Automated_Support_Agents_(AI_Chatbots)_and_Related_Solutions_&_Services.pdf

CITY OF TUCSON

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

260218

AUTOMATED SUPPORT AGENTS (AI CHATBOTS) AND RELATED

SOLUTIONS & SERVICES

Due Date: Monday, July 13, 2026

City of Tucson

255 W Alameda St

Tucson, AZ 85701

Procurement portal https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/tucson-az

Public Portal https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/tucson-az/projects/251765

PUBLISH DATE: June 12, 2026 https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/%7Bproject.government.code%7D https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/%7Bproject.government.code%7D/projects/%7Bproject.id%7D https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/%7Bproject.government.code%7D/projects/%7Bproject.id%7D

CITY OF TUCSON REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 260218

BUSINESS SERVICES DEPARTMENT Page 2 of 60 SHARED SERVICES PROCUREMENT DIVISION RESPONSIBLE CONTRACT OFFICER: Nora Corral

255 W. ALAMEDA, 6TH FLOOR, TUCSON, AZ 85701 PH: (520) 837-4143

Attachments:

A - Offer and Acceptance C - Axia Cooperative Purchasing Program J - General_Terms_and_Conditions_Data_Protection_and_AI

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A. NOTICE

A.1. CITY OF TUCSON

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO 260218

TITLE: Automated Support Agents (AI Chatbots) and Related Solutions & Services

SUBMITTAL DUE DATE: Monday, July 13, 2026 AT 2:00 P.M. LOCAL AZ TIME

PRE-SUBMITTAL MEETING DATE: Monday, June 22, 2026

TIME: 4:00 pm LOCAL AZ TIME

LOCATION:

Microsoft Teams meeting Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/277416872676490?p=nVBmfT8ut91dsdmaGA Meeting ID: 277 416 872 676 490

Passcode: vb99gc2h

Need help? | System reference Dial in by phone +1 213-293-2303,,38626390# United States, Los Angeles Find a local number Phone conference ID: 386 263 90# QUESTIONS SHALL BE DIRECTED TO: Nora Corral

(520) 837-4143 nora.corral@tucsonaz.gov

Posted Date: Friday, June 12, 2026

Competitive sealed offers for the material or service specified in this solicitation must be submitted through the City’s online bidding system. No late submitted offer will be accepted or considered.

Reponses submitted in physical form or by facsimile or email will not be considered. Offerors are cautioned to commence the submittal process sufficiently ahead of time to allow for unanticipated delays resulting from things like a slow internet connection, internet outage, difficulty uploading large documents, differing system requirements, etc.

Questions about this solicitation must be addressed to the responsible Contract Officer listed herein.

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/277416872676490?p=nVBmfT8ut91dsdmaGA https://aka.ms/JoinTeamsMeeting?omkt=en-US https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MDAyOTUwOGUtMGJkNC00MjY1LWFkYzItNmNlYzEwNzU2YWE3%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22d21e59ec-c208-43eb-aaf1-cf06d9a196e0%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%220c9e990b-c4dd-43df-a6c3-e99db0789320%22%7d tel:+12132932303,,38626390 https://dialin.teams.cloud.microsoft/2c60b41f-ade1-4bcb-8fa6-36d6e327015e?id=38626390

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B. INTRODUCTION

B.1. Summary

The City of Tucson is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to deliver an AI-powered service automation solution that reduces the burden of high-volume, routine interactions on city staff while improving the speed and quality of service for residents and internal users alike.

The City's goal is to establish a single, enterprise-grade platform capable of handling interactions across multiple channels, completing transactions on behalf of users, integrating with existing city systems, and expanding to serve additional departments over time.

Vendors are encouraged to propose solutions that reflect the full scope of what modern service automation can deliver, not simply what has been done before.

B.2. Background

The City of Tucson serves a population of approximately 750,000 residents and employs over 5,000 staff across multiple departments. City support teams currently manage a high volume of routine interactions through manual processes and legacy contact channels. These interactions consume significant staff capacity that could otherwise be directed toward higher-value work.

The City is pursuing this procurement as an opportunity to modernize how it delivers service, both internally and to the public, through a platform built for scale and long-term expansion.

NATIONAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

Axia Coop LLC (“Axia Cooperative” or “Axia”) is a national public sector cooperative purchasing organization. Axia works with respected leaders from the public procurement community to offer a growing portfolio of master agreements that leverage national volume to deliver savings, efficiency, and innovation for non-federal public sector agencies. Each agreement is publicly solicited by a lead agency utilizing the strictest of procurement standards. The resulting awards address the dynamic needs of today’s evolving market while providing both value and cutting-edge solutions. For more information about the contracting process, please visit axiacoop.org/contracting-process.

The City of Tucson has entered into an agreement with Axia Cooperative to facilitate the Request For Proposals (RFP) and act as the primary contracting authority for the term of the resulting contract(s). Resulting contract(s) is/are made available to other public agencies nationally for “piggybacking” through the Axia Cooperative purchasing program and authorized by various joint powers authority statutes, rules and regulations within each state and local jurisdiction.

