DRAFT SOO TDC Support Services.docx

Statement of Objective (SOO) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Taxpayer Digital Communications (TDC) Program Office Office of Online Services (OLS) Taxpayer Digital Communications Support Services

Version 3 March 21, 2025

PWS for LB&I Training and Technical Services | ii Table of Contents

SOO for Project Title | 1 Project Title Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Taxpayer Digital Communications (TDC) Support Services Background The TDC Program Office serves as the single point of coordination, i.e., product manager, within the IRS for programmatic decisions including managing the expansion and use of digital communications across business units and stakeholders. The program’s objective is to expand digital communications options, decrease communication time between the IRS and taxpayers, lower communication costs, reduce operational risks, increase taxpayer & employee satisfaction, and leverage analytics to support the growth and effectiveness of the TDC program office and its digital products. A key part of TDC’s ability to operate and deliver digital communication products requires technical subject matter expertise to design, integrate, install, operate and maintain digital products such as secure messaging and chat. The platform currently being used to deliver secure messaging and chat is eGain Solve. However, the Service is continually seeking opportunities to improve the digital services offered to taxpayers and as such this effort includes technical expertise to support the transition to a new platform with continuation of subject matter expert support.

Purpose The IRS is America’s trusted digital resource for taxpayers to find what they need to meet their tax responsibilities effectively and simply. Taxpayers, from individuals to corporate entities, as well as other government agencies, continue to expect to engage with the IRS digitally, so the IRS must proactively adapt to meet this demand by (1) providing a broader set of digital communication applications, (2) defining and implementing a strategic approach that focuses on identifying emerging taxpayer needs and introducing online engagement opportunities.

In August 2022, the IRS released the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which covers four priorities: taxpayer services, enforcement, operations support and business systems modernization. Fulfilling IRS’ IRA strategic initiatives requires the Office of Online Services (OLS) to define and implement a broad vision for various taxpayer service-focused improvements which currently include secure messaging and chat. OLS has a key role in delivering IRA-related taxpayer experience improvements. A key theme in the IRA initiatives is improving taxpayers’ ability and options to digitally interact with the IRS. TDC delivers digital communication solutions using eGain Solve features for our IRS business partners. eGain Solve is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), cloud-hosted, web-based customer engagement platform that provides Secure Messaging, Chatbot (aka virtual assistant) and Live Chat (aka live assistance). The TDC Program Office drives the strategic objective through business engagement and is responsible for delivering Secure Messaging solutions across the IRS.

Agency Mission The IRS mission statement is to “Provide America’s taxpayers top-quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.” The IRS is America’s trusted digital resource for taxpayers to find what they need to meet their tax responsibilities effectively and simply. Taxpayers, from individuals to corporate entities, as well as other government agencies, continue to expect to engage with the IRS digitally, so the IRS must proactively adapt to meet this demand by (1) providing a broader set of digital communication applications, (2) defining and implementing a strategic approach that focuses on identifying emerging taxpayer needs and introducing online engagement opportunities.

This Statement of Objectives will support the IRS mission by providing the OLS Taxpayer Digital Communications Program Office with technical product expertise to improve and expand digital communications capabilities, e.g., secure messaging and chat, to taxpayers and tax professionals.

Scope The Offeror shall provide professional technical services to advise and assist the TDC Program Office in the management and execution of the digital communications product development lifecycle. TDC seeks technical expertise to assist with operation and delivery of digital communication products to include secure messaging and chat technologies. The offeror shall possess the technical knowledge and expertise to solution, design, configure, test, install, deploy, administer, troubleshoot and maintain digital communication technologies.

The Offeror shall assist the TDC Program Office in the transition of current secure messaging managed service, e.g., eGain Solve, to a successor secure messaging and chat service.

The Offeror shall coordinate, collaborate and serve as a trusted partner with TDC stakeholders which includes tax services business units, Information Technology, policy and security entities.

The Offeror shall assist with subject matter expertise knowledge transfer for new federal TDC staff to expand the breadth and depth of OLS skilled workforce with respect to the eGain Secure Messaging product or successor product.

The work shall be performed virtually with occasional travel to IRS locations for onsite consultation and agency meetings.

