CCT1 Draft PWS for RFI.pdf

Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

External Affairs Directorate

Contact Center Tier 1 (CCT1)

Attachment 1- Performance Work Statement

06 March 2025

Section Page A - General Information 3 A.1 Title 3 A.2 Background 3 A.3 Scope 5 A.4 Applicable Documents 7 A.4.1 Compliance Documents 7 A.4.2 Reference Documents 8 B - Operational Requirements 8 B.1 Management 8 B.1.1 Program Management 8 B.2 USCIS Contact Center 11 B.2.1 Agent Responsibilities 13 B.2.2 IVR Routing and Self-Service Improvement 16 B.3 Facilities 16 C - Technical Requirement 19 C.1 Infrastructure Requirements 19 C.2 Telecommunications 20 C.3 USCIS Contact Center Technologies 21 C.3.1 Verint Impact 360-Workforce Management and Quality Assurance Solution

C.3.2 STARS (Salesforce) CRM 22 C.3.3 Aria CIMplicity 23 C.3.4 Genesys Live Chat 23 C.3.5 Cisco IP-Based Phones 23 C.3.6 Genesys Dynamic Host Routing 24 C.4 Tier 1 Operational Data 25 C.5 Quality Assurance 254 C.6 Desktop Application/User Interfaces 27 C.7 Network Management 28 D - Training 28 D.1 Training and Development 28 D.1.1 Continuing Development 31 D.1.2 Course and Reference Materials 32 D.2 Information Retrieval 32 D.3 Call Scenarios 32 D.4 Evaluation 33 E - System Availability 33 E.1 Continuity/Contingency Plan 33 F - Personnel Plan 35 F.1 Staffing Plan 35 F.2 Transition Plan 35 F.2.1 Transition-In (upon award) 36 F.2.2 Transition-Out (end of contract) 37 F.3 Security 38

F.3.1 Security Plan 38 F.3.2 Change Control/Data Access Security 38 F.3.3 Confidentiality 39 F.4 Quality Control Plan 40 F.5 Government Interface 41 F.5.1 Collaboration 41 F.5.2 Process Improvement Plan 41 G - Potential Future Options 42 H - Contractor Personnel 43 H.1 Qualified Personnel 44 H.2 Key Personnel 44 H.2.1 Program Manager 45 H.2.2 Project Manager 46 H.2.3 Site Manager(s) 46 H.2.4 Information Systems Security/Corporate Security Officer (CSO) 46 H.2.5 Process Improvement Manager 47 H.2.6 Content Manager 47 H.3 Employee Identification 47 H.4 Employee Conduct 47 H.5 Removing Employees for Misconduct or Security Reasons 48 I - Other Applicable Conditions 48 I.1 Place of Performance 48 I.2 Travel 48 I.3 Post-Award Conference 48 I.4 Progress Reports 48 I.5 Progress Meetings 49 I.6 General Report Requirements 49 I.7 Intellectual Property 49 I.8 Section 508 Compliance 49 J - Government Furnished Resources 50 J.1 Contractor Furnished Property 51 K - Government Acceptance Period 51 K.1 Deficiencies 51 K.2 Review Period 51 K.3 Other Deliverable Schedules 51 L - Deliverables 51 M - Performance Metrics, Service Levels, and Process Improvement 54

Appendices Performance Requirement Summary A Government Furnished Property B

A – GENERAL INFORMATION

A.1 TITLE

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Contact Center Tier 1 (CCT1).

A.2 BACKGROUND

The purpose of this acquisition is to provide Tier 1 level support for the USCIS Contact Center by assisting the public with information on immigration related services and benefits. USCIS is centralizing the inquiry process so all public inquiries come through the multi-tiered Contact Center and this award will serve to educate and help direct stakeholders to self-service options, including the myUSCIS account, and manage the majority of USCIS case inquiries. Examples of common inquiries include how to file an application, check the status of an application, creating an account, requesting a duplicate card or notice, requesting an expedite, requesting an appointment, among others. Tier 1 completes 80% of the total Contact Center inquiry volume and Tiers 2 and 3 are federal staff that handle the 20% escalated to them. The USCIS Contact Center is a High- Impact Service Provider as defined by Executive Order 14058. The Contact Center operates under the External Affairs (EXA) Directorate, Office of Citizenship and Applicant Information Services (CAIS), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The USCIS Contact Center currently offers services primarily through three communication channels: phone, chat, and web form/secure message. Currently, Tier 1 supports phone, chat, and secure messaging/webform. We plan to incorporate web call-backs and scheduled call backs via appointment, other USCIS account-based services and refine our existing channels used to correspond with stakeholders about their cases.

• Phone Channel: Historically receiving nearly 14 million total calls a year, the phone channel operates 3 levels of support. The first is the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. If the public is not able to obtain the information or assistance, they seek through the IVR, they are able to speak with a Tier 1 agent, 300,000-400,000 calls are transferred to live service per month that will need to be answered by the contractor. This volume is expected to decrease in correlation to increases in the chat and secure message channels.