While Axia Cooperative makes no guarantees as to exact quantities and/or purchase volume made by Participating Agencies, the estimated annual volume for purchases made nationwide through this contract category is $25,000,000. Please see Attachment C for more information regarding the Axia Cooperative purchasing program.

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B.3. Contact Information

Nora Corral Senior Contract Officer Email: nora.corral@tucsonaz.gov Phone: (520) 837-4143 Department:

Water Department

B.4. Timeline mailto:nora.corral@tucsonaz.gov tel:(520)837-4143

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Issue Date June 12, 2026

Pre-Submittal Meeting (Non- Mandatory)

June 22, 2026, 4:00pm

Microsoft Teams meeting

Question Submission Deadline June 23, 2026, 12:00pm

Submittal Due Date July 13, 2026, 2:00pm

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C. SCOPE OF WORK

C.1. General Overview and Phased Approach

A. The City of Tucson is seeking a service automation platform that can be implemented in phases, beginning with the internal Information Technology (IT) Department Service Desk, Tucson Water (TW) Customer Service Solution Center, and expanding to additional public-facing services and city departments over time. Vendors must demonstrate the ability to deliver value at each phase while supporting long-term platform growth and scalability.

B. Phase 1: Internal Information Technology (IT) Department Service Desk

1. Automate resolution of high-volume, routine IT support interactions for city staff. The platform must integrate with the City's existing IT service management system (Ivanti Service Management) and intelligently route complex requests to live agents. Success in this phase establishes the foundation for subsequent deployments.

a. In 2025, Internal Information Technology (IT) Department Service Desk resolved 36,966 tickets:

i. Application Support = 5,671 tickets

ii. General Service Request = 5,615 tickets

iii. Computer Support = 5,014 tickets

iv. User Management = 4,381 tickets

v. Account Management = 2,718 tickets

vi. Print Services = 2,242 tickets

vii. Software Purchasing = 1,414 tickets

viii. Hardware Purchasing = 1,160 tickets

2. Account & Access Management

a. Unlock user accounts - fully automated resolution with identity verification

b. Reset passwords - fully automated, self-service resolution

c. Access modification requests - structured intake, approval routing, and access status updates (note: actual execution of access changes to network drives and applications is explicitly out of scope)

3. Ticket Management

a. Submit new Ivanti tickets on behalf of the user

b. Retrieve and provide status updates on previously submitted Ivanti tickets

c. How to submit a ticket (knowledge base guidance)

d. How to check ticket status (knowledge base guidance)

4. Technical Troubleshooting (Guided)

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a. Laptop/desktop issues - guided troubleshooting, diagnostics, and structured intake;

smart escalation to Tier 2 when unresolved

b. Email connectivity and password issues - known-error resolution, password-related fixes, escalation for outages

c. How to add a printer (knowledge base guidance)

d. General technical support based on City asset types and historical ticket data - offered as an optional user choice when information reliability cannot be guaranteed

5. Software & Procurement Guidance

a. Software installation requests - eligibility checks, approval routing, and status tracking;

intake and follow-up automation even when manual execution is required

b. Purchase-related Tier 1 guidance - standard options, proof-of-concept guidance, and information on who can place a purchase request

6. Customer Identification & Authentication

a. The agent must integrate with the following systems to verify user identity before processing requests:

i. Ivanti - ticket history and user records

ii. Adaxes - Active Directory management

iii. Active Directory (AD) - user identity and account status

iv. DUO - multi-factor authentication for push notifications

v. Microsoft 365 - productivity and collaboration platform

b. The agent must handle edge cases where identity verification fails (e.g., user lacks DUO access) by routing gracefully to a human agent with context preserved.

7. Intelligent Routing & Escalation

a. The agent must automatically detect when a request exceeds Tier 1 capability and escalate to the ITD Service Desk Team, including:

i. Basic troubleshooting steps have been exhausted without resolution

ii. Technical difficulty completing customer identification (e.g., user cannot receive DUO push)

iii. User request is not covered by the current knowledge base

iv. Request is classified as high-security or involves sensitive data

b. Upon escalation, the agent must route the interaction to the Help Desk with the associated ticket number referenced so the user does not have to repeat information.

8. Channel & Availability Requirements

a. The agent must support both text-based chat and call-based interactions

b. During the initial POC/pilot, the agent may operate on a separate, optional call line

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c. Once functionality is validated, the agent becomes the default first point of contact for all incoming calls and chats

d. Users must retain the ability to request a human agent at any time, without restriction

9. Reporting & Performance Monitoring

a. Reduction in total call/ticket volume handled by TST staff

b. Customer satisfaction scores (helpfulness, likelihood to recommend, improvement suggestions)

c. Platform adoption rate

d. Number of accounts unlocked autonomously (compared to TST-handled volume)

e. Number of requests escalated to TST for human handling

10. Training & User Adoption

a. The vendor must provide:

i. End-user training on how to use the agent

ii. Communication materials that build user confidence and comfort

iii. Clear messaging that assures users the agent is easy to use and capable of resolving their issue

C. Phase 2: Tucson Water Customer Service Solution Center

1. Extend the platform to handle public-facing customer interactions for Tucson Water, including billing inquiries, service requests, work order status, and transactional capabilities such as payment extensions and payment plans. The platform must integrate with relevant Tucson Water systems and support both chat and voice channels. ADA compliance is required.

