VNS_RFP_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

DJJB-14-RFP-0851, Victim Notification System Solicitation Questions & Answers

March 26, 2014

# Reference Question Answer

1. Current

Contract What is the current year budget (July 1, 2013 thru June 30, 2014) for the existing VNS system?

Funding for this contract is available to the public at https://www.fpds.gov. Under ezSearch, type in DJJ09-C-1850 and hit enter. Funding for the current contract year was issued in June 2013.

2. Current Contract

On page 3 of DJJB-14-RFP-0851 it says this is a continuation of contract DJJ09-C-1850. Could the government provide a copy of this contract and all task orders derived from it?

You may submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a copy of contract DJJ09-C-1850. Be advised, however, that the FOIA process takes time and you will not likely receive the releasable information in time to respond to this RFP. Please understand that the scope, terms and conditions in the RFP are very similar to DJJ09-C-1850, as the requirement, in general, has not substantially changed. As for task orders under the current contract, only five were issued. One task order which survived the entire contract term was for bulk mailing and related expenses above the threshold established in the RFP for O&M CLINS. Two of the task orders were for one-time only actions (e.g., data transfers). The other two task orders were for the same service, generation of FDIC query reports in VNS, but each for a different period of time.

3. Current Contract

Please provide the labor categories currently supporting the O&M part of the program.

Operations and maintenance support under the current contract is firm-fixed-price on a monthly unit basis. For this reason, the incumbent contractor does not bill by labor category for O&M, nor does the Government track support by labor category for O&M services, so the requested information is not readily available. RFP Section C.9.1 identifies four mandatory labor categories for the contract. Each offeror is encouraged to propose additional O&M support based on its interpretation and understanding of the requirement description.

4. Current Contract

How many Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) are currently supporting the program overall?

Information not available. See answer to question 3.

5. Current Contract

How many FTEs are currently supporting the program in the Washington DC Metropolitan area?

Information not available. See answer to question 3.

6. Current Contract

How many FTEs are currently supporting the O&M portion of the program in the Washington DC metropolitan area?

Information not available. See answer to question 3.

7. Current Contract

How many FTEs are currently supporting the program in Louisville, KY?

Information not available. See answer to question 3.

https://www.fpds.gov/

8. Current

Contract As is known by the incumbent, please provide to other bidders the historic spend for the past five years on VNS O&M. Please break out dollar spend by CLIN to make more meaningful than a single amount, e.g., call center, O&M and supplemental services.

See answer to #1.

9. Current Contract

Is the current call center physically separate from DOJ call center operations from its other operations?

The VNS Call Center has no connection to any other call center operations, DOJ or otherwise.

10. Current Contract

Concerning User Help Desk functions, could the government provide historic data as to help desk usage including: average number of calls per month, distribution of calls between usage questions and troubleshooting, other types of calls?

The Performance Summaries provided in Section J16 provide monthly stats regarding Help Desk calls. No additional information is available.

11. General Does all Victim and Offender data (court dates, release dates, etc.) reside within the existing VNS system, or are there numerous integrations with other Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement database systems which integrate into the VNS? Would the DOJ be open to the vendor subcontracting with a third party call center business for the live answer requirements of the bid?

All victim data reside in VNS. Data is provided to VNS by numerous federal entities on a nightly (with limited exception) basis. The data may include victim information, agency specific case information, notification event activity, court information for defendants, custody status of defendants, custody status of inmates. The vendor may propose whatever technical approach it recommends to satisfy the Call Center requirement provided that the proposed approach will meet the RFP requirements.

12. General It is unlikely that implementation of a new system can be completed by July, because of the breadth of operator training and intervention across the country. Is it possible to separate the operations of the current system and the possible replacement of the system over a workable time frame?

This RFP is soliciting for operational support of the existing VNS and not for its replacement. In the event that the Department determines a need to replace the VNS, it will conduct a separate procurement action for that purpose. No such determination has been made at this time.