The Tier 1 agents provide general, and case specific information based on access to various USCIS systems which provides information about their application/petition, appointments, outstanding requests, and decisions. They also triage requests for field office appointments.

• Chat: Live agent chat is accessible through the USCIS.gov virtual assistant Emma. Emma assists USCIS.gov users with general immigration information. If Emma is unable to resolve an inquiry, customers are offered the opportunity to chat with a Tier 1 agent. The contractor should expect to answer 150,000-200,000 chats per month, with plans to further grow the channel while reducing the phone channel. Live chat may be directly offered through the IVR outside of EMMA as we expand this service.

• Secure Message: The public can electronically communicate with USCIS via authenticated and unauthenticated inquiries. USCIS customers signed into their myUSCIS account (authenticated) can submit a secure-mail message which routes to the Contact Center for resolution and response. USCIS offers ways for customers to submit appointment requests and other service inquiries through our website that come in unauthenticated. Secure messages and web forms are triaged and worked by Tiers 1 and 2. Specific cases which need additional follow up or coordination with other USCIS components can be escalated to Tier 2 or forwarded via a service request. Tier 1 will be expected to handle up to 100,000 secure messages per month which could decrease phone/chat volume as this channel increases. The myUSCIS account is currently NOT available for secure message options to all USCIS customers and availability depends on whether the customer filed their benefit request online. USCIS is in the process of developing a secure message system that will be available to all customers and secure message and chat will be the primary channels with phone decreasing to the lowest volume of the 3 channels. The USCIS Contact Center uses the System for Tracking Activities, Relationships, and Services (STARS) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tool to capture information from customers.

USCIS will host all technical solutions and design, provide government furnished equipment including laptops and softphones, the VPN service for remote staff, circuits for any brick-and-mortar facilities, the WFM tool and all enterprise network systems access and licenses. The contractor will provide the staff to answer and respond to the inquiries, provide process improvement suggestions, provide quality assurance measures and meet required service levels.

Remote work is allowable on this contract and/or a mix between brick-and-mortar facilities and a hybrid approach. Certain sections of this PWS are applicable only to brick-and-mortar facilities.

USCIS intends to award one contract or task order to support the Tier 1 USCIS Contact Center.

The award will have a base period of performance of one (1) year with four (4) one-year option periods.

A.3 SCOPE

The overall purpose of this contract is to support Tier 1 immigration related information via chat, secure messaging and web form, account-based services, SMS, phone and any channel USCIS uses to communicate with stakeholders regarding information on how to file an application or petition, inquiries on pending, approved or denied benefits and updates on immigration law or policy changes that impact a stakeholder case. All channels will be supported in both English and Spanish.

This contract has specific objectives that will support the USCIS Contact Center:

• The Vendor will utilize USCIS provided cloud-based/voice over internet protocol (VOIP) transmission architecture for telephony.

• Support an omnichannel contact center by providing agents to respond to phone, chat, email, web-based inquiries, SMS, and account-based services.

• Provide a scalable workforce to support the volume of work increases and decreases in a multi-channel environment.

• Bilingual agents capable of handling communication in both Spanish and English. At least 50% of agents in both labor categories must be bilingual in both Spanish and English

• The phone channel will primarily route through the USCIS managed IVR and possibly direct line access as determined by USCIS.

• Frequent partnership and communication between the different tiers of service to optimize where the resolution of the inquiry will occur.

• Remote work is allowed on this contact. The vendor may have brick-and-mortar location(s), use a primarily remote workforce, or a combination thereof. The vendor will be expected to meet or exceed Service Level Agreement (SLA) targets and customer expectations regardless of how they choose to use remote work.

• The transition-in period will last 90 days based on procurement of resources. USCIS expects the Contractor to support the Program fully once the transition-in period is complete. This will be accomplished in increments, with an aggressive schedule planned to ensure full continuity of operations without significant effect to baseline metrics.

• A quarterly process improvement plan.

• A focus on opportunities to move users from live help to self-help channels and these suggestions would be presented in the quarterly process improvement plan.

• Identify additional opportunities to increase automation and improve customer experience and these suggestions would be presented in the quarterly process improvement plan.

• Develop supporting business cases for individual process improvement efforts, including potential efficiency gains with direct and indirect savings that may be achieved with a transition to the future-state and these suggestions would be presented in the quarterly process improvement plan.

• A focus on continuous IVR enhancement and updated routing paths/logic to steer stakeholders to self-service and these suggestions would be presented in the quarterly process improvement plan.

• A Quality Assurance/Quality Control plan to ensure contractor agents are meeting required standards.

• USCIS will provide Robotic Process Automation (RPA) licenses (currently via UiPath) to the contractor. The contractor will be expected to present solutions on how the RPA licenses can improve performance and efficiency and work closely with OIT and the Program office on the development and best use of the RPA or Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

• Internal Escalation queue. The contractor will have an internal escalation queue staffed by more senior agents of a higher labor category. The Program Office will work with the contractor on which cases require escalation to this for resolution rather than escalation to the Federal Tier 2 agents.