2. Automate resolution of high-volume, routine customer interactions for Tucson Water residents and ratepayers. The platform must integrate with the City's water billing and operations systems, execute transactions on behalf of customers, and be deployed as a public-facing web interface. Success in this phase demonstrates the platform's ability to serve external constituents and establishes the foundation for city-wide expansion.

a. In 2025, Tucson Water Customer Service Solution Center handled 251,274 calls:

i. Water Account Inquiry (English) = 29,279 calls

ii. Water Account Inquiry (Spanish) = 15,267 calls

iii. High Bill Inquiry = 63,092 calls

iv. Turn On / Off = 38,695 calls

v. Delinquencies = 38,764 calls

vi. Low Income = 7,492 calls

vii. Environmental Services (Residential) = 51,432 calls

viii. Environment Services (Commercial) = 7,048 calls

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ix. Other = 205 calls

b. System Transition Notice: Tucson Water is scheduled to migrate its billing system from Naviline to Infor with a planned go-live of March 2027. All integration requirements referencing Naviline must be designed to accommodate this transition without service disruption. Vendors must present a clear migration continuity strategy in their proposal.

3. Billing & Account Inquiries

a. Answer billing inquiry questions - account balances, payment history, due dates, billing cycles, statement details, and explanation of meter readings and rates

b. Answer high bill inquiries - guide customers through common causes and available options

c. Assist with the payment process - answer payment-related questions and route customers to the appropriate payment channel

d. Assist with payment extensions - execute payment extension requests on behalf of the customer through direct integration with Naviline/Infor

e. Assist with payment plan creation - initiate and establish payment arrangements directly within the billing system

f. Assist with delinquency inquiries - explain account status, outstanding balances, and next steps for resolution

4. Utility Service Requests

a. Assist with water service turn on/off requests - accept customer requests, query Naviline/Infor to check account status and delinquencies, initiate the appropriate service order if eligible, or decline and direct the customer to resolve outstanding balances if a delinquency exists

b. Answer sewer inquiry questions - service status, issue reporting, and general sewer-related matters

c. Check work order status - provide real-time status updates on active or completed work orders (e.g., confirmation that a reported leak has been repaired) through integration with Naviline/Infor and EAM

5. Trash & Environmental Services Inquiries

a. Answer trash inquiry questions - pickup schedules, missed pickups, and service-related questions

b. Answer Environmental Services inquiries - including trash and service trucks on property, vegetation letters when alleyways are full, and recycling information

c. Retrieve trash service status through integration with Rubicon

6. Utility Program Assistance

a. Assist with pre-qualification screening - guide customers through a structured decision-tree process to determine eligibility for utility discount programs based on household

BUSINESS SERVICES DEPARTMENT Page 11 of 60 income and size; apply program guidelines, which are updated annually, and direct qualified customers to the appropriate enrollment pathway

b. Answer Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) inquiries -provide program information and direct customers to next steps

7. Customer Identification & Authentication

a. The agent must verify customer identity at the start of each interaction before taking any action on behalf of the customer. The following system must be integrated for identity verification:

i. Naviline / Infor - customer account lookup and identity confirmation using name on account, date of birth, phone number, and email address

ii. The agent must handle cases where identity cannot be confirmed by routing gracefully to a Tucson Water Support Team member with full interaction and full interaction context preserved

8. System Integrations

a. The agent must integrate with the following City and partner systems to fulfill customer inquiries and execute transactions:

i. Naviline / Infor - customer identification, billing inquiries, payment processing, work order initiation, and service request updates; must fully support the transition from Naviline to Infor (planned March 2027)

ii. EAM (Enterprise Asset Management) - maintenance work order status inquiries, distinct from billing-related work orders in Naviline/Infor

iii. Rubicon - trash pickup schedules, service status, and solid waste inquiries

iv. AMI / Temetra - water meter reading inquiries (exploratory; vendors must describe their technical approach and any system dependencies)

v. Digital Manual - general service inquiries grounded in Tucson Water's official operational documentation

vi. Avaya Workplace - telephony KPI tracking, including call length, wait and hold queue times, after-call work queue times, and abandon rates

vii. Calabrio - call recording for quality assurance, compliance, and staff training purposes

I. Call recordings must be able to be saved and analyzed using machine learning to develop new call scripts and make improvement recommendations that can be utilized by staff

9. Intelligent Routing & Escalation

a. The agent must automatically detect when a request exceeds its authorized scope and escalate to a Tucson Water Support Team member. Escalation must be triggered under the following conditions:

i. Customer identity cannot be confirmed

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ii. Inquiry or transaction type falls outside the agent's supported scope

iii. A delinquency or account hold prevents a requested transaction from completing and supervisor review is required

iv. The customer explicitly requests a human agent

b. Upon escalation, the agent must transfer the interaction to the appropriate support team member with full context preserved, eliminating the need for the customer to repeat information.

