFs, HTML pages, Websites

· Navigating linked content within knowledge articles, including following URLs one or two levels deep to retrieve relevant information from agency websites.

· Structuring and indexing content in a format usable by the AI for retrieval and generation, ensuring answers are accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with source material.

· Grounding responses in retrieved content, clearly basing outputs on verified sources to prevent hallucinations.

· Supporting real-time retrieval during live interactions to improve its responses.

· Handling multimodal content and synthesizing it into coherent answers.

· Updating knowledge continuously as new or revised content becomes available, ensuring the AI remains current with policy changes, FAQs, and business rules.Analytics & Reporting: Provide metrics on AI performance, escalation events, resolution rates, and user satisfaction.

5.1.2 Integration with Government and Third-Party Systems

The contractor shall be responsible for all integration activities required to implement its solution with existing vendor and government systems, and must provide Tier-2 security-cleared personnel to perform these tasks.

The contractor’s AI solution(s) will support the following capabilities:

· Fully integratable with government systems and other contractor systems, including but not limited to industry-leading CCaaS platforms, Salesforce, and ServiceNow.

· Secure, standards-based APIs or equivalent interfaces to enable data exchange, workflow orchestration, and automation across systems.

· Capable of operating as a stand-alone system or layered on top of existing vendor, government, or other AI solutions, as needed, to maximize AI resolution and functionality.

5.1.3 Data Analytics, Reporting, and Continuous Improvement

The contractor will analyze and report on AI performance data, including but not limited to:

· Interaction Data: transcripts, voice recordings, chat logs, session metadata.

· Intent and Entity Performance: accuracy, confusion patterns, misclassifications, fallback rates.

· Metrics on AI performance, escalation events, resolution rates, and user satisfaction.

· Workflow and Automation Performance: success/failure rates of automated tasks, escalations, bottlenecks.

· Customer Journey Analytics: cross-channel behavior, drop-off points, resolution times.

· Agent Handoff Metrics: reasons for escalation, post-escalation resolution patterns, agent notes.

· Customer Satisfaction Signals: survey scores, sentiment, emotional tone.

· Operational Metrics: handling times, queue times, containment rates, cost-to-serve trends.

· Technical/Model Metrics: model latency, drift indicators, error logs, system integration performance.

· Knowledge Asset Usage: article effectiveness, gaps, outdated content, search behavior.

· Compliance & Quality Monitoring: adherence to required scripts, security flags, policy alignment.

5.2 Customer Satisfaction Survey

The contractor shall implement a multi-channel, post-interaction survey to measure user satisfaction with AI-handled interactions. The survey will:

· Be administered immediately after each interaction across all channels.

· Ask users whether their issue was fully resolved to their satisfaction and whether escalation was needed.

· Produce actionable metrics, including the percentage of AI interactions resolved satisfactorily without human assistance.

· Support reporting and continuous improvement of AI performance.

The Government is open to alternative methods for measuring customer satisfaction with AI-handled interactions, provided they produce meaningful data that accurately reflects whether AI was able to satisfy the customer’s request.

5.3 Program Management

The contractor will provide comprehensive program management for the AI contact center solution(s), including:

· Designation of a Program Manager responsible for overall contract performance, stakeholder communication, and issue resolution.

· Coordination of all AI implementation, integration, operations, and support activities across multiple channels and agency programs.

· Development and maintenance of management plans, including risk management, quality assurance, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement.

· Regular status reporting to the Government on program performance, risks, milestones, and deliverables.

· Determination, assignment, and management of qualified technical personnel, including Tier-2 security-cleared staff, required to successfully execute the AI solution.

Reports and plans shall be updated and submitted at intervals specified by the Government, and the Government may request additional program management deliverables as needed during the contract.

5.4 Training

The contractor will provide comprehensive training to Government personnel on the operation, administration, and oversight of the AI contact center solution(s).

The contractor shall provide training materials, documentation, and hands-on sessions and may propose the most effective delivery methods (e.g., in-person, virtual, or blended).

The Government reserves the right to request additional training or refresher sessions during the contract period. Training shall include, but is not limited to:

· System Operation: Using the AI solution across all channels, including initiating, monitoring, and escalating interactions.

· Knowledge Management: Updating, verifying, and maintaining AI knowledge bases and content sources.

· Analytics and Reporting: Accessing and interpreting performance metrics, KPIs, and customer satisfaction data.

· Troubleshooting and Escalation: Identifying and resolving issues, including integration or system errors.

· Security and Compliance: Following applicable federal security, privacy, and data handling requirements.

The contractor will provide training materials, documentation, and hands-on sessions and may propose the most effective delivery methods. The Government reserves the right to request additional training or refresher sessions during the contract period.

5.5 Reporting Requirements / Deliverables

5.5.1 Program Management Plan

The contractor will provide an annual Program Management Plan that outlines how the contractor will manage and oversee the services provided under this contract. At a minimum, the plan should:

· Describe the contractor’s organization and key roles.

· Include a simple organizational chart showing reporting lines for the team supporting this contract.

· Outline management approach, including basic strategies for tracking progress, addressing issues, and reporting to the government.

· Summarize quality and risk management practices relevant to the services and solutions.

The plan should be clear, concise, and focused on providing visibility into how the contractor will effectively deliver services.

5.5.2 Technical Test and Acceptance Plan

The contractor will provide an initial test and acceptance plan that identifies the approach the contractor will use to successfully test, prior to implementation, services and technologies. Prior to any technological upgrades, enhancements, and proposed innovation pilots, the contractor will update the test and acceptance plan.

