Q A_Responses.pdf

D15PS00432 – Transcription Services – Questions and Answers

1. When you talk about the technical submission is limited in length to ten (10) pages, exclusive of the qualifications of key personnel, and past performance. Any pages in excess of 10, exclusive of the qualifications of key personnel, and past performance, will not be evaluated. Please clarify page limitations.

Answer: The technical submission only is limited to 10 pages. All other documents are excluded from the 10 page limitation.

2. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this?

Answer: Only companies within the US will be considered as it could be cost prohibitive to mail hard materials overseas, which could also produce an unacceptable time delay.

3. How essential is it to have someone available 12 hours a day, five days per week?

Answer: The requirement is as stated in the PWS: 2.1.3 The contractor shall provide a single point of contact for files –that is available for questions, status reports, or emergent expedited files during the hours of 6:00 a.m -6:00 p.m., Monday - Friday.

4. What is the percentage of audio files that would be submitted through mail for CDs, tapes or video tapes?

Answer: Only in the rarest of circumstances will files be transferred via any method other than an electronic file transfer protocol type process. See PWS paragraph 2.2.7

5. What are the deliverables (hard transcript; e-mail; CD, etc.) under the contract?

Answer: In addition to the narrative in the Deliverables section of the PWS paragraph

2.2, the following is required per paragraph 2.1.1 The contractor shall provide transcription services in support of DCAA OIG. Services include digital transfers of interviews and resulting transcripts and non-digital transcription services in varying formats (micro cassette, standard cassette, digital audio file and digital video file formats). Products are to be typed and proofed and provided in a unified format (using

Times New Roman font, 12 pitch) with a greater than 99.9% accuracy rate down to and including scripting prompts which may reflect unusual occurrences in the transcripts

(such as “witness upset” or “phone ring in background” or “witness crying”) when those types of interruptions affect the testimony. Words which the contractor is unsure of i.e.

spelling etc., are clearly identified in the transcripts with square [ ] brackets.

Transcriptions of recorded interviews of 2 hours duration or less are expected to be delivered in 3-5 business days after receipt from DCAA PM. Transcriptions of recorded interviews greater than 2 hours duration are expected to be delivered in 6-7 business days after receipt from DCAAPM.

6. 2.2.4 "The government reserves the right to change the priority of deliverables at any time at no cost to the government." - Does this refer to the deliverables (i.e. hard copy or electronic version of the transcript) or the turnaround time to complete the transcripts (i.e. 3-5 business days)?

Answer: In accordance with 2.1.2 of the PWS: The contractor shall provide a work flow matrix using Microsoft Excel format so that the investigating officers and office staff know what stage a transcript is in and when it is likely to be delivered. This tracking system will be utilized for each interview transcribed to assist in preventing double billing.

Paragraph 2.2.4 as queried in this question refers to the priorities regarding which files are transcribed first. If after submitting several files, the government desires to change which files are transcribed first rather than first-in first-out (FIFO), then the government will provide the contractor with the changed priorities.

7. 2.2.8 "The contractor shall summarize its efforts on the transcript and address any issues..."- Is a summary required for every transcript? If so, should it be a separate document?

Answer: There is not a maximum or minimum link of the summary but it is required for each completed transcript to provide feedback to the government regarding any challenges experienced during the transcription process. It should not be part of the transcribed document but may be in the same electronic file.

8. Are there any clearances required under this contract for transcription services? If so, what are the requirements?

Answer: See Section 7.0, Security Requirements. The transcriber would need to be subject of a favorably completed and adjudicated personnel security investigation. The security requirements outlined in 7.0 identify that eligibility is required for occupancy of a sensitive position and/or access to classified information.

9. What is the average length, in pages, of a transcript under two hours?

Answer: Depends on the interview and the discussions contained within the interview.

10. What is the average length, in pages, of a transcript longer than two hours?

Answer: Depends on the interview and the discussions contained within the interview.

11. Can you confirm the Fixed Price Per Page (Standard) is for less than two hours audio and 3-5 day delivery?.

Answer: The requirements are correct. Standard or Specialty is not specified (see revised pricing table on replacement page)

12. Can you confirm the Fixed Price Per Page (Specialty) is for over two hours of audio and

6-7 day delivery?

Answer: The requirements are correct. Standard or Specialty is not specified (see revised pricing table on replacement page)

13. Is there an incumbent? If so, what is the name of the company and what are the prices?

Answer: There is no incumbent contractor. This is a new requirement for DCAA

14. What is the approximate estimated volume of audio (or in terms of pages) or the historical volume of audio or pages under this contract?

Answer: There is not historical data since this is a new requirement for DCAA.

15. Can you please provide a sample transcript or clarify the page margins and number of lines per page for the transcripts that is required?

Answer: Page margins are to be 1 inch and lines will include line numbers. Average number of lines per page will be approximately 45-55 lines.

16. The Statement of Work indicates files being transferred using FTP process. Would a secured HIPAA Compliant website where files are uploaded and returned and having tracking capabilities be acceptable?

Answer: Yes, as long as secure digital transfer of files is possible.

17. What is the required completed format for each transcript? Would it be single-spaced or double-spaced format?

Answer: Single space. See PWS paragraph 2.1 for additional information.

18. How many individuals will be present and speaking during each recording?

Answer: 3 to 5 personnel will be in each interview.

19. In Section: “2.2.5” of the solicitation, it states: “The contractor shall charge the government by the “page” for all completed transcripts.” Would a pricing structure of per hour be acceptable?

Answer: No, DCAA will not accept a per hour price structure

20. What is the anticipated volume of transcribed pages annually?

Answer: The Government anticipates 8,000 pages of transcription annually

21. Will this be a sole-source award, or will multiple vendors be awarded contracts?

Answer: This will be a single award purchase order.

22. What percentage of the recordings will be in a non-digital format (micro cassette, standard cassette, etc.)?

Answer: less than 0.1 %

23. How will the pricing submitted by vendors be evaluated (added up, multiplied by some estimated quantity, etc.)?

Answer: Price per page multiplied by 8,000 approximated pages annually

24. Is there an upper limit to how many hours (over 2) of recording a vendor would be required to transcribe at one time in the 6-7 business day delivery category? [i.e. will DCAA/OIG give a vendor 10, 20, 30, etc. hours of recording at once and want it all back in 6-7 days?]

Answer: There is no upper limit. It is not likely to receive more than 20 hours of digital recordings that require transcribing within the same 6-7 business day cycle.

25. Reference: Solicitation 2.1.1, Question: Paragraph 2.1.1 references that, “Products are to be typed and proofed and provided in a unified format (using Times New Roman font, 12 pitch)”. However, elements such as margins, etc. are not mentioned. Can you please provide a sample transcript format or template?

Answer: Margins will be 1 inch and single spaced. Other formatting is as detailed in the

PWS.

26. In reference to section 2.1.1, “Services include digital transfers of interviews and resulting transcripts and non-digital transcription services in varying formats (micro cassette, standard cassette, digital audio file and digital video file formats).” What percentage of the work under this contract will be submitted in each of the aforementioned formats, particularly micro cassette, standard cassette and digital video file formats?

Answer: 99.9 % of submissions will be digital audio files.

27. In reference to section 2.2, would DCAA consider using a visual workflow included in our software and platform instead of a workflow matrix document?

Answer: Yes.

28. If a dedicated server is needed, a cost to obtain, build and maintain it would be incurred.

Would DCAA consider allocating an additional expense for a dedicated server?

Answer: No, DCAA will not consider allocating an additional expense for dedicated servers.