10. Outbound Campaign Automation

a. The platform must support automated outbound messaging campaigns aligned with Tucson Water's communications programs including the following:

i. Outage and service notifications

ii. Delinquency notifications

iii. Account reminder messages

iv. Low-income program appointment reminders

v. CSV file processing - Naviline/Infor automatic files and Low-Income files (currently manually uploaded by Utility Account Relations Specialists; both automated and manual upload modes must be supported)

vi. Scripted call type management - ability to upload and deploy pre-approved scripts for the following customer call types: Water Special (Low Income), Water Customer Service (English), Water Customer Service (Spanish), Environmental Services Residential, Environmental Services Residential (Spanish), Environmental Services Commercial, Turn On/Off Requests, High Bill Inquiries, Delinquency Handling, Limited Income Program (English), New Recycling Information, Outbound Campaigns, and LIHAP (88)

b. Campaign monitoring dashboard — must notify staff when a campaign fails to run, encounters errors, or produces anomalous results

11. Channel and Availability Requirements

a. The agent must be deployed as a public-facing web interface, accessible to Tucson Water customers; preferred deployment is on the Tucson Water Customer Portal page

b. The agent must support both web chat and voice call channels

c. The platform must support the ability to open or close phone lines for a defined time period, record and deploy scripted messages, and set recorded greetings for scheduled periods (e.g., holiday closures or emergency notices)

d. Users must retain the ability to request a human agent at any time, without restriction

12. Accessibility and Regulatory Compliance

a. The Phase 2 deployment serves the general public and must meet a higher accessibility standard than Phase 1. Compliance must be proactively incorporated into the solution design. Required compliance areas include:

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i. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — all applicable accessibility standards

ii. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

iii. WCAG 2.1 Level AA

iv. All applicable federal, state, and local accessibility regulations

b. Vendors must provide documentation of their accessibility compliance approach, testing methodology, and any relevant third-party certifications.

13. Reporting and Performance Monitoring

a. Overall call and interaction volume by channel

b. Number of payments received, number declined, and total dollar amount of payments processed

c. Work order inquiries handled and escalations triggered

d. Customer satisfaction scores (helpfulness, likelihood to recommend, suggestions for improvement)

e. Platform adoption rate

f. Campaign performance metrics — delivery rate, failure alerts, and outcomes by campaign type

g. All reporting must be available through a dedicated dashboard filterable by specific agent or queue

14. Training and User Adoption

a. End-user training for Tucson Water support staff on agent configuration, monitoring, and escalation handling

b. Customer-facing communication materials that clearly explain the agent's capabilities in plain language

c. Spanish-language support materials consistent with the bilingual scripted call type requirements

d. Clear messaging that builds customer confidence in using the agent for routine requests and transactions

D. Phase 3: Citywide Expansion

1. Scale the platform to serve additional city departments. Vendors should describe their approach to onboarding new departments, managing multiple knowledge bases, and maintaining performance as the platform grows.

2. Add functionality to analyze uploaded images and take appropriate actions to meet the needs of additional city departments.

E. Throughout All Phases

1. Integration with existing city systems as required by each deployment

2. Intelligent escalation to live agents for complex or sensitive interactions

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3. Multilingual support, with Spanish as a minimum requirement

4. ADA compliance and adherence to all applicable accessibility standards for public-facing interactions

5. Reporting and analytics to track performance and inform continuous improvement

F. National Contract Requirements

1. Axia Coop LLC (“Axia Cooperative” or “Axia”) is a national public sector cooperative purchasing organization. Axia works with respected leaders from the public procurement community to offer a growing portfolio of master agreements that leverage national volume to deliver savings, efficiency, and innovation for non-federal public sector agencies. Each agreement is publicly solicited by a lead agency utilizing the strictest of procurement standards. The resulting awards address the dynamic needs of today’s evolving market while providing both value and cutting-edge solutions. For more information about the contracting process, please visit axiacoop.org/contracting-process.

2. The City of Tucson has entered into an agreement with Axia Cooperative to facilitate the Request For Proposals (RFP) and act as the primary contracting authority for the term of the resulting contract(s). Resulting contract(s) is/are made available to other public agencies nationally for “piggybacking” through the Axia Cooperative purchasing program and authorized by various joint powers authority statutes, rules and regulations within each state and local jurisdiction.

3. While Axia Cooperative makes no guarantees as to exact quantities and/or purchase volume made by Participating Agencies, the estimated annual volume for purchases made nationwide through this contract category is $25,000,000. Please see Attachment C for more information regarding the Axia Cooperative purchasing program.

C.2. Governance, Controls, and Administration

A. The City of Tucson requires full administrative control over platform configuration, content, and user access without operational dependence on the vendor for routine changes.

B. The vendor must provide a role-based administration portal that allows designated City staff to manage users, permissions, and system configurations independently.