Operating a continuous process improvement program that drives efficiencies and better customer outcomes throughout the life of the contract. This includes process improvement suggestions based on tools the Contractor currently possesses that may help USCIS drive a better business model.

The Contractor shall provide, sufficient operational staff to support between 500,000-600,000 monthly inquiries with approximately 50% in the Spanish language. These inquiries will encompass multiple channels including calls, chats, e-mails, web forms, account based secure messaging, possibly SMS, and any other direct communication channel developed by USCIS. The contractor shall also collaborate with the USCIS Program Office and other supporting Contractors involved in improving USCIS Contact Center operations.

Future undefined workloads may radiate from any expansion of existing channels used to communicate with stakeholders about their cases, or new channels. The USCIS account will eventually be the primary tool to communicate with stakeholders and both federal and contract contact center sites and will have full access to respond within the account and review the account when corresponding on the phone, chat, web form, email or other channel of service.

The process improvement suggestions made by the contractor may help define future options (see Section G).

A.4 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

The following documents provide specifications, standards or guidelines that must be complied to meet the requirements of this contract:

A.4.1 COMPLIANCE DOCUMENTS

• The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 USC §552a, As Amended

• A Culture of Privacy Awareness and Records Management Awareness Training

• USCIS Policies on Security Training and Awareness

• Computer Security Awareness Training.

• USCIS Policies on Computer Security Awareness

• Ethics Training

• Intellectual Property

• Protection of Information-DHS MD 11042.1, Safeguarding Sensitive but Unclassified (For

Official Use Only) Information

• The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) Section 508, as amended by P.L. 105-220 under Title IV (Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998) Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards” set forth by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (also referred to as the “Access Board”) in 36 CFR Part 1194 at http://www.access-board.gov/ or at http://www.section508.gov

• Post-Award Instructions regarding Security Requirements for Contracts/Orders- section Standard Form 85P, “Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions”

• FD Form 258, “Fingerprint Card”

• DHS Form 11000-6 “Conditional Access to Sensitive but Unclassified Information Non-

Disclosure Agreement”

• DHS Form 11000-9, “Disclosure and Authorization Pertaining to Consumer Reports

Pursuant to The Fair Credit Reporting Act”

• DHS Sensitive System Policy Directive: DHS 4300 A

• Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12: Policy for a Common Identification Standard http://www.access-board.gov/ http://www.section508.gov/ for Federal Employees and Contractors

• DHS Directive 139-08 Artificial Intelligence Use and Acquisition, As Revised

A.4.2 REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

The following documents may be helpful to the Contractor in performing the work described in this document:

• The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970, 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq., As

Amended

• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 USC § et. seq. As Amended

• FIPS Publication 200, Minimum Security Requirements of Federal Information Systems

• NIST Special Publication 800-53, Recommended Security Controls for Federal

Information Systems.

B – OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

B.1 MANAGEMENT

B.1.1 Program Management

The Program Management shall drive the success of the Tier 1 contract with strategies and methodologies to meet the performance requirements of the contract/TO. The contractor shall identify a single, senior manager to serve as the focal point for management of services and functional operations required under this contract/TO. This Program Manager (PM) shall have sufficient organizational, technical, and contractual level authority to ensure full commitment of resources. This individual shall be involved with the resolution of technical and contractual issues related to meeting contract performance requirements. The contractor must notify the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and Contracting Officer prior to any change of PM. To facilitate meeting program requirements, the Contractor’s PM shall be able to attend in person or virtually all regular or emergency meetings.

The contractor shall use Project Management Institute standards to setup the Tier 1 Contact Center and develop the Program Management Plan to be provided 30 days after commencement of contract in electronic form. The Contractor will also provide weekly and monthly status reports. The Program Management Plan will be a living document that the Contractor shall evaluate periodically and update as necessary based on changes. All changes to the final schedule and plan must be discussed with and approved by the Contracting Officer (CO) in advance.

The Program Management Plan shall also consist of the following elements identified below:

• Schedule

• Risk Management Plan

• Implement approved near term enhancements including high-value, low risk changes to business processes and existing capabilities to achieve service and efficiency improvements

• Communications Plan

• Personnel and Staffing Plan

• Recruit, hire, train, and manage staff to ensure customer demand and SLAs are met or exceeded.

• Includes management structure of the Program Management Team, organizational charts, key personnel and main points of contact, and identifies project teams and their roles and responsibilities.

• Identifies all partners, subcontractors, subcontractor management, criteria for selection, and description of services to be performed.

• Identifies the ratio of supervisor to agent staffing. Due to the nature of the reviews and need for accuracy, the ratio of supervisors to agent should not exceed 10:1.

• Transition-In Plan (upon award)

• Coordinate and manage a successful transition from the current call center contractor, ensuring services to customers and relevant business operations are not interrupted.