13. General Could the government please clarify which incumbent operations take place in Rockville versus Louisville?

Rockville, MD, is the location of the production servers for VNS and VIS. The facility at Louisville, KY, provides all other services, including, but not limited to: serving as a hot backup up site, testing site, training site and Call Center.

14. General Will incumbents be eligible to bid? Yes. This is a full and open competition as indicated in the RFP cover letter.

15. General Is any company not eligible to bid? A company that is debarred from Federal procurements is not eligible to bid on a Federal procurement. Otherwise, this is a full and open competition as indicated in the RFP cover letter.

16. General Can the government provide a list with descriptions of all data sources and feeds?

VNS receives data feeds Monday through Friday from: FBI, USPIS, USAO, CRM, USDC, USMS. ATF provides a weekly file and BOP provides a file every day, including Saturday and Sunday.

17. General Are agency source systems centralized or does each facility/remote office have its own separate system?

Each agency that provides data is centralized. However, in the case of USAO and USDC, the centralized system provides a separate file for each federal judicial district.

18. General Regarding the listing of equipment with specs and indicators for those items that would need replacement, is any of the equipment virtualized?

None of the VNS equipment is “virtualized”.

19. General Regarding historical data:

a) What are Approved notification events? Is there a listing?

b) Does Approved imply a vetting process prior to sending of notifications? If so, can you provide details as to such a process?

c) Is the Call Center number specifically inbound calls? If so, what is the total number of outbound calls? Aare all outbound calls automated or are some outbound calls made by a person?

d) Does the count of VIS logins represent the number of users that actively log in or the total number of successful login attempts?

e) How many of the letter notifications generated are first contact letters?

f) what are the facsimile usage numbers? What are the rules for notifying by facsimile? Are there page limits?

a. Appendix C of the VNS User Manual (Attachment J3) contains the VNS notification events. An ‘approved’ event is a notification that has been generated by a user for the victim.

b. Data from the agencies creates “pending” events for user to review and then “approve” to send to victims.

c. The Call Center is Inbound calls. The performance report furnished as part of the RFP provides statistics for the inbound calls as well as the outbound calls and calls by users to the Help Desk.

d. VIS Logins is the number of successful logins

e. The system does not capture any statistic for the number of first letter contacts. However, the number of first letter contacts is not relevant to the RFP.

f. The facsimile numbers are listed in the performance report provided as part of the RFP. There are no page limits for facsimile notices.

20. General Are all victims eligible to receive notification for all notification events?

Yes, except for those under the age of 18.

21. General Can facsimile be replaced by other technology (e.g., PDF attachment to email)? What are the historic statistics for facsimile notification?

Yes. See Section C.5.2, paragraph 2, which states…”However, one or more methods, such as facsimile, may become obsolete during the contract term. Throughout the contract term, the Contractor shall continually assess the effectiveness and efficiency of each delivery method and submit recommendations to the COR as to discontinuing any given method or implementing new methods to the system.”

22. General Concerning the Data Entry, how is victim data entered in the system? How is it verified? How are these data being provided?

(We are assuming that this question concerns data entry by the contractor.) Contractor data entry can be manually entered in a separate system and then exported for import to VNS or entered directly in VNS. The contractor is responsible for assuring the accuracy of all data contained in VNS and entered into VNS.

Data for manual contractor entry has been an infrequent event;

however, it can be provided as PDF files or paper, among many other methods.

23. General Concerning inbound calls:

a) Can you provide historical statistics as to the number of inbound calls that were handled automatically and how many actually speak to a call center operator?

b) What information is available via automation scripts?

The Performance Report provides the statistical information for automated inbound calls and those which required operator assistance. The call center (inbound and outbound calls) provides information for each notification event for all agencies, except the “other” notification event.

24. B.1 The contract term is listed as July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. What are the transition period/options to transfer services from the current vendor to the successful winning vendor? Is the current vendor under contract to phase in/train a new vendor on the existing platform?