Current Information Technology (IT) / Network Environment The TDC Program Office manages and operates the Secure Messaging product for all IRS installations and integrations. The current technical environment for Secure Messaging is as follows:

1. eGain Solve is the current IRS enterprise solution for Secure Messaging, Chat and Chatbot

1. eGain Solve is a COTS, web based, cloud-hosted customer engagement platform

2. Hosted on Amazon Web Services GovCloud

3. IRS upgraded from R17 to version R21 on Oct 15, 2024

4. The product is Federal Information Systems Management (FISMA) compliant

5. IRS IT/ Contact Center Support Division (CCSD) is the infrastructure manager for the eGain product

1. eGain Solve unifies routing, workflow, customer interaction repository, administration, content and knowledge management, and analytics.

1. eGain Solve was launched in December 2016 and is in use across IRS Business Operating Divisions and programs, e.g., Taxpayer Services (TS), Large Business & International (LB&I), Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE), Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), Clean Energy, and Direct File

1. Supports multiple taxpayer types: Individual, Corporate, Small Business, Tax Exempt, International and Powers of Attorney (POA)

1. Interfaces with Secure Access Digital Identity (SADI), Individual Online Account (IOLA), Cisco Finesse, and MS Exchange

1. Integration in process or planned for Enterprise Case Management (ECM), Business Tax Account (BTA), Centralized Authorization File (CAF), Tax Pro, and Electronic Signature Storage & Retrieval Service (ESSAR)

Current operating models TDC employs for authentication and authorization

a) Individual Mailbox – each inbox is owned and managed at the individual taxpayer level (no shared inbox, sent folder, etc.)

· SADI authentication for individual

· Manual authorization by the IRS employee of the business representative and/or POA

· Current Customers: SB/SE (Correspondence Examination (Corr Exam), AUR (Automated Under Reporter), Field Collection & Field Exam), Appeals, TS (Error Resolution System (ERS)), Whistleblower Office Future Customers: Taxpayer Advocate, TS (Electronic Products & Services Support (EPSS)), Clean Energy, SB/SE (campus and field Business Master File (BMF) expansion)

· Integrated with IOLA

b) Shared/Corporate Mailbox - each inbox is owned by the corporation and authorized users share an inbox and sent folder.

· Consent/Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) process - The signed consent form requires a representative at an organization to authorize individuals to correspond with the IRS on behalf of that business.

· The corporation contacts, and any POA’s are manually provisioned in the system by the IRS.

· Primarily used by large businesses, corporations, tax exempt organization, POA’s and individuals if necessary.

· Current Customers: LB&I, Tax Exempt/Government Entities (TE/GE), Appeals; Future Customers: SB/SE

· Requires a unique email address from any SADI email used Objectives The Offeror shall provide subject matter technical expertise, guidance and implementation support for delivering digital communication solutions, operational process improvements, new feature research, and program and product assessments.

TDC tasks that support these objectives include the following:

1. Provide technical guidance and expertise to aid TDC in collaboration with business units to research options to expand the scope of use cases to wider taxpayer (individual, business, and other entities) situations, i.e., enabling taxpayers and tax professionals to initiate secure messages to the IRS

1. Provide technical expertise to help TDC develop future state opportunities by exploring unused eGain Solve or successor features to identify additional capabilities to enable more taxpayers to engage with the IRS digitally

1. Provide technical guidance, expertise and assistance on TDC efforts to prepare, plan, coordinate, perform, validate, and verify:

· New use case development, analysis, prioritization and planning

· New use case deployment ensuring configuration meets business process needs

· Assessment and recommendations for existing deployments: analytics collection, analysis, action planning, and action implementation; troubleshooting, solutioning, and implementing issue resolutions; participating in user community knowledge sharing and communications

· System enhancements and eGain-wide system updates: identify, analyze, solutioning, implement, validate/verify, user community knowledge sharing and communications, and deployment

1. Assist TDC to identify, define, and evaluate functionality enhancements and other IRS system integration opportunities and develop findings and recommendations

1. Provide assessment recommendations and documentation for issue, enhancement, and IRS system integration efforts, to include impacts to existing functionality, system metrics and other user analytics, change management, processes and procedures, operations & maintenance, as well as other operational impacts such as scalability and security

1. Provide knowledge transfer such as training and materials for federal employees to gain the knowledge and have continuous learning to design, configure, administer and deploy secure messaging installations. Knowledge transfer shall include documentation of new or revised processes and procedures for the design, configuration, administration and deployment of secure messaging and other TDC managed digital technologies as applicable, e.g., chat, chatbots

Deliverables / Schedule

Constraints Software Contractor must have extensive knowledge and experience performing custom configuration, administration, design, operation and maintenance of IRS business operating divisions eGain Solve Secure Messaging solutions and eGain Solve Secure Messaging integration with IRS products such as Individual Online Account, Business Tax Account, Tax Pro and Clean Energy.