• Quarterly Process Improvement Plan

• Collaborating with USCIS and other stakeholders to define and implement process improvement metrics aligned with USCIS’s objectives and goals for the service and the customer.

• Defining process improvement goals that support those objectives, agreeing on process improvement capabilities required to meet current and future needs.

• Defining and explaining process improvement and efficiency gains by use of supplied RPA licenses and/or AI to advance the USCIS Contact Center.

• Security Plan

• Contingency Plan/Disaster Recovery Plan

• Quality Control Plan

• Implement Quality Management processes that measure customer experience and satisfaction, assesses and improve agent performance, identify and implement business process improvements – including for recruiting, training, knowledge management, volume forecasting, and workforce management.

• Detailed mitigation responses in the event measures fall short of compliance to ensure satisfactory performance of program/project team members and subcontractors.

• Transition-Out Plan (end of contract)

The Weekly Status Report shall contain the following information:

• Key activities performed for all tasks with milestones

• Agreed upon performance and quality metrics and strategy to correct recurring and/or widespread issues.

• Staffing/hiring breakdown (especially during ramp up periods) and associated mitigation strategies.

The Monthly Status Reports shall contain the following information:

• A description of accomplishments and planned activities during the reporting period

• Issue and resolution tracking report

• Incident Ticket Management Report

• Active Contractor Personnel Report – A list of active contractor personnel cleared by the USCIS Office of Security and Integrity (OSI) to work under the contract/TO shall be submitted monthly. Any changes to active status must be identified to the Government COR as soon as they happen and included in the report. The Active Contractor Personnel Report should also reflect the hiring queue and stages within the hiring process where all staff within the queue reside. The contractor shall staff Tier 1 by identifying and hiring personnel who meet the criteria for the contract line-item numbers (CLINs) ordered by USCIS and can clear security at the level appropriate for the position.

The Quarterly Process Improvement Report shall contain the following information:

• Identify additional opportunities to increase automation and improve customer experience

• At least 2 ideas to improve service delivery through any existing channel of service or expansion/extension of an existing channel that fits under the scope of the contract.

• Outlined plans of what the process improvement would accomplish, including but not limited to how it will increase efficiency and/or save the Government money.

• Identify gaps in customer experience and opportunities for improvement using leading practices in customer research and analysis.

• Recommend and prioritize potential solutions using a human centered design approach.

• Provide updates and recommendations on the use of RPA and/or AI tools provided by USCIS and how to increase contact center customer experience and/or agent/employee experience.

When the Weekly and Monthly Status Reports are due in the same week, the contractor shall integrate the information from the Weekly Status Report into the Monthly Status Report.

B.2 USCIS CONTACT CENTER

Depending on the solution presented between remote and/or brick-and-mortar, all USCIS Contact Center locations shall operate seamlessly via a networked environment managed by USCIS. The USCIS Contact Center shall use industry best practices where applicable to promote efficient operations and effective use of technology to support the USCIS Contact Center operations. The vendor shall offer scalable resources to manage call, chat, web form, and secure message volumes that fluctuate and have cyclical patterns related to user behaviors, and that may result as part of changes in laws, policies, an unanticipated campaign, media coverage or unforeseen emergency situations to include congressional or Presidential mandates.

Where USCIS determines that a surge is due to unforeseen events, USCIS will work with the contractor to address any necessary changes. The contractor shall justify how their proposed operations promote efficient operations, make effective use of technology, and provide flexibility to handle unanticipated events and emergencies.

• Operational Procedures. The Contractor shall model contact center best practices in the USCIS Contact Center operations where applicable and document the management and administrative procedures and processes required for operational control in a multiple USCIS Contact Center location environment. The Contractor shall develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) which shall be updated annually, or when applicable to changes in Immigration policy or law. USCIS must review and approve all SOPs and updates prior to their dissemination and use. All applicable staff shall sign an acknowledgement that they have read and understand the SOPs. The Contractor shall report compliance with this requirement to the COR and maintain electronic copies of employee acknowledgments which are subject to review and inspection by USCIS.

The Contractor shall assure that each of its employees know the prescribed rules of conduct concerning privacy and confidentiality of information. All applicable staff shall sign an acknowledgement that they have read and understand all privacy, confidentiality, security and integrity requirements. The Contractor shall report compliance with A Culture of Privacy Awareness and Records Management Awareness training within 120 days of award, and annually thereafter to the COR, and maintain electronic copies of employee acknowledgments which are subject to review and inspection by USCIS.

Contractor personnel will be required to use the PIV card scheduling tool to attend an appointment at a DHS facility to receive their PIV card.

• Knowledge Management. Contractor will utilize the USCIS Contact Center required knowledge database to facilitate customer interactions, data capturing, and information dissemination. Salesforce is currently the CRM used to host the knowledge database. The Contractor will also recommend and support efforts to integrate CRM and knowledge management (KM) using USCIS provided technologies. Support may include, but is not limited to, assessing and describing the current state, defining future state requirements, making improvement and/or enhancement recommendations, making system changes (including confirmation management, etc.) for existing or new applications, etc.