1. Access levels must be configurable to reflect the City's internal approval hierarchy.

C. The City must be able to update knowledge base content, conversation flows, escalation rules, and response scripts without vendor intervention.

1. Changes must support a review and approval workflow prior to deployment to production environments.

D. The vendor must assign a designated Customer Success Manager and technical point of contact for the duration of the contract.

1. The vendor must provide advance notice of platform updates, deprecations, or changes that may affect City operations and must adhere to agreed SLA reporting cadence with defined escalation paths for unresolved issues.

E. All data generated through platform interactions is the property of the City of Tucson.

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1. The vendor must provide documented data retention policies, support City-initiated data deletion requests, and enable full data export in a standard format upon contract termination.

2. Vendors must describe data retention, deletion, and portability procedures in detail, including timelines for data removal following contract expiration and the format and completeness of exported data.

F. The platform must maintain audit logs of administrative actions and configuration changes.

1. Access must be governed by role-based controls aligned with City IT security policy.

2. The vendor must notify the City within a defined timeframe of any security incident affecting City data.

G. Vendors must describe their process for onboarding additional city departments, including the configuration, testing, and approval steps required before each expansion goes live.

1. The platform must maintain isolation between department-specific data environments to prevent cross-contamination of training data between contexts such as IT support and utility billing.

2. Vendors must describe how this isolation is implemented and verified.

C.3. Data Security and Privacy Requirements

A. The City of Tucson handles sensitive employee and citizen data, including personally identifiable information (PII) and, for public-facing deployments, payment card information.

1. All platform interactions involving PII or payment data must be managed with appropriate controls.

2. Vendors proposing solutions that support payment transactions must demonstrate compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) and describe how cardholder data is handled, transmitted, and protected within the platform.

B. Vendors must commit to SOC II compliance and be able to provide an annual compliance report (ISO 27001 is acceptable).

C. Vendors must describe their approach to data encryption in transit and at rest, access control, vulnerability management, and incident response.

1. The platform must support compliance with applicable federal, state, and local data privacy requirements.

2. Proposals must confirm the vendor's willingness and ability to address information security risks such as:

a. Prompt Injection

b. Social Engineering

c. Malicious Files and Malware

d. Voice Bot DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service)

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D. Vendors must commit that data does not leave the Continental United States for support or storage as stated in Special Terms and Conditions Section under 8.8 Data Protection and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

E. Vendors selected for award will be required to execute the City of Tucson's standard data security and privacy contractual terms as a condition of contract execution.

1. Proposals must confirm the vendor's willingness and ability to comply with City contract requirements.

C.4. Artificial Intelligence Transparency and Explainability

A. The City requires that AI-driven decisions and responses be transparent, auditable, and explainable to both City administrators and end users.

1. Vendors must describe how the platform handles confidence thresholds, how low-confidence responses are managed, and how the system determines when to escalate to a human agent.

B. Vendors must disclose all AI model providers, subcontractors, and third-party APIs that will process City data, including their respective data handling obligations.

1. The City must be informed of material changes to AI components that may affect response quality, behavior, or data handling.

2. Vendors must describe their process for notifying the City of model changes, retraining events, or vendor-side AI infrastructure updates that may affect solution behavior, including advance notice requirements and City approval rights where applicable.

C. Vendors must provide documented benchmarks for resolution rate, escalation rate, and hallucination/error rate from prior deployments of comparable scope.

1. Vendors must also describe their methodology for ongoing accuracy monitoring, including how performance degradation is detected, how thresholds are defined, and how remediation is initiated and tracked.

D. The platform must provide administrators with visibility into how responses are generated and the ability to override, correct, or suppress AI-generated content.

1. Vendors must describe their approach to preventing hallucination, bias, and inappropriate outputs in a government service context.

C.5. Knowledge Base and Content Management

A. The platform must support a structured knowledge base that City staff can create, edit, organize, and retire without vendor assistance.

1. Content must be versioned, with the ability to review change history and roll back to prior versions if needed.

B. Vendors must describe how the platform ingests and structures knowledge content, how it handles conflicting or outdated information, and how administrators are alerted when content gaps are identified through user interactions.

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C. The knowledge base must support multiple content types including FAQs, procedural guidance, and structured decision trees.

1. For public-facing deployments, content must support multilingual delivery with Spanish as a minimum requirement.

C.6. Implementation Plan

A. The Vendor shall provide a comprehensive implementation plan that demonstrates a structured, phased, and low-risk approach to deployment of the proposed platform.

1. The implementation plan shall address initial deployment, testing, transition to operations, and future expansion to additional City departments.