5.5.3 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The contractor shall capture and report monthly KPIs measuring performance against established productivity and quality standards. The Government may adjust, suspend, or add KPIs in collaboration with the contractor with sufficient notice.

Knowledge Retrieval Accuracy

Percentage of AI responses that are factually correct and grounded in authoritative knowledge sources, across a representative sample of interactions.

TBD

6.0 Contractor Performance

6.1 Quality Control

Quality control is the responsibility of the contractor. The contractor is responsible for the delivery of quality services / products to the Government.

The contractor shall develop, implement and maintain an effective quality control system which includes a written quality control plan (QCP). The contractor’s QCP will implement a standardized procedure / methodology for monitoring and documenting performance to ensure all work requirements under this contract are met. The QCP must contain a systematic approach to monitor operations to ensure acceptable services / products are provided to the Government.

The QCP must be provided to the CO and the COR via email within 30 work days of each work order award. The Government will accept or return the QCP for revision within 10 work days of receipt. Any change to the QCP after initial acceptance requires the review and acceptance of the CO.

6.2 Quality Assurance

The contractor will:

· Monitor AI system performance, accuracy, safety incidents, and bias indicators.

· Capture and log prompts, outputs, model decisions, and escalations while complying with privacy rules.

· Provide full transparency into model configuration, training data sources (as permitted), prompts, and confidence thresholds.

· Ensure logs, audit trails, and any audio recordings are complete, accurate, and accessible to Government QA personnel.

· Implement corrective actions promptly for any identified deficiencies.

· Notify the Government of any system updates or changes that could impact performance or compliance.

· Provide government personnel with access to all AI monitoring & reporting tools and dashboards.

Government Quality Assurance Monitoring:

The Government will conduct continuous and structured monitoring of the contractor’s AI services to ensure compliance with the PWS and verify that the AI operates accurately, securely, safely, and consistently across all supported channels and customer agency programs.

The Government will review:

· AI-generated chat and voice interactions, including transcripts and recordings

· AI model updates, configuration changes, and prompt templates

· System logs and audit trails for all user interactions

· Performance dashboards and metrics, including latency, uptime, and accuracy

· Escalation behavior to human agents

· Incident reports, error logs, and corrective actions submitted by the contractor

· Performance dashboards and metrics, including latency, uptime, and accuracy

· Escalation behavior to human agents

· Incident reports, error logs, and corrective actions submitted by the contractor Monitoring will be performed through:

· Random sampling of AI interactions to assess response accuracy, appropriateness, and compliance with agency content standards

· Comparison against authoritative guidance to identify misinformation, hallucinations, or unsafe content

· Bias and fairness assessments to detect unintended discriminatory outputs.

6.3 Notice to the Government of Delays or Non-Compliance with Delivery Schedules When the contractor is unable to comply with the established schedule, the contractor must immediately notify the designated COR. These notifications should be informational in character and this provision will not be construed as a waiver by the Government of any delivery schedule or of any rights or remedies provided by law or under this agreement.

The contractor shall not be liable for failure to perform services where such failure is caused, directly or indirectly, by: (i) a strike, (ii) a natural disaster or (iii) circumstances beyond the control of the contractor. This will not relieve the contractor from making attempts to complete the delivery schedules as promptly as possible. Nothing in this paragraph must be interpreted as relieving the contractor of liability for loss or delay.

Contingency And Recovery Support Services TTS is committed to providing disruption-free contractor-provided service to the public during major disasters and other emergencies. The contractor will develop and implement contingency and disaster recovery plans and procedures to address continuity of operations in the event of a lapse in service for any reason, including natural or manmade disaster or Government shutdown. The contractor’s solution should provide for rapid return to service while containing costs.

The contractor will ensure that all services are restored to pre-outage performance levels within four hours after report or discovery of the outage.

For outages caused by a major disaster, The contractor will ensure that all services are restored to pre-outage performance levels within four hours after report or discovery of outage. The contractor must develop and submit a plan for the COR’s approval within 12 hours after the report or discovery of the service outage for all attended services. The plan must address:

· The roles and responsibility of contractor and Government personnel during contingent and disaster events, including provisions for training to prepare them to respond to such events.

· Implementation procedures to test and execute the plan on a regular basis to ensure preparedness for such events.

Program Operations Recovery In the event of periodic or catastrophic failures that restrict or terminate program operations, the design of AI Solution’s infrastructure and the communications network servicing the Government requirements will include sufficient redundancy to allow operations to continue with minimal disruption and inconvenience to customers for all access channels.

Data Recovery Disaster recovery plans will address factors including, but not limited to:

· Backup routines - The ease and frequency of which backup routines are conducted and the ability to backup data on remote servers / processors.

· Effectiveness - The degree to which data can be compressed for backup purposes and the ability to perform unattended backups on high-density / high-capacity storage devices.

· Operational impact - The time that is required to complete backups and the need to remove users from the system to conduct backup routines.

· Data integrity - The methods of maintaining data integrity so that completed transactions are not lost due to outages, system failures, etc.

· Data recovery - The methods of restoring data from backup in the event of a failure (i.e., commercial power failure and system or hardware failures).

· Simulated tests - Regularly scheduled simulated tests will be conducted for purposes of preparing the staff and assessing the plan’s viability.

Notification Process The contractor will implement procedures for communicating to the Government primary point of contact and / or designated key personnel of any issues impacting AI operations or services. Such procedures will include an escalation process defining various stages of issue severity.

6.4 Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) In accordance with FAR 8.406-7 and FAR 42.1502(c), past performance evaluations shall be prepared at least annually for the contract and at the time the work under the order is…