Additionally, the goal is to enhance and further integrate knowledge management tools with advanced technologies (such as AI) to improve existing processes.

• Scaling. Contact center volume fluctuates based on time of year. Historically, we see a large increase at the top of the year and a steady decline toward the end of the year with November and December being the lowest volume months. Call volumes also increase during times of government administration changes as well as updates to policy or law. Additionally, the ever-evolving immigration landscape in this country and around the world at times provides for unforeseen potential emergency efforts where the Contact Center is called upon to standup. The contractor shall scale up staffing on an as- needed basis. This model may include leveraging cleared staff with current USCIS Entrance on Duty (EOD)s on other current government contracts who are able to pivot to this program. The Contractor will be responsible for training and obtaining requisite access for the staff in advance should scaling not be possible given the time constraints that come with security clearances.

B.2.1 AGENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Agents shall provide information assistance in a calm, non-judgmental, non-advisory manner, using effective skills to focus on the questions and needs of the public, and provide responses based on approved USCIS content. Agents shall not give out legal advice; instead, they use knowledge articles, job aids, and delineated service sequences to provide information and service via phone, chat, webform, and secure message.

The Contractor shall:

• Field inquiries from a variety of communication channels including but not limited to telephone (inbound/outbound), web chat, web form, and secure message.

• Provide accurate and complete responses in both English and Spanish. All responses will be provided in plain language and all agents are expected to have a strong handle of the skillsets necessary to perform each duty that covers various channels of communication. Capture and route service requests (referrals, change of address request, request for appointments, etc.)

to the appropriate USCIS recipient using USCIS systems and web-based tools.

• The Contractor staff shall develop expertise in handling authenticated/unauthenticated secure messaging and web form inquiries and responses. The Contractor will use the USCIS knowledge base to provide responses. The Contractor shall provide and respond in a professional and courteous manner with accuracy in delivery of the following services:

o Escalation of e-mails to the second level of support for inquiries that are outside of scripted information provided.

o Capturing and tracking of information related to the inbound inquiries including date and time of e-mail, nature of inquiry, applicant/petitioner identifiable information, response date, and reporting of inquires received for training development and for the use of program improvement.

o Ability to use automated email responses in accordance with USCIS business rules and approved templates.

• Use USCIS approved knowledge articles and web-based tools to promote consistency of information.

• Maintain proficiency in telephonic soft skills as well as plain language writing skills.

• Beyond standard functions of inbound/outbound calling, the contractor is expected to take on inquiries related to scheduling information appointments at the local field office. Within the CRM, the inquiry will be triaged to verify if it meets one of the criteria for setting up local office visits. Via the phone, chat, or secure message methods, depending on inquiry type, the Tier 1 agent will reach the applicant/petitioner to go through the process of scheduling an appointment for them or provide standard assistance should one be unnecessary.

• Have an internal escalation queue.

• Beyond scheduling local office visits for information, the contractor shall be responsible for rescheduling appointments set by USCIS for various application processes including but not limited to biometrics, adjustment of status, removal of conditions, naturalization interviews, and oath ceremonies.

This will be achieved via various applicable scheduling tools.

• The Contractor shall provide overall hours of operation from 8 AM to 9 PM Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday. The USCIS designated Managed Service solution will support the live assistance version of the IVR to automatically open and close live assistance to the public, and the contractor shall be required to provide live assistance meeting the required metrics for each associated service line.

Except as otherwise specified, the USCIS Contact Center shall not be open on the Federal holidays listed at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/#url=2025. The contractor may request to remain open on certain holidays on a case-by-case basis. The determination will be made by USCIS at the time of request depending on several factors, such as staffing levels and volume needs. When such holidays fall on a Saturday, the preceding Friday will be considered a holiday. When such holidays fall on a Sunday, the succeeding Monday will be considered a holiday.

If the Federal Government is closed for any reason other than the Federal Holidays listed at the Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Government shall decide if the USCIS Contact Center will remain open and operational or follow the same protocol as its federal counterpart. Additionally, USCIS reserves the right to have the contractor extend the hours of operation and operate the USCIS Contact Center on Saturday and Sunday as needed for emergent situations or reasons of national interest or security. USCIS will give advance notice, when possible, to prepare the contractor for such situations.

The Contractor’s staff shall develop expertise in handling USCIS Contact Center inquiries using both knowledge articles and content provided by USCIS. The Contractor’s staff shall have the ability to rephrase scripted content in plain language without changing the substance of the response. The Contractor shall be responsible for performing the following tasks:

• Responding to inquiries by following USCIS provided information. Agent interactions with the public will be monitored and rated based on accuracy of following correct paths, reading back the information clearly, and the professionalism and courtesy extended during the call. This applies to USCIS Contact Center phone calls, live chats and other channels of service.

• Conduct research of USCIS approved sources of information to prepare responses to inbound inquiries and develop appropriate responses accordingly.