The current contract contains terms and conditions that will allow the Government to negotiate with the incumbent any required transition support. With regard to the Call Center facility, the current contract contains the following specific requirement: “At the conclusion of the Contractor’s performance of contract duties, the Contractor will transfer the lease of the Call Center to the Government or to the subsequent vendor who assumes performance of the VNS operational support.”

25. B.3.c We request that a two month phase in be built into the schedule to allow for an even smoother transition than one month. Will DOJ accept this suggestion?

The RFP does not restrict the length of any proposed phase-in/transition period.

26. B.3.e Please clarify instructions. Are we to fill in Table B-5 with our fixed hourly rates independent of the $1.5M total estimate currently shown on p. 6 of the RFP?

The Government will fill in Table B-5 in the award. Section L.4.1.5(a) (1st bullet) provides instructions for proposing fixed labor rates in the Price Proposal.

27. C.1 Please clarify the scope in providing O&M support to VNS between the PPC and AT&T Government Solutions. What are the dependencies between the two firms in providing O&M support for VNS?

There are no dependencies between these two firms. Please read paragraph 2 under RFP Section C.1.

28. C.1 Will this new contract include both PPC and AT&T Gov’t Solution’s work or just one of the task orders due to soon expire?

Please read paragraph 2 under RFP Section C.1. Also, the entire “contract” is set to expire soon, not just a task order.

29. C.1 Will adequate work space be provided for the contractor’s personnel at the Justice Data Center in Rockville, MD and/or any other Government facility in the Washington Metropolitan area?

The Government will not furnish any space for this effort.

30. C.1 Will adequate work space be provided for the contractor’s personnel at the backup facility located in Louisville, KY?

The Government will not furnish any space for this effort.

31. C.2 It appears that the RFP is soliciting a vendor to “take over your existing VNS system.” Is the DOJ looking to replace the existing system/vendor with new technology, or simply looking for a company to maintain/update your existing infrastructure? Taking on the existing system would limit qualified vendors to those that have familiarity with a custom built and older technology.

This RFP is soliciting for operational support of the existing VNS and not for its replacement. In the event that the Department determines a need to replace the VNS, it will conduct a separate procurement action for that purpose. No such determination has been made at this time.

32. C.4.2 Historic Volume Levels

Regarding the Call Center line, please specify the peak time of the day (highest volumes) when most calls are received.

What is the average number of minutes per call? Are manual outbound calls required or is it just inbound?

The out-bound call function is automated only. We do not have any information regarding “peak time” for the Call Center or average minutes per call. Both inbound and outbound calls are automated.

33. C.5.1 General Operations

Can the VNS/VIS Hardware and Software List (Sections J9 and J10) be provided so we have a basis to better understand CLIN 0002? At this time only the incumbent knows this information.

Yes; however, you must request explicit access in FBO to obtain those sensitive files.

34. C.5.2(a) Section C.5.2(a) states that an engineering change implemented in 2013 is likely to reduce the use of letter notification and increase the use of email notifications. Can you provide details as to this engineering change?

The objective of the engineering change was to allow email notices to replace letter notifications for registrants who verify their email address in VNS.

35. C.5.4 What training/background should the call center respondents have?

The Help Desk responds to victim questions about the use of the automated call center and updating of victim contact information as well as providing assistance to victims with VIS (Internet site). In addition, the Help Desk provides assistance to government users regarding the operation of the system.

Detailed knowledge of how to perform functions in VNS is very important as is knowledge of the federal criminal justice process.

36. C.5.4 Please qualify what will be provided as GFE. For instance, will this include paper stock for the bulk mailing; telephone service for the toll-free number(s); and equipment for the data entry, data import and bulk mailing?

Government equipment to be furnished to the contractor includes: computer workstations for the VNS Call Center; a minimal number of DOJ laptops for access to the EOUSA network/VNS; and remote tokens for access by other contractor staff for access to VNS. Toll-free telephone lines for victims will also be furnished by the Government.