Security The Contractors shall be approved to work off-site by the IRS. Remote work shall be authorized under this contract if Contractors off-site location best meet contract requirements. Should on-site work be required, it would be expected to be performed at the following facilities:

· Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Main Bldg.

1111 Constitution Ave, Washington, DC 20224

· Internal Revenue Service (IRS), New Carrollton Federal Building (NCFB) 5000 Ellin Road, Lanham, MD 20706 Work at either location will be performed as requested by the Program Manager (PM) and shall be coordinated with the COR.

Contracting Officer (CO) will ensure contractor personnel compliance in accordance with IRS HSPD-12 PIV Procedures Manual

· PERFORMANCE AT GOVERNMENT SITES

· If any of this task order effort is performed at specified government facilities, the contractor shall abide by Department of the Treasury Directive (TD) 71-10 regarding provisions for authorized entrance and exit at these facilities.

· IDENTIFICATION/ BADGES

· The applicable contractor employees shall not begin working under this contract until all security forms have been properly completed and submitted. All contractor employees shall be required to wear identification badges when working in government facilities.

· PERSONNEL REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT

· The applicable contractor employees are subject to investigation by the government. Applicable contractor employees who undergo contractor clearances that reveal, but are not limited to, the following, may be unacceptable under this contract: conviction of a felony, a crime of violence or a serious misdemeanor, a record of arrests for continuing offenses, or failure to file or pay federal income tax. The government reserves the right to determine if a contractor employee assigned to a task shall continue with the task. The contractor shall agree to remove the person assigned within one day of official notification by the government and provide a replacement within five days. New hires or substitutions of personnel are subject to the contractor clearance requirement.

· All contractor deliverables or work products shall remain categorized as "Official Use Only.” The release of any portion must be authorized in writing by the government.

· “The contractor shall adhere to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires access to the Federal Government electronic and information technology.

· The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Federal agencies must ensure that this technology is accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities. http://www.section508.gov/.

· Each Electronic and Information technology product or service furnished under this task order shall comply with the Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Standards (29 U.S.C. *&794(d)) this includes all task/delivery orders and product support services furnished in the performance of this task order.

Government Furnished Equipment (GFE)/ Government Furnished Information (GFI) GFE (to include material, equipment, and/or information) may be provided in the performance of this delivery order. The following GFE may be provided to the contractor if required:

Inspection and Acceptance Criteria All contractor deliverables shall be provided to the Government Program Manager (GPM) and Contracting Officer Representative (COR) by the due date indicated in the deliverable table in Section 8. The GPM/COR will inspect and provide acceptance of all work performed, reports and other deliverables will be performed at the place of delivery.

Accounting and Appropriation Data and Invoicing IR1052.232-7003 Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements for the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) (JUL 2015):

(a) Definitions:

"Short payment" as used in this clause means an invoice that includes the cost or price for supplies or services delivered or performed, as well as the cost or price for supplies or services not yet tendered to the Government in accordance with the terms of the contract, order or agreement.

“Short payment” example: The contract requires the delivery of a set number of items, with the price, delivery location, and delivery due date also specified. The vendor delivers 50% of the items as specified but invoices for 100% of the items. Before implementation of the IPP, the IRS would have paid the vendor for the items delivered and instructed the vendor to re-invoice the IRS when the balances of the items were delivered. In other words, the IRS would "short pay" the invoice since the IRS did not remit payment for the full invoice amount. With implementation of the IPP, the IRS can no longer do this because the IRS cannot accept an electronic invoice that includes items not yet received. The IRS will reject the invoice. The vendor needs to submit an invoice for only the items received by the IRS (in this case, 50%), and, assuming that these items meet all other contract terms and conditions, the IRS will pay the invoiced amount. The vendor submits subsequent invoice(s) for items as they are delivered and accepted.

