Finalized Q and A.pdf

Q&A DFAS Cleveland Mailroom Equipment Lease and Maintenance Services

1. Is it a requirement of the government to be able to fund the physical and virtual meters from a single postage account?

RO Response: The SOW requires the proposed system to provide integrated accounting and reporting functionality that supports a minimum of 100 separate accounts. Please refer to Section 3.0 and Attachment 1 for accounting requirements.

2. Is it a requirement of the government that the vendor be a USPS approved vendor for both physical and virtual meters needed to take advantage of the best USPS rates available to the Federal Government?

RO Response: YES. As stated in Section 3.0 of the SOW, the contractor must provide a system capable of meeting all United States Postal Service (USPS) regulations. Per Attachment 1, this includes Address Verification with USPS and leveraging USPS Electronic Return Receipt.

3. Does the government require the virtual postage program to be vendor owned and operated or is a reseller of the software acceptable?

RO Response: YES. Any proposal must demonstrate the ability to fully meet the OEM-specific warranty and support requirements for the entire solution. A vendor who is only a reseller of the software would be unlikely to meet these obligations for the integrated hardware components. The party responsible must be authorized to service the equipment and honor the OEM warranty.

4. Does the government require a 70lb scale to weigh items that will require the

IMpb compliant label?

RO Response: The SOW requires an integrated scale with differential and continuous weighing capabilities to accurately process mail pieces of varying weights. The system must also comply with all current USPS standards. Please refer to Section 3.0 and the minimum requirements on page 3 of the SOW.

5. Will the government be supplying the dedicated DSL line?

RO Response: YES, there is a dedicated DSL line available.

6. Does the government require that the cloud services meet DOD Threat Level 4 (IL4) security standards for handling CUI and PII government data?

RO Response: NO. This system will operate strictly with non-sensitive postal transactional data. As such, the requirement has been designated as Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 1. FCI-only requirement stated in Section

12.0 of the SOW.

7. Is it a requirement that the postage meter print the IMpb label without the use of an external integrated workstation?

RO Response: The SOW requires a comprehensive Intelligent Mail Package Barcode (IMpb) system. Attachment 1 details requirements including an 'Adhesive Label Printer internal to mail machine' for USPS shipping. Vendors must propose a solution that meets all requirements outlined in the SOW.

8. How many workstations will be used at the same time to support the mail processing volume?

RO Response: The Statement of Work (SOW) does not specify the number of workstations. Per Section 6.2, the contractor is responsible for providing and installing all required PC workstation(s) necessary to operate their proposed system effectively and meet all performance requirements outlined in the solicitation.

9. Will the handheld scanners be used for scanning the tracking barcodes on packages to enter them into the inbound tracking system?

RO Response: YES. The handheld scanners will be used for the direct scanning of tracking barcodes to enter arriving packages into the inbound tracking system.

10. Is the government requiring that the mail machines integrate with the inserting machines, so envelopes transfer from the mail machine to the inserter without human intervention?

RO Response: NO. Inserted mail pieces will be manually fed into the postage meters for processing and rating.