ESBD_File_341605_HHS0013505 HHS Responses to Questions from Potential Respondents.pdf

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 1 of 8

Solicitation Title: HHS Cloud Fax Solution

Solicitation Number: HHS0013505

HHS Responses to Questions from Potential Respondents

Question No. Reference Vendor Question Response

1.

RFO No.

HHS0012505,

Section 5.2 Page 44, Requirements Traceability Matrix-Tab 4 – Solutions (RTM), Functional Requirements 11 and 14

Can Texas HHS provide a detailed breakdown on pages sent/received by applications vs sent/received by users?

A detailed breakdown on pages sent/received by application vs user is not available.

2.

RFO No.

HHS0012505,

Section 5.2 Page 44, Requirements Traceability Matrix-Tab 4 – Solutions (RTM), Functional Requirements 11 and 14

Can Texas HHS describe or define which applications (inbound or outbound) account for the majority of your fax traffic?

The applications sending and receiving are not currently available.

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 2 of 8

Question No. Reference Vendor Question Response

3.

RFO No.

HHS0012505,

Section 5.2 Page 44, Requirements Traceability Matrix-Tab 4 – Solutions (RTM), Functional Requirement

We have seen an increase in ‘Direct Routing’ or ‘Bring Your Own Carrier’ requirements, due to demand of controlling number ownership. In addition to the capability of providing SIP trunking, vendors can also provide number porting, call redirection, and new number provisioning. Does HHSC have a preference towards the management of inbound fax numbers?

Sec. 2.3.1 Functional Requirements states: The Contractor shall provide a Cloud Fax Solution that meets HHSC’s functional requirements including configurable business rules, ability to receive faxes via multiple methods, ability to port both local and toll-free numbers while supporting 60,000 packages and 800,000 inbound pages per week.

4.

RFO No.

HHS0012505,

Section 2.3.3 Page 21, Exhibit M, HHS Information Security and Privacy Requirements, Standards and Regulations

We explicitly comply with the FCC’s list of prohibited equipment or services (https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist), including maintains a policy to prohibit the use of suppliers/technologies from government sanctioned countries, such as Russia. Can HHSC confirm this is a requirement for the

RFP?

Technologies from government sanctioned countries are prohibited.

5.

RFO Section 2.3.1 Functional Requirements

Please explain how 800 numbers are used. Are 800 numbers used to front end multiple DID’s?

Some 800 numbers are dedicated, and some are used to front end multiple DIDs.

https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 3 of 8

No. Reference Vendor Question Response

6.

RFO Section 2.3.4 & Exhibit F 4.041 Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program

(TX-RAMP)

If a solution has a FedRAMP authorization are bidders still required to complete a TX-RAMP authorization?

Tx-RAMP is a requirement. Please refer to sec. 2.3.4. Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program (TX-RAMP) In addition, please refer to https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/texas-risk-and-authorization-management-program-tx-ramp.

7.

RFO Section 3.5.1 General Information

Will the state allow a Times New Roman, 9-point font for graphics and tables contained within the 100-page narrative/technical proposal?

Please refer to 3.5.2 Page Limit and Supporting Documentation.

8.

RFO Section 6.8 Hub Subcontracting Plan (HSP) Courtesy Review

Approximately how long will a curtesy review take and how will the feedback be provided?

Depending on when the HSP is received for a courtesy review, we try to return it the same day. The feedback is provided via email. If the respondent would like further clarification, a Teams meeting, or call can be scheduled.

9.

Exhibit F 3.4 Search Will search capability need to include fax image data or just fax transmission metadata?

Please refer to exhibit F tab 4, #61-71, showing that image data, as part of the record, needs to have search capability as well as transmission data.

10.

Exhibit F 3.4 Storage Please provide an example of the type of "data formatting" that is requested.

Please refer to exhibit F tab 4, #9. The Cloud Fax Solution shall be able to receive faxes in multiple methods formats for example, text, PDF, email, tiff, jpeg etc.