• If a response cannot be provided to a Tier 1 inquiry because another Federal, State, or local entity is the responsible agency, then the inquirer must be told to contact that entity and provided current contact information, based on information presented in knowledge articles.

• Capture and track information related to inbound and outbound inquiries including date and time of receipt, nature of inquiry, source of inquiry if multiple telephone numbers are involved, information requested, disposition, response date, and any fulfillment actions for tracking, quality control, analysis, and/or follow up action in the government-provided customer relationship management tool.

• Utilize analytics staff to leverage available metrics and reports to identify new trends of inquiries. Based on their findings, refer to management for development and updating of scripts and content, as well as process changes to ensure a fully efficient ecosystem.

B.2.2 IVR ROUTING AND SELF-SERVICE IMPROVEMENT

The contractor will be expected to supply mapping and routing improvement suggestions once per quarter in the process improvement plan.

B.3 FACILITIES

Depending on the use of remote work options, the contractor is responsible for any brick-and-mortar facility they choose to operate. Services under this contract are available to agents residing within the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Telecommuting or remote work is permissible if all USCIS security mandates are followed.

Contractor facilities must comply with all applicable state, local, and Federal Government standards and regulations, such as, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (https://www.ada.gov/2010_regs.htm), as amended. Contractor sites shall remain in compliance with such standards and regulations throughout the life of the contract, including the Base Period of Performance and any exercised Option Periods. Additional requirements are as follows:

• Provide space, furnishings, acoustics, lighting, and temperature environment that meet or exceed all applicable industry, state, local, and Federal Government standards and requirements, citing, and justifying standards and requirements proposed.

• Accommodate telecommunications and computer equipment and the USCIS Contact

Center furnishings.

• Provide specifically identified workspace to be configured in accordance with USCIS recommended guidelines for one to three USCIS representatives on-site at each Tier 1 USCIS Contact Center location. The purpose for the USCIS representative, who will be present as needed as determined by USCIS, is to act as a monitor of the operation of the center and report independently back to the USCIS Contact Center Government Program Manager on the operation of the facility. Additionally, USCIS OIT staff may be physically present and occupy one or more of these workspaces.

• Provide workspace that is externally secured by locks that require a key card or equivalent security for entry and exit. If located in a multi-contact center environment, the USCIS Contact Center operations must be isolated from the remainder of the facility by locks that require a key card or equivalent security for entry and exit by all personnel.

• Provide test environment to consist of minimum of three (3) test workstations with supporting peripherals as required to support the contact center technology. The equipment for these workstations, as with equipment for standard workstations, will be furnished by the Government.

• Power Supply Systems shall be supported with a backup electrical power supply, i.e., generators, as well as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The backup electrical power supply shall be capable of sustaining the operation for a minimum of 24 hours.

The transition from normal to emergency backup power shall occur without loss of power to systems and without the disconnection of phone calls, chats or e-mails in process or phone calls, live chats, or e-mails queued for service. The UPS shall be capable of protecting systems from voltage lags, over-voltage conditions, line frequency fluctuations, and power blackouts. It shall be capable of sustaining operations in the event of loss of normal sources of power until the backup generators can come online.

To provide effective continuity of service in the event of a power loss, the backup electrical system must be capable of providing power that supports all voice and data systems required for the Tier 1 to function normally, up to and including the desktop.

• The Contractor shall provide a monthly staffing report identifying staffing configuration delineated by facility, including historical analysis by month and quarter.

• Provide a plan for physical security of the building and related security controls pursuant to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) facility security requirements.

Contractor shall protect information resources and adhere to USCIS physical security standards for all IT equipment/devices in this space through layered physical security, high logical data security and effective security procedures and administration. IT restricted space will be controlled directly by Contractor personnel who will have the ultimate responsibility for control of these areas. (Refer to Section A.4, Applicable Documents).

• Provide training rooms for the USCIS Contact Center program equipped with sufficient computers for training, to be approved by the COR. Access to the training rooms must be limited when in use to train IS’s for USCIS Contact Center requirements. They may be used for other purposes when not in use by the contractor for USCIS Contact Center purposes.

• Provide unrestricted access to USCIS Contact Center facilities to authorized USCIS staff and other designated personnel (including Contractors), including issuance of access badges for each location, for periodic visits. USCIS will provide a listing to the contractor of the authorized personnel and USCIS will be responsible for keeping this listing updated. These visits by USCIS approved personnel to contractor sites may be unannounced.

• Internet connectivity is the responsibility of the contractor.

• Allow designated USCIS employees to function as Tier 1 representatives for training and program management purposes.

Identify the number of agents at each of the contractor’s USCIS Contact Center locations. The contractor shall also identify the number of supervisors, agents, and technical support personnel that will require GFE.

C - TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

C.1 INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS

Prior to USCIS issuing the Authorization to Proceed, USCIS shall:

• Provide all software and sufficient government furnished equipment (GFE) laptops to meet required staffing levels.