37. C.5.4 Please describe whether a knowledge management or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) service are available as GFI/GFE to serve the public calling into the call center.

The Government does not possess a FAQ for the Call Center.

38. C.5.4 Please qualify whether the call log (spreadsheet or system) will carry forward to the next contractor in support of the help desk function. How many help desk logs are currently outstanding? What is the average time to close out help desk items? Please provide examples of the most common type of help desk requests.

In summary, calls to the Help Desk from Government users involve the following: (1) instructions on how to perform a specific function in VNS; (2) reporting of potential system defects; (3) the help desk reviewing the raw data provided by an agency to VNS to determine if the agency information was complete/accurate; (4) providing agency VNS managers with special reports; (5) assisting agency VNS managers with unique issues; (6) monitoring the receipt and processing of the 190 nightly files sent to VNS. The foregoing list is not meant to be inclusive of all matters handled by the Help Desk. For victims who need assistance, the most common issue is to reset a password on VIS or for more information about the case. For the latter question, the Help Desk refers the caller to the appropriate government agency.

39. C.5.4 Please clarify if existing scripts will carry forward to the next contractor in support of inbound phone conversations.

If by scripts you are referring to the Call Center, yes, those scripts will carry forward. Please note that the automated Call Center represents a very small part of the overall system.

40. C.5.4(a) Please advise if the application the incumbent contractor is using will be available to the new contractor to minimize transition.

Read Section H.5.b regarding the Government’s perpetual use license. This same provision is in the current contract.

41. C.5.4(b) Would incumbent transfer lease to winner of this solicitation?

With regard to the Call Center facility, the current contract contains the following specific requirement: “At the conclusion of the Contractor’s performance of contract duties, the Contractor will transfer the lease of the Call Center to the Government or to the subsequent vendor who assumes performance of the VNS operational support.”

42. C.5.4(b) Regarding the physical separation of the call center from other contractor operations: Can the prime contractor use a call center located at a subcontractor site? If yes, then does it also have to be physically separated from the subcontractor’s other operations?

Yes, the contractor may use a Call Center located at a subcontractor site. That facility can be located at the contractor’s place of business; however, it must be secure and may only be accessed by staff approved to work on this contract.

43. C.5.4.(j) Is this provision in the current incumbent’s contract so that the new contractor can assume the facility lease?

See answer to question 41.

44. C.5.4(k)(1) Is there a particular time of the year, month or quarter when data entry is at its peak load? Is the volume uniform or does it spike at certain times of the week or month? Is the volume uniform or does it spike at certain times of the week or month? Is the timing for data entry the same day or can it be batched once a week?

There is no “peak” time for data loads nor is volume uniform, as criminal acts which create victims are unpredictable. Data must be loaded promptly and cannot be “batched” to once a week.

45. C.5.4(k)(1) Please provide details on the amount and types of data entry required per record. Is the data entry per record performed into one system, or does the data entry analyst have to enter data into additional systems for the same record? If yes, how many for each record?

As indicated in the RFP, manual data entry under the existing contract has been very limited. Data that is manually entered need only be entered into one system.

46. C.5.4(k)(2) What are the size parameters and types of data included for the non-standard records per month?

There are no constraints on the type of electronic data which could be provided to the contractor for import to VNS.

47. C.5.4(k)(2) Is the contractor responsible for any data cleansing or assessment of data integrity or completeness for any of these files, either before import or afterwards?

The contractor is required to perform quality assurance on all data contained in the system, including data imported or manually entered. Accuracy of the data is critical to the operation of the system and failure to provide and maintain data accuracy would be catastrophic to VNS.

48. C.5.4(k)(1) Same question as above but for data import needs. Same answer as above.

49. C.5.4.(k)(3) Table C-6 does not match the statistics for letter notification in Table C-1. Would the government please clarify?

Table C-1 represents all letter notifications generated by VNS.

Table C-6 represents the letters generated by the contractor only.

