Attachment B-Operations Manual~3.docx

Attachment B

Telecommunications Support Agreement Operations Manual Department of Innovation and Technology State of Illinois March 2025

1.0 Purpose/Scope:

This Operations Manual covers in general terms the processes for Installation/Move, Add, Change (MAC) requests and Maintenance services and provides guidelines on how the Vendor(s) will interact in providing the services for the products covered in the Telecommunications Installation and Maintenance Agreement between DOIT and awarded Vendor(s).

This process document does not replace any existing agreements, contracts, Statements of Work (SOW) executed with awarded Vendor. The just mentioned documents supersede this process document in all instances of ambivalence or conflict.

Installation/MAC Process Policy

1. MAC requests to Vendor will be made via EMS system (the State of Illinois’ computer-based billing, ordering, and inventory system). Requests are electronically submitted to the Vendor.

2. The Vendor is to provide MAC service in response to a DOIT authorized Request Number, including labor and material. DOIT has processes in place so that only authorized order writers may place MAC requests and incur telecommunications expenses with the Vendors. All work performed without DOIT authorization will not be paid.

3. When necessary, the Vendor must contact and work with other internal and external DOIT teams and vendors, telephone companies, and other common carriers to provide MAC services, taking the lead and acting as the State’s single point of contact, and providing updates throughout the installation. This applies to all types of network interfaces, configurations, and features operating between the Vendor’s equipment and the Telephone Company, carrier or other vendors’ equipment.

4. Requests for more complex orders may also include one or more State of Illinois BOAs (Basic Ordering Agreements) and/or Purchase Orders. EMS Requests and BOAs/Purchase Orders signed by the Secretary of DoIT or a designee are the State of Illinois’ equivalent of Request Numbers required by the Vendor to execute the orders.

Process

1. DOIT staff enters request in the EMS system and sends to the Vendor. Vendor is to provide DOIT with an official e-mail address to direct Electronic Order Notifications (EON).

2. The Vendor is to review the request and determine if the requested due date and information is acceptable and send confirmation of receipt by next business day. Service due dates are to be in accordance with the established intervals or mutually agreed upon. Vendor will process all expedited requests on a best effort basis. Vendor will confer with DOIT staff before working requests ahead of agreed upon due date.

3. The Vendor is to coordinate all work for equipment delivery and/or installation with DOIT staff and the designated site coordinator on the request through completion. No changes are to be made to the request without prior approval from authorized DOIT staff.

4. The Vendor is to send confirmation of completion to the designated DOIT contact by the next business day after scheduled due date. Confirmations will include completed date, Vendor Order Number(s), and other information deemed necessary by DOIT. A work order form is to be attached to Vendor invoices and clearly detail the actual date(s) and time(s) for each technician and material spent on the job (excluding travel time).

5. In the event a committed service date is in jeopardy, the Vendor will contact DOIT in a timely manner to indicate the reason and the steps being taken to resolve the issue. For orders in jeopardy status, the State desires that the Vendor expedite the order. If the original committed service date cannot be met, Vendor will provide a new service date, which if agreed to by the State, becomes the new committed service date. However, establishing the new service date does not relieve the Vendor from its contractual responsibility for agreed-to service credit commitment based on the original committed service date(s).

6. DOIT personnel and Vendor to conduct acceptance, if necessary.

7. DOIT personnel updates inventory records and finalizes the request in EMS generating billing to the agency.

8. DOIT personnel to verify Vendor invoice and commence process for payment once validated.

Maintenance Process Policy

1. Incident reports will be tracked via the assigned ServiceNow incident number and the site’s main telephone number.

2. All repair and maintenance work will be coordinated through the DOIT Repair Desk (217/524-4784 or 800/366-8768) and the designated site coordinator through resolution.

3. Initial notification of an incident is called into the Vendor’s Service Center and answered by a live attendant or answering service that will receive incident reports from DOIT, create Vendor trouble ticket(s), dispatch service technician(s), report status updates and escalations through resolution of trouble incident as indicated in this Operations Manual.

4. Vendor’s Service Center personnel must be capable of providing service and preliminary troubleshooting assistance, coordinate remote diagnostics, testing, and clear trouble condition of reported incident if exists within the Vendor’s responsibility. When necessary, the Vendor must contact and work with other internal and external DOIT teams and vendors, telephone companies, and other common carriers to resolve an incident, taking the lead and acting as the State’s single point of contact, and providing updates throughout the resolution of the incident. This applies to all types of network interfaces, configurations, and features operating between the Vendor’s equipment and the Telephone Company, carrier or other vendors’ equipment.

5. Standard Business Day is defined as 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding official State recognized holidays. Any repair work that begins before 5:00 PM Monday through Friday will continue until 6:00 PM at no additional charge if billable and response time was not met.

6. Downtime commences when DOIT reports the malfunction to Vendor at its Service Notification Center and ends when the equipment is restored to acceptable operating condition.

7. Scheduled outages required by Vendor to maintain the equipment are expected to be coordinated with DOIT and the affected site. The State desires any such outages be scheduled during non-peak periods if deemed necessary by DOIT.

8. Maintenance includes repair associated with normal equipment wear and tear. All repairs outside the scope of the maintenance contract, including abuse or exceptional damage, will be billed as time and materials as specified in the Pricing/Compensation section. All billable repairs will require a work order that includes the DOIT incident number and clearly define the actual date(s) and time(s) spent on the job (excluding travel time). The site contact will acknowledge that the work is outside the scope of the maintenance contract by initialing the justification on the work order form in addition to his/her signature. A copy of this work order must be attached to the corresponding invoice. Any invoice not following these instructions will not be paid.

9. Vendor is to check with the DOIT Repair Desk before ordering any equipment that is covered on a time and material basis. State may provide parts from DOIT warehouse in these instances.

10. Any State equipment tracked by DOIT property tag number cannot be replaced without prior approval from authorized DOIT personnel.

11. Any manual Daylight Savings Time updates for all systems should be covered under maintenance at no charge and completed on the effective dates or as “high/urgent” incidents upon notification of the situation. Identify the systems that require manual updates.

12. Restoration of service after a catastrophic event such as fire, flood, earthquakes, or accidental damage must be on the same basis as a high/urgent incident with around-the-clock effort, except that time provisions will not be applicable.

Process

1. DOIT staff creates a ServiceNow trouble ticket and calls the Vendor’s Service Center and categorizes service interruptions as High/Urgent, Medium or Low.

2. Vendor Service Center to provide vendor ticket number.

3. Vendor’s Service Center will respond to all incidents with an on-site certified technician, or fix remotely, per the contractual intervals. If Vendor is unable to obtain access to a state site or its equipment, response times will be adjusted accordingly.

4. Vendor to notify DOIT Repair Desk of onsite time within 30 minutes from arrival on site. If committed response time is not met, Vendor is to advise the DOIT Repair Desk by the expected time response and provide estimated time of arrival.

5. Vendor to provide status updates within four (4) hours of response time, at a minimum, through resolution. If Vendor is unable to obtain access to a state site or its equipment, restoral times will be adjusted accordingly.

6. Vendor to provide closure information to DOIT Repair Desk, including but not limited to, time of resolution and what actions were taken to restore service.

7. DOIT Repair Desk to verify with customer that service has been restored and acceptable. Vendor is to keep their ticket open for 24 hours in the event service restoral is unacceptable in which case the DOIT Repair Desk will notify Vendor for resolution.

8. DOIT Repair Desk to close Remedy ticket after customer acceptance is obtained.

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