• Provide and extend DHS One Net circuits from the minimum point of presence at each Tier 1 location, if necessary.

• Provide softphone capabilities including proper setup to accept skills based or all other routing. Requests for hard phones, due to special needs, may be considered by the Government on a case-by-case basis.

• All connectivity to required USCIS web sites and databases.

• Provide, install and support the following software: Quality Monitoring, CRM, and

Workforce Management and Scheduling.

• Ensure connectivity to all USCIS services such as but not limited to the Person

Centric Query System (PCQS), National Appointment Scheduling System (NASS), Customer Relationship Information System (CRIS), Service Request Management Tool (SRMT), and RAILS.

• USCIS will provide all networking hardware to install the DHS One Net circuits to brick-and-mortar facilities. This will include routers, switches, and firewalls (if necessary), CAT 6 patch cords, and racks and/or cabinets. USCIS will also provide rack mounted UPS for the devices.

Upon contract award, the Contractor shall:

• Provide the following for each agent in accordance with USCIS specifications: two (2) monitors, headset/softphone (USCIS will provide a list of approved devices), docking station, keyboard and mouse device. If necessary, power strips should be furnished by the Contractor. Power strips should include surge protection.

• Be fully responsible for wiring to the desktop. Contractor shall provide a minimum of CAT-5E wiring or the established USCIS requirement at the time of award including CAT 6 patch panels.

• Provide the USCIS designated Managed Service provider vendor with names, established user IDs, capacity rules, and designated routing skills/capacity rules of the Contractor personnel authorized to have access to USCIS tools.

• Work with the USCIS designated Managed Service provider vendor to provide IP Addresses for workstations where needed. USCIS will provide the IP range.

• Provide the USCIS designated Managed Service provider access to all facilities for the purpose of installation and trouble resolution.

• Provide physical space and power for network equipment, such as routers and switches, if the space is shared with another client of the Contractor, ensure all USCIS hardware and equipment are behind locked cabinets or a caged area that is isolated from any other network equipment. For physical space that is not shared with another client of the Contractor, ensure all hardware and equipment is in a locked and secured space.

• All remote workers require a high-speed internet connection, and the vendor is fully responsible for ensuring the connection.

The Contractor shall support the following capabilities:

• USCIS Contact Center PIV Cards – If utilizing brick and mortar facilities, the Government will authorize the contractor to issue PIV cards to its agents and staff, which allows the agents/staff to access Government LAN, email and other Government sites. The Government will provide equipment, supply, regulations and guidelines to issue these PIV cards to the contractor’s employees. Remote employees will be required to schedule an appointment at a DHS facility to receive their PIV card. The PIV card is considered Government Furnish Property (GFP). The government-furnished workstation/laptop will have a PIV card slot in the laptop, on the keyboard or a standalone PIV card reader as a part of accessories. Performance feedback systems – Must track and capture statistics, from the government managed enhanced reporting system, to provide USCIS a daily report displaying calls/chats offered, calls/chats answered, calls/chats abandoned, percentage of calls/chats abandoned, average speed of calls/chats answered, average call/chat handling time, the number of calls/chats transferred to Tier 2, the percentage of calls/chats transferred to Tier 2 and the reason for each call/chat transfer. Must also provide reports for all additional performance metrics as described, including but not limited to secure messaging and web form volume and web callback volume.

• Ad Hoc reports – the government may ask for more detailed reporting on certain data sets as the needs arise.

C.2 TELECOMMUNICATIONS

USCIS will provide the incoming service based on the AT&T and AWS Managed Services Solution, or other service provider(s) USCIS decides upon.

The contractor shall be responsible for any in-house administrative voice or data communication lines. The contractor will also be responsible for all administrative, non-USCIS Contact Center inbound/outbound telecommunications, to include local and long-distance calls.

The contractor shall provide support for all existing and future toll-free numbers assigned to the

USCIS Contact Center during the hours of operation at no additional cost to USCIS. This includes call handling for all incoming calls from the IVR regardless of how many toll-free numbers are assigned, how many knowledge articles are required, or how many different USCIS missions are supported by the USCIS Contact Center. The contractor shall answer calls based on the volume of calls into the USCIS Contact Center.

At a minimum, the Contractor shall provide:

• Support of call and chat transfers to Tier 2 and USCIS’ Managed Services vendor’s telecommunications and technology platform and applications.

• USCIS and its contractors onsite access to facilities and equipment for the purpose of installing equipment, telecommunications circuits, software, testing, inspections, cutovers, troubleshooting, and telecommunications equipment and software upgrades.