11.

Exhibit F 4.022 Please provide details on how the state uses mail merge today for batch processing. How many documents are in a typical batch and how many fields need to be merged?

Mail Merge is not being used by our current fax solution.

However, this is a functional requirement of the new solution.

https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/texas-risk-and-authorization-management-program-tx-ramp https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/texas-risk-and-authorization-management-program-tx-ramp https://dir.texas.gov/information-security/texas-risk-and-authorization-management-program-tx-ramp

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 4 of 8

No. Reference Vendor Question Response

12.

Exhibit F 4.025 Please provide bidders examples as to the elements HHSC wants logged?

Please refer to the Data, Analytics, Security requirements on audit and logging requirements in exhibit 4 tab 4, Sec. 4.

13.

Exhibit F 4.025 How long should logs be stored? Please refer to Exhibit B, sec. 8.1. The State of Texas data retention policy is 7 years.

14.

Exhibit F 4.027 Please confirm if scheduled send would be for

API sending and also for fax by email?

We currently do not use fax by email. We do send using API as well as through a print driver, both of which allow us to schedule send.

15.

Exhibit F 4.032 Will the state please provide examples of how you use OCR, IDR and ICR today in your system?

There is currently one program area that uses OCR to scan submitted applications (forms). There may be other programs that use OCR that we are not aware of.

16.

Exhibit F 4.032 & 033 Will Intelligent Document Processing (Optical Character Recognition, Intelligent Document Recognition, Intelligent Character Recognition) be expected on all fax numbers or a specific subset?

Intelligent Document Processing is expected on all fax numbers.

17.

Exhibit F 4.032 & 033 Will Intelligent Document Processing (Optical Character Recognition, Intelligent Document Recognition, Intelligent Character Recognition) be expected only on fax numbers that deliver into an API integration process?

See response to question No. 16.

18.

Exhibit F 4.009 Please provide more details for how the state would want a fax to be delivered as text.

We require faxes to be converted to different formats by the faxing solution as they are today.

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 5 of 8

No. Reference Vendor Question Response

19.

Exhibit F 4.009 Is it a requirement to be able to deliver inbound faxes as a jpeg or, is a PDF or TIFF sufficient?

The formats stated in Exhibit F 4.009 are required.

20.

Exhibit F 4.032/033 Please provide specific workflows in how you would like the OCR, IDR and ICR to operate and the downstream systems and applications that will use this information.

Workflows will be discussed with the awarded vendor upon Contract execution.

21.

Exhibit F 4.038 Will the Texas HHSC expect to have access to and manage encryption keys?

Texas HHSC does not expect to have access and/or manage encryption keys.

22.

Exhibit F 4.043 Will the Texas HHSC expect to have access to hosted systems data / source code or just to the fax image data and metadata?

Texas HHSC does not expect to access hosted systems data or source code from the vendor.

23.

Exhibit F 4.046 & 099 What maximum size limits do you anticipate for Inbound and Outbound using email / web application, and for API?

The size limit is currently 25mb per message for most end users. Super users do not have size limits, as stated in Exhibit F 4.046.

24.

Exhibit F 4.055 Will Azure Active Directory SSO be used only for authentication purposes?

Azure Active Directory SSO will be used only for authentication purposes.

25.

Exhibit F 4.055 Will Azure Active Directory SSO be used to provision and deprovision accounts?

Azure Active Directory SSO will be used to provision and deprovision accounts.

26.

Exhibit F 4.055 Will Azure Active Directory SSO be used to differentiate types of users (such as end users and administrative users)?

Azure Active Directory SSO will be used to differentiate types of users (such as end users and administrative users).

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 6 of 8

No. Reference Vendor Question Response

27.

Exhibit F 4.071 What percentage of faxes are A4, B4 or A3 format? Is there an issue if those are rasterized and delivered as 204 x 98 images?

This information is not available at this time.

28.

Exhibit F 4.076 Please advise how HHSC expects to be able to manage the hosting environments and any specific self-management requirements.