2. At a minimum, the Vendor shall provide:

a. Project Governance and Delivery Framework

i. The Vendor shall establish a formal project governance structure for implementation, including designated executive sponsorship, project management leadership, technical leads, and implementation support personnel.

ii. The Vendor shall identify:

I. Key implementation team members and their respective roles and responsibilities

II. Proposed governance meeting cadence

III. Escalation procedures for implementation risks, delays, or unresolved issues

IV. Decision-making framework for project scope, schedule, timeline, and change approvals

V. Coordination methodology with City stakeholders

b. Implementation Methodology

i. The Vendor shall describe its implementation methodology, including:

I. Discovery and requirements validation

II. Solution architecture and technical design

III. Integration planning and development

IV. Configuration of workflows, business rules, and escalation pathways

V. Knowledge base design and content ingestion

VI. Testing, validation, and quality assurance processes

VII. End-user acceptance testing (UAT)

VIII. Production launch planning

IX. Post-launch stabilization support

X. Transition to ongoing operational support

c. Project Schedule, Timeline, and Milestone Deliverables

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i. The Vendor shall provide a detailed implementation schedule/timeline that clearly identifies all major project activities, milestone deliverables, dependencies, and anticipated completion dates.

ii. At a minimum, the schedule/timeline shall include:

I. A detailed project schedule identifying specific milestone deliverables, associated tasks, dependencies, and anticipated completion dates for each milestone

II. A broader project timeline reflecting the overall anticipated duration of the project from contract commencement through final completion, including implementation, stabilization, and transition to ongoing operational support

III. Identification of critical path activities, project assumptions, and any required City resources or third-party coordination necessary to maintain schedule adherence

IV. Estimated deployment timelines for Phase 1 (IT Service Desk), Phase 2 (Tucson Water), and a general implementation framework for Phase 3 (Citywide Expansion)

V. Defined go-live readiness checkpoints, acceptance criteria, acceptance forms, and deployment approval milestones prior to production launch

d. Milestone-Based Payment Structure

i. The City intends to administer this contract through a milestone-based payment framework.

ii. Accordingly, Vendors shall submit a proposed milestone payment structure that:

I. Aligns payment requests to clearly defined and measurable milestone deliverables

II. Identifies proposed payment amounts associated with each milestone completion

III. Includes objective acceptance criteria for milestone approval, signed by the City via Acceptance Form, prior to payment authorization and forward moving to the next deliverable and/or milestone

IV. Reflects a negotiated and mutually agreed upon payment schedule tied to successful completion of deliverables rather than passage of time

V. Recognizes that the City does not provide advance payment for services, and that compensation shall be issued only upon satisfactory completion and City acceptance of negotiated milestone deliverables through a signed Acceptance Form

VI. Is structured in a manner that supports responsible fiscal stewardship and accommodates City budgetary planning considerations

e. System Configuration and Testing

i. The Vendor shall describe its approach to:

I. Functional testing

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II. Integration testing

III. Identity verification testing

IV. Security testing

V. Accessibility testing, including ADA and WCAG compliance validation

VI. Load and performance testing under expected usage volumes

VII. Voice and telephony channel testing

VIII. Failover and business continuity testing

IX. Hallucination and response-quality testing for AI-generated outputs

X. User acceptance testing with designated City stakeholders

f. Migration and Continuity Planning

i. The Vendor shall describe its approach for transitioning services from existing operational processes to the proposed platform while minimizing disruption.

ii. This shall include:

I. Pilot deployments

II. Parallel operations strategy

III. Controlled rollout methodology

IV. Rollback procedures in the event of implementation failure

V. Business continuity planning for service interruptions

VI. Continuity planning for system migrations, including Naviline to Infor transition support

g. Knowledge Transfer

i. The Vendor shall provide a formal knowledge transfer plan that enables City personnel to independently operate, administer, and optimize the platform.

ii. Knowledge transfer shall include:

I. Administrative configuration training

II. Reporting and dashboard training

III. Knowledge base management training

IV. Escalation workflow management

V. User provisioning and role administration

VI. Ongoing operational best practices

C.7. Change Management and User Adoption

A. The vendor must provide a structured approach to user adoption that addresses both internal staff and, where applicable, the public.

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1. This includes end-user training, administrator training, and communication materials that build confidence in the platform prior to and following launch.

B. Vendors must describe their methodology for managing transitions from existing channels to the new platform, including how they support phased rollouts and parallel operations during pilot periods.

1. The vendor must provide resources to support the City in developing internal communications and change management plans.

C. Adoption metrics must be tracked and reported, including platform usage rates, self-service resolution rates, and user satisfaction scores.

1. Vendors must describe how they use adoption data to inform continuous improvement recommendations.

C.8. Service Levels and Ongoing Maintenance and Support

A. The vendor must provide clearly defined service level agreements (SLAs) covering platform availability, response time for support requests, and resolution timeframes by severity level.

For public-facing deployments, the platform must meet availability requirements consistent with 24/7 citizen service expectations.

B. Vendors must define what constitutes a seamless handoff to a live agent, including the maximum allowable transfer time, the completeness of context transferred to the receiving agent, and the specific conditions that trigger escalation.

1. Proposals must include measurable thresholds for each of these elements rather than qualitative descriptions.

C. Vendors must describe their support model, including tiered support structure, escalation procedures, and designated contacts for the City.

1. Support must be available during standard City business hours at minimum, with documented procedures for after-hours incidents affecting critical services.