(b) The Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) is a secure Web-based electronic invoicing and payment information service available to all Federal agencies and their suppliers. Effective October 1, 2012, invoicing for payment through the IPP will be mandatory for all new contract awards. Additional information regarding the IPP may be found at the IPP website address https://www.ipp.gov. Contractors must complete the contractor point of contact information below, and submit it with their proposal submissions. Contractors may contact the IPP Helpdesk for assistance via e-mail at ippgroup@bos.frb.org or via phone at (866) 973-3131. Once a contract award has been made, the contractor will be contacted by the IPP via e-mail to set-up an account. It will be necessary for contractors to login to their IPP accounts every 90 days to keep their IPP accounts active.

(c) Contractor Point of Contact Information

Contractor Name:

Contractor IPP Point of Contact Name:

Contractor Phone Number:

Contractor E-mail Address:

(d) Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements Vendor invoices submitted electronically through the IPP should be in the proper format and contain the information required for payment processing. In order to be approved for payment, a “proper invoice” must list the items specified in FAR 52.232-25 (a)(3)(i) through (a)(3)(x), or in the case of a Commercial Item Contract, the items included in 52.212-4(g)(1)(i) through

(e) Payment and Invoice Questions For payment and invoice questions, contact the Beckley Finance Center at (304) 254-3372 or via e-mail at cfo.bfc.ipp.customer.support@irs.gov.

(f) Waiver If the Contractor is unable to use the IPP for submitting payment requests starting on October 1, 2012, then a waiver form must be completed and submitted with the contractor’s proposal submission for review and approval by the Contracting Officer based on one of the conditions listed in the waiver form included as Attachment 1 to this clause. The vendor will be notified prior to award as to whether their request for waiver has been approved or denied. If the waiver is granted, then a copy of the waiver must be submitted with each paper invoice that the vendor submits to the payment office or the invoice will be returned.

(g) Short Payment Short payment on vendor submitted invoices will no longer be processed or paid. If any portion of the invoice does not meet the requirements for a proper invoice, the entire invoice shall be rejected and returned to the vendor unpaid.

Post-Award Administration After award, the contract resulting from this acquisition will be administered in accordance with FAR Part 19.8, FAR Part 42 and Treasury/IRS Contract Administration Guidelines. The Contractor shall provide all information in accordance with the required IRS standards and guidelines as stated in SOO. The CO, through written designation, will identify the Contract COR. The COR will serve as liaison between the Contractor and the IRS. A copy of the designation letter with specific duties and responsibilities (to include inspection and acceptance) will be provided to the selected Contractor and a copy placed in the contract file.

The Program Office will require weekly project status reports, monthly status reports, and monthly financial progress reports will be used to monitor performance in the areas of cost, schedule, quality and risk management.

Criteria The proposals will be evaluated under two factors, Factor 1-Technical Approach and Factor 2- Price. Factor 1 is of more importance than price.

Factor 1 Technical Approach The Offeror's technical approach demonstrates a clear understanding of the work to be performed. The technical proposal shall demonstrate the Offeror’s ability to successfully execute their approach to this acquisition as cited in the SOO. The proposal outlines an effective, efficient, achievable approach for accomplishing the work to be performed by this task order within the timeline specified by either performance periods or documented in a deliverable schedule.

Adjectival Rating for Factor 1 “Excellent” – The proposed technical solution outlines an effective, efficient, achievable approach that addresses all the requirements as defined by Section 4.0 Requirements of the PWS. The proposal’s strengths significantly outweigh any weaknesses, resulting in a proposal with virtually no risk of failure. There are no significant weaknesses and no deficiencies.

“Good” – The proposed technical solution outlines an effective, efficient, achievable approach that addresses all the requirements as defined by Section 4.0 Requirements of the PWS. The proposal’s strengths outweigh any weaknesses, resulting in a proposal with a low risk of failure. There are no significant weaknesses and no deficiencies.

“Satisfactory” – The proposed technical solution outlines an approach that addresses all the requirements as defined by Section 4.0 Requirements of the PWS. The proposal’s strengths, if any, at least balance out any weaknesses, resulting in a proposal with only a moderate risk of failure. There are no significant weaknesses and no deficiencies.

“Unsatisfactory” – The proposed technical solution outlines an approach that inadequately addresses, or does not address all, the requirements as defined by Section 4.0 Requirements of the PWS, is not effective, efficient, and/or achievable, and/or contains a significant weakness or deficiency. The proposal’s strengths, if any, are outweighed by the weaknesses, resulting in a proposal with an unacceptable high risk of failure.

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