50. C.5.4.(k)(3) What are the size parameters and types of data included for the bulk mailing needs?

The maximum number of letters for mailing for one case is normally about 25,000; however, in unique circumstances, that limit may be exceeded.

51. C.5.4(k)(3) Concerning the Printing/Bulk Mailing, is the 150,000 threshold a monthly amount or annual amount? If annual, based on historic numbers, DOJ has encountered roughly 10 times that. Are these different notification mailings than those listed in the Historic Volume Levels (Table C-1)

The RFP reference which states, “During any 12-month contract period and as part of the monthly/annual fixed price, the Contractor shall provide printing/bulk mailing services for up to 150,000 notification mailings…” is referring to a 12-month, or annual timeframe.

The printing/bulk mailing is part of the volume levels contained in Table C-1. That is, those figures represent both the notifications generated by the government agencies and the contractor activities for those activities.

52. C.5.4(k)(3) Do task orders for additional mailings count against the $1.5M cap for supplemental support services?

Yes. All orders placed under Supplemental Services fall within that estimate.

53. C.5.4(k)(4) Concerning operator assistance for registrants, what information must be kept in the contact logs?

The contact logs must contain, at a minimum, enough information to: detail the date/time of the contact, the identity of the contractor entering the information, the identify of the caller, a brief caption or category clearly identifying the nature of the problem, sufficient narrative details of the issue to allow a third party to understand the issue; priority of the problem; date/time issue was resolved; narrative description of the resolution;

internal tracking number for the incident.

54. C.5.4(k)(4) Please equate the type of help desk assistance required to a typical tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 level support. Is the contractor required to provide support at all of these levels?

Does the contractor have access to any application development vendors through government maintenance contractors for complex applications-specific issues?

There is no limit to the support the contractor must provide and the contractor does not have access to any “application development vendors” with the exception of some limited support that may be available from the Government from Oracle for the VNS database operations.

55. C.5.5 For equipment still under vendor warranty or service maintenance, how does the VNS contractor coordinate with the vendor for what needs to be done to restore service?

The contractor should have experience and knowledge on how to support the equipment. Your proposal should include a plan for warranty and non-warranty service.

56. C.5.5 Is the contractor responsible for any activities or provisioning for a disaster recovery site? If yes, please provide details.

Yes, the contractor is responsible for creating and maintaining a contingency plan of operations to include a disaster recovery plan. See also RFP attachments J14 & J15.

57. C.5.5.(h) Please provide information on the date cutoff (e.g., 2 years, 18 months, etc.) by types of data to maintain for immediate access, and the data to be archived. Historically, how often is archived data required to be accessed?

Data is currently not archived; however, data is deleted based on certain defined parameters. Few records will be subject to destruction during the term of the anticipated contract, as the majority of records in VNS are required to be maintained for an extensive period of time.

58. C.5.6.1 What type of training courses are currently taught, how many hours on average per course and how is out of town training conducted?

Currently, the contractor maintains very extensive training materials, including training data and a training VNS database.

This material and data for training is unique to each agency involved with VNS (i.e., FBI, USPIS, USAO, BOP). Training is almost exclusively provided to Government agency staff. The number of courses per year varies based on budget restrictions.

Most recently, two courses have been provided annually for each of the following: FBI, USPIS, USAO. BOP has conducted approximately six training sessions. As new agencies are added to VNS, the training material must be updated and training data must be provided by the contractor.

59. C.5.6.1(c) Please provide the specific locations (addressed) where the contractor will be required to provide physical desk side support.

Desk-side assistance has not been required under DJJ09-C- 1850. Should desk-side assistance become a requirement in the follow-on contract, the Government will identify the performance location(s) in the task order statement of work.

Performance locations may be anywhere in the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) or location of any U.S. Attorney’s Office (including Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan).

60. C.5.6.1.(c) Could the government provide details as to the expected use of desk-side assistance (per C.5.6.1(5)(c)) and historic usage of this service? At what locations is desk-side assistance used? For remote locations, is web sharing permissible?