D. Platform maintenance, including security patches, model updates, and infrastructure upgrades, must be performed with advance notice to the City and scheduled to minimize disruption.

1. Vendors must describe their release management process and how the City is engaged prior to changes that may affect functionality or user experience.

C.9. Performance Metrics & Continuous Improvement

A. The City requires measurable operational outcomes and a structured framework for continuous platform improvement throughout the contract term.

B. The Vendor shall provide performance monitoring capabilities, operational analytics, and continuous optimization services that support transparency, accountability, and long-term value realization.

C. At a minimum, but not limited to, the Vendor shall address the following:

1. Performance Measurement Framework

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a. The platform shall provide measurable reporting on:

i. Self-service resolution rate

ii. Human escalation rate

iii. First-contact resolution rate

iv. Customer satisfaction scores

v. Platform adoption rates

vi. Authentication success and failure rates

vii. Accuracy and response reliability rate

viii. Error and hallucination rate

ix. Multilingual interaction success rates

x. ADA accessibility issue tracking

xi. Channel utilization trends across web, chat, and voice

xii. Campaign delivery and success metrics for outbound communications

xiii. Department-specific operational KPI reporting

2. Reporting and Dashboard Requirements

a. The Vendor shall provide the following, but not limited to, configurable dashboards that allow authorized City personnel to monitor:

i. Real-time operational performance

ii. Historical trend reporting

iii. Department-specific metrics

iv. Queue-specific metrics

v. Agent transfer analytics

vi. Failure and exception reporting

vii. Interaction transcript review

viii. Accuracy and response quality analytics

ix. User sentiment trends

x. Knowledge gap identification

xi. Adoption and utilization trends

b. Dashboards shall support filtering, export functionality, and scheduled reporting distribution.

3. Continuous Improvement Program

a. The Vendor shall provide an ongoing optimization framework that includes, but not limited to:

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i. Periodic business reviews with City leadership

ii. Root-cause analysis of failed interactions

iii. Knowledge gap remediation recommendations

iv. Workflow optimization recommendations

v. AI model tuning recommendations

vi. Escalation trend analysis

vii. Accessibility improvement recommendations

viii. Customer journey optimization recommendations

ix. Recommendations for expansion into new service areas

4. Corrective Action Planning

a. Where performance falls below agreed thresholds, the Vendor shall provide:

i. Root cause identification

ii. Corrective action plan

iii. Timeline for remediation

iv. Follow-up validation testing

v. Reporting demonstrating restored performance

5. Benchmarking

a. The Vendor shall compare City platform performance against:

i. Contractual SLAs

ii. Baseline operational metrics prior to deployment

iii. Prior reporting periods

iv. Comparable public-sector implementation benchmarks, where available

C.10. Ethical Artificial Intelligence and Accessibility

A. The City of Tucson is committed to deploying AI in a manner that is fair, inclusive, and free from discriminatory outcomes.

1. Vendors must describe their approach to identifying and mitigating bias in AI models and training data, and must provide documentation of any third-party audits or bias assessments conducted on the platform.

B. For all public-facing deployments, the platform must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards at minimum.

1. Vendors must provide accessibility conformance documentation and describe how accessibility is maintained as the platform evolves.

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C. The City reserves the right to audit AI outputs and request remediation where discriminatory, inaccurate, or harmful responses are identified.

1. Vendors must describe their process for receiving, investigating, and resolving complaints related to AI behavior.

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D. INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

D.1. DEFINITION OF KEY WORDS USED IN THE SOLICITATION

For purposes of this solicitation and any subsequent contract, the following terms have the meanings set forth below:

City:The City of Tucson, Arizona

Contract:The legal agreement(s) executed between City and the Successful Offeror(s). The Contract will be deemed to include all the conditions and requirements set forth in this solicitation and any Addenda to the solicitation, all the Special Terms and Conditions and Standard Terms and Conditions, and all the terms of the Offer submitted by Offeror as finally negotiated and accepted by the City.

Contractor/Consultant:A Successful Offeror that enters into a Contract with the City.

Contract Representative:The City employee or employees who have been designated to act as the City contact for this solicitation process and who are responsible for monitoring and overseeing the Contractor's performance under the Contract.

Business Services Director:The contracting authority for the City, authorized to sign contracts and addenda thereto on behalf of the City.

May: Indicates something that is not mandatory but permissible.

May not:The indicated party is prohibited from taking the action.

Must: The action or condition is required.

Offer:Any proposal, statement of qualifications, bid, or other submission provided by an Offeror in response to this Solicitation.

Offeror: Each individual or entity that submits an Offer in response to this solicitation.

Successful Offeror: An Offeror who received a Notice of Award or a Notice of Intent to Award from the City.

Will:The indicated party is promising to take the action or abide by the condition.

D.2. PRE-SUBMITTAL MEETING

A Pre-Submittal Meeting will be held at the date and time stated on the cover page of this solicitation, if such a date and time is provided. Attendance at this meeting is not mandatory, but written minutes and/or notes regarding the meeting will NOT be provided, so attendance is encouraged. The purpose of this meeting will be to clarify the contents of this solicitation in order to prevent any misunderstanding of the City's position.