C.3 USCIS CONTACT CENTER TECHNOLOGIES (FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES)

The USCIS Contact Center solution1 is comprised of the following system components, but may be subject to change based on the needs of the Government:

• Interactive Voice Response (IVR) using advanced intention analysis voice bots

• Interactive Virtual Assistant (IVA) used in the EMMA text-based Chatbot

• Call Routing – Based on Agent Availability, Priority, and business needs

• Calabrio Work Force Management (WFM) and Quality Management (QM)

• Salesforce Customer Relationship Manager (CRM)

• Amazon Connect – Cloud Contact Center provides high availability and redundancy

• Salesforce Live Chat for text interactions

• Amazon Connect Contact Control Panel (CCP) Softphones

• FedRAMP NexTalk TTY for support of the hearing impaired

• Quicksight for Data Visualization and Reporting

• Operations and Management Portal (OMP) Tool for direct management control of IVR prompts, banner messages, hours of operation, etc.

These systems support the end-to-end interaction between the USCIS Contact Center locations and the public. This includes the components Live Agent Chat, File Transfers via Chat, Web Callback, Inbound/Outbound Calling, E-mail (secure messaging and web form), Voice Callback, Screen Recording, and Call Recording.

1 The new AT&T-based solution is expected to be operational 2nd or 3rd Q FY2025.

In addition, the solution captures and stores call data and provides for various types of analysis through its reporting capabilities. This solution is a fully managed cloud-based service that facilitates geographic redundancy, disaster recovery, and surge capability as the number of system users increases. Continuity of Operations (COOP) exercises are pre-planned and coordinated by OIT who notifies the appropriate teams, and those teams will continue to notify the supporting vendors/staff.

The following sections describe the current software capabilities supporting the USCIS Contact Center. They are subject to change at the government’s discretion.

C.3.1 ECX/CEC Interactive Voice Response (IVR) The IVR is the automated voice that the public hears when they first contact USCIS through one of several toll-free phone numbers. The public caller interacts with this speech-enabled, automated system using natural language. Despite heavy accents, background noise and complicated questions, the IVR is designed to consistently interpret and accurately respond to the caller’s intents while maintaining a high (approx. 4.5 out of 5.0) customer satisfaction rate. The IVR provided by AT&T handles all calls from the public. It incorporates a predictive AI enhanced service that can provide callers with accurate intent analysis (to better respond to their requests) and several self-service options. When the caller intent satisfies certain specific business rules, the caller may be transferred by the IVR to a live agent. The caller may also choose to receive some IVR responses via email or text. Those customer calls that the IVR transfers to a live agent will be answered via the Amazon Connect Contact Control Panel (CCP) softphone. The agent may use CCP on their laptop computer to place, receive, and otherwise handle customer voice calls from any location.

C.3.2 Amazon Connect Voice and Chat Routing Amazon Connect is the routing engine that drives all communications. Amazon Connect is configured with an algorithm which determines available agents based on several factors. The routing strategy is based on business rules designated for operational hours, federal holidays, and availability of staff. The routing for Tier 1 sites will be configured to distribute calls and chats to the next agent based on agent availability, priority, and other business needs. The government reserves the right to change the routing distribution at any time, without the need for contract modification. The Operations and Management Portal (OMP) Tool is provided as part of the Amazon Connect solution to facilitate managing the routing of voice calls and chats.

C.3.3 Amazon Connect CCP softphones

Amazon Connect CCP soft phones provide both audio and visual alerts of phone states, including dial tone, ringing, mute status, and more. The CCP softphone is integrated with Salesforce (CRM) to pass (when available) caller/chatter information (Phone #, language, Receipt #, Caller intent, etc.) to the agent and Salesforce.

C.3.4 Salesforce Live Chat Salesforce Chat is integrated with the uscis.gov Interactive Virtual Assistant (IVA) EMMA and will function as an escalation path for EMMA. EMMA will communicate with Salesforce Chat hosted by the Salesforce Government Clouds Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. When an escalation to live chat is initiated, EMMA will communicate and pass the EMMA conversation to Salesforce. The EMMA conversation will be included in the interaction delivery to the live chat operator desktop and provide the context to continue the conversation. This approach eliminates the need for the website user to have to start the conversation over with the live chat agent. Chat management capabilities will include:

• 2 simultaneous chat sessions for a single agent

• Agent will have Chat transfer and conference capabilities

• Agent can request and permit the Chatter to upload relevant documents to USCIS

• Supervisor Silent Monitor, Coaching, and Barge In

• Supervisor visibility into chat sessions queued with other interactions, including phone calls

• Average chat should be no more than 16-18 minutes (assumption is that an average chat conversation will take twice as long as a phone call)

• Capabilities also include spell check for agents and supervisors with the option to manually edit a word or select from a drop-down list of selections.

In addition to the EMMA transcript, attached data collected during the user’s interaction with EMMA is passed to the Immigration Specialist (IS) to ensure fluidity of service.

C.3.5 STARS (Salesforce) CRM The System for Tracking Activities, Relationships and Services (STARS) is the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application for the USCIS Contact Center. It leverages the Salesforce Government Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) solution and houses various tools for the IS including:

• Knowledge Articles – scripts and guided conversation flows provided by USCIS

• Inquiry type and resolution capture via Service Items

• CTI Softphone – primary voice communication tool

• Employee dashboard with…