HHSC does not expect to manage the vendor’s hosting environments.

See Addendum No. 4.

29.

Exhibit F 4.083 Will the ability to set the number of retries need to be configurable at the global, DID or individual transmission level?

The ability to set the number of retries needs to be configurable at the global level.

30.

Exhibit F 4.090 Is delivery to SFTP a required delivery option?

Please identify the quantity of SFTP fax transmissions on a monthly basis?

Delivery to SFTP is a required delivery option, as stated in Exhibit F 4.090.

We are unable to provide the quantity of SFTP faxes since the number varies by month.

31.

Exhibit F 4.090 Is the routing of faxes to specific devices or email addresses expected to be the same delivery point for all fax transmissions for a given user's inbound fax number? If not, please advise as to the use case.

Most faxes go to a network address. However, about 1/3 of inbound faxes are sent to a DID.

32.

Exhibit F 4.094 Regarding PR-9 requirement for 98% successful fax transmission completed on initial first try, will performance calculations exclude failed faxes for telephony answers by other than fax tone (human answer), and no telephony connection (busy signal, RNA, dead air)? Please confirm how this will be calculated.

The requirement is for 98% successful completion of all fax transmissions. Performance calculations do not exclude failed faxes for telephony answers by other than fax tone (human answer), and no telephony connection (busy signal, RNA, dead air).

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 7 of 8

No. Reference Vendor Question Response

33.

Exhibit F 4.096 Please provide examples of what types of data would be loaded by TX HHSC SMEs without Contractor involvement?

See Addendum No. 4.

34.

Exhibit F 4.101 Does the prohibition of desktop software (except State-standard version web browsers) include the installation of print drivers for print-to-fax functionality? If so, how will the state fax out of software applications that cannot connect to e-mail or API?

The prohibition of desktop software does not include the installation of print drivers for print-to-fax functionality.

35.

Exhibit F 4.107 Please provide your current use cases for a mobile device.

We currently do not have any current use cases because it is a feature that is not available currently, but it is a requirement of the new solution.

36.

Exhibit F 4.107 While there is a requirement for no desktop software installations, will it be acceptable to install agent/utility and manage on a server, such as a downloading utility for delivering fax images to printers and network shares?

It is not acceptable to install agent/utility and manage on a server.

37.

Exhibit F 4.116 Do users authenticate to the Xerox MFP with a

PIN / card swipe / etc. before they are able to use it?

End users authenticate with their login credentials to use a Xerox MFP.

38.

Exhibit F 4.116 How many Xerox MFPs are in use? Which models are they?

There are currently 4,330 Xerox MFPs in use. Common models include B405. B8155, and C8170.

39.

Exhibit F 5.SP-2 Is a single tenant environment the only solution type that will be considered?

A single tenant environment is the only solution type that will be considered, as stated in Exhibit F 5.SP-2.

RFO No. HHS0013505 Page 8 of 8

No. Reference Vendor Question Response

40.

Exhibit F 5 MO-54 Please confirm that HHSC auditors do not need to access the physical facilities for the environment if it is hosted in GovCloud (but still could perform the audit, just not on premise).

HHSC auditors do not need to access the physical facilities for the environment to perform an audit if it is hosted in GovCloud.

41.

Exhibit G Cost Proposal Please provide guidance on how bidders should submit pricing for optional services (such as storage) in the Cost Proposal.

Optional services are not considered in Exhibit G.

Respondents should include pricing for all required services in the All-Inclusive price for all phases of the solicitation.

42.

Exhibit G Cost Proposal After transition services, will the state please consider separating program implementation labor costs from materials, tools, supplies and equipment?

Respondents should submit pricing for all required cost items in the All-Inclusive pricing in Exhibit G for all phases of the solicitation.

43.

RFO Section 3.1 Schedule of Events

Considering the multiple holidays in January, will the state consider extending this procurement to 1/31/24?

HHSC will not be extending this procurement.