See answer to question 59. Web sharing over the Internet is not allowed by the Department.

61. C.5.6.1(d) If the government required the contractor to develop and present new training material to make major revisions to existing materials and present them, will this work be performed under a separate task order?

Yes--the reference falls within Section C.5.6 which states, “Supplemental support services, examples of which are described herein, will be initiated through issuance of negotiated task orders on an as-needed basis. “

62. C.5.6.2 Could the government provide details as to the expected use of On Site system Support (per C.5.6.2) and historic usage of this service? At what locations is desk-side assistance use? (for remote locations, is web sharing permissible?

See answer to question 59. Web sharing will not always provide the level of support required.

63. C.5.6.4 Section C.5.6.4 states that there may be an additional 12,000 users. Could the government provide details to these users, what roles they will fill, what system activities they will perform?

DOJ continues to offer access to the system to other federal law enforcement agencies. With one limited exception, the other agencies do not pose a significant increase (estimated at 1,000 or less) in the number of additional users.

64. C.5.6.7 Concerning Data Import, can you provide details of the non-standard data imports? How are data submitted (FTP, Email request, etc.)? What makes these data non-standard? What victim data are provided in the imports?

See answer to question #46 and add the following: Standard imports are files that contain victim data in a standard format recognized by VNS for a nightly import. Any data submitted with a layout different than the “standard” is then “non-standard.

65. C.8 Could the government provide samples of the reports listed in the deliverables section C.8?

Existing reports will be provided only to the awarded contractor.

At contract award, the awardee will work with the COR to develop the reports which meet the requirements in the RFP.

66. C.9 For Day 1 readiness, what is DOJ’s expectation beyond having key staff on board and committed, while allowing some time to round out the staffing plan and talk to displaced incumbent staff?

The contractor must be fully staffed and able to assume full responsibility for operating and maintaining the VNS on the first effective day of the contract or no later than the last day of the established transition period in the event a transition is required.

67. F.4.1 Does the downtime listed in Table F-2 and F-3 include schedule time for upgrades and routine maintenance that is normally done during non-business hours; or is the time listed for unscheduled downtime due to errors or system issues, or both?

No. Downtime does not include scheduled maintenance.

68. H.11.c Is the contractor responsible to having access to or storage security of PII? Must the systems and equipment used by the contractor have the ability to provide security for PII at the contractor location?

Yes, the contractor will have access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and will be responsible to provide appropriate security for that data.

69. J The List of Attachments is not available to the bidders via FBO. What information will be made available to allow us to bid CLIN 0002 (VNS/VIS Equipment Replacement)?

Page 4 of the RFP shows “TBD” under the Unit Price and Price (Maximum) headings. Are we supposed to come up with a price for both TBDs? Please provide a detailed description of the current make and model of the VIS?

Non-sensitive attachments are available for downloading from FBO. Vendors must request “explicit access” to sensitive attachments. Section J9 and the Price Proposal both contain details that will enable an offeror to bid on CLIN 0002. Yes, offerors are supposed to come up with a price for equipment replacement as stated in Sections B.3.d and C.4.1(b) and include those prices in the Price Proposal under the “O&M and Equipment Prices” tab. Details regarding the VIS are provided in Section J9 & J10.

70. L.4.1.3 If a contractor’s last certified balance sheet is for CY2012, will that satisfy the stated requirement for a “current certified balance sheet”?

Yes.

71. L.4.2.3 An incumbent team member has a patent on one approach to automated victim notification. Will the government accept a different automated victim notification that is fully compliant with the RFP requirements?

The patent referenced applies only to software used at the Call Center. See answer to question 11.

72. L.4.2.3 Will the government retain ownership of all historic VNS data? Will the government transfer that data to the winning bidder (if other than the incumbent) for the purpose of longitudinal reporting and/or transition?

VNS is the Government’s property, and that includes all data stored/process therein.