D.3. INQUIRIES

Any questions about this solicitation or the proposed Contract must be presented at the Pre-Submittal Meeting, if there is one (see above), or submitted in writing, via email, or through the online bidding system, to the Contract Officer by the Question Submission Deadline. The email must refer to the solicitation number and the paragraph number of the provision that the question concerns. The Contract

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Officer may respond by email or may, if they deem it appropriate, address the question in a solicitation addendum or response through the question and answer portal in the online bidding system. Offeror may not rely on oral interpretations or clarifications about the solicitation; only questions answered in an email by the Contract Officer, posted through the online bidding system, or posted as a formal solicitation addendum will be binding.

D.4. ADDENDUM OF SOLICITATION

Solicitation Addenda will be posted on the City’s link to the online bidding website. Offeror is responsible for checking the webpage regularly for new solicitation addenda and must acknowledge each addendum to this solicitation in its submittal. Please note that vendors who have registered with the Business Services Department at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/tucson-az and follow the City of Tucson will receive email notifications of solicitation addenda.

D.5. UNDERSTANDING SCOPE OF WORK

Before submitting an Offer to this solicitation, Offeror must familiarize itself with the Scope of Work, laws, regulations, physical conditions, and other factors affecting the obligations – including the expense and difficulty of fulfilling those obligations – that Offeror will have under the Contract if awarded to Offeror. No adjustment to the financial or other terms of the Contract will be justified by Offeror’s failure to fully understand or appreciate the Contract requirements or other factors affecting Contract performance.

D.6. PREPARATION OF OFFER

A. Form and Organization. If Offer forms are included in this Solicitation, Offeror’s Submittal must be on those forms. Supporting documentation must be arranged in a manner that follows and clearly refers to corresponding sections of the solicitation. Offeror may copy the submittal forms in order to complete them electronically but may not alter or rearrange them or change any paragraph designations.

B. Confidential Information. Any information in its submittal that Offeror wishes to be treated as confidential must be clearly marked “CONFIDENTIAL.”

C. Offer Contents. Offeror’s submittal must contain responses to all sections of this solicitation, any Offer forms provided must be completed and any requested supporting documentation must be attached.

D. Signatures. Offeror must include in their submittal signed copies of the Offer and Acceptance page. Any cover letter accompanying the proposal documents must be signed. Offeror must initial each erasure, interlineation or other modification in the submittal. The person signing and initialing on behalf of Offeror must be a person authorized to legally bind Offeror.

E. Prices. Where a unit price is provided it will govern over any erroneous extension of the price.

F. Time Periods. Periods of time, stated as a number of days, will be calendar days unless specifically stated otherwise.

G. Accuracy. Mistakes in preparation of its submittal confers on Offeror no right to modify or withdraw its submittal after the Submittal Deadline.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/tucson-az

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H. Cost of Preparation. The City will not reimburse Offeror for the cost of developing, presenting, submitting or providing any response to this solicitation.

I. Subcontractors. Offeror must, in their submittal, list any subcontractors that it will utilize in the performance of the Contract if they are awarded the Contract and must describe their qualifications in detail.

J. Incomplete Information. Failure to include all requested information may have a negative impact on the evaluation of Offeror’s submittal.

D.7. PAYMENT DISCOUNTS

Payment discount periods shall be computed from the date of receipt of the material/service or correct invoice, whichever is later, to the date City’s payment warrant is mailed. Unless freight and other charges are itemized, any discount provided shall be taken on full amount of invoice. Payment discounts of twenty-one calendar days or more shall be deducted from the proposed price in determining the price points. However, the City shall be entitled to take advantage of any payment discount offered by a vendor provided payment is made within the discount period. The payment discount shall apply to all purchases and to all payment methods.

D.8. TAXES

The City is exempt from federal excise tax, including the federal transportation tax, but is not exempt from any other taxes, including state and local sales and excise taxes.

D.9. EXCEPTIONS TO CONTRACT PROVISIONS

By submitting an offer in response to this solicitation, Offeror is offering to enter into the Contract with the City. If Offeror wishes to modify any Contract terms and conditions, Offeror must, in its Offer, clearly identify the changes it is requesting. No requested modification will be deemed accepted by the City unless and until the City’s Business Services Director or their designee expressly accepts it in writing.

D.10. PUBLIC RECORD

Any documents submitted by Offeror in response to this solicitation will become the property of the City.

Except as set forth below with respect to Confidential Information, the Submittal will be deemed to be a public record available for review by the public after the award notification.

D.11. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

The City is obligated to abide by the Arizona Public Records Law, A.R.S. §§ 39-101 through 39-161. If Offeror believes that any portion of its Offer, specification, protest or correspondence contains information that is confidential and subject to being withheld from disclosure in the event that the City receives a public records request to which the record is responsive, Offeror must, when the record is submitted, provide the Contract Officer written notification of that fact.