Qs-As-Rev4.pdf

DMA CLOSED CAPTIONING

PRE-PROPOSAL

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Rev4

Q1. Reference: Instructions to Offerors, page 46: In Subsection 2. Part II – Past Performance Information, paragraph (a), DMA requests “information currently available (letters, metrics, customer surveys, independent surveys, etc.) which demonstrates customer satisfaction” for contracts completed in the past three (3) years. Paragraph (b) of the draft solicitation indicates that “All past performance surveys must be submitted...” Can the surveys that are requested in paragraph (b) also provide the information requested in paragraph (a)?

A1: No, they should be separate. The survey will not be part of your proposal. The letters, metrics will be part of your proposal in Section II.

Q2. Reference: SF 1449 Continuation Sheet, pages 3-7: The CLINs on Pages 3 through 7 of the draft solicitation are structured to be priced consistent with a “Labor Hour” contract, which would be based on the number of labor hours an individual works in support of a direct-charge contract activity. However, captioning services are typically priced and paid based on the runtime of a particular live event or video, and may be based on various outputs, response/turnaround times, after hours support, etc. Please clarify how offerors are expected to price these CLINs to ensure that all offerors follow the same guidelines and assumptions, and to ultimately provide for an apples-to-apples comparison for source selection purposes.

A2: Since you state captioning services are not typically priced at Labor hours, how do you suggest pricing? Would a fixed price work better? This is Industry’s chance to tell the Government what would work better before the actual RFP is posted.

Q3. Reference: SF 1449 Continuation Sheet, pages 3-8: The CLIN structure presented on Pages 3 through 8 of the draft solicitation appears to only cover the base year and two 1-year option periods.

Should additional CLINs be added to account for Option Periods 3 and 4 (i.e., 3001, 3002, 3003, 4001, 4002, and 4003)?

A3: This requirement is for a base year and 2 option years.

Q4. Reference: Body of the solicitation, page 36: The clause, 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract, indicates in paragraph (c) that the total duration of the contract “shall not exceed 3 YEARS.”

Should this be changed to read “5 YEARS” in order to be consistent with multiple indications throughout the draft solicitation that the proposed contract will cover a base year and four 1-year option periods?

A4: This requirement is for a base year and 2 option years.

Q5. Reference: Instructions to Offerors, page 46: In Subsection 2. Part II – Past Performance Information, paragraph (b) of the draft solicitation indicates that “All past performance surveys must be submitted...” However, there is no sample past performance questionnaire/survey included with the draft solicitation. Please provide a sample questionnaire. Also, in cases where prospective offers can provide a completed Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR) from its existing customer(s), will the government allow the submission of the CPAR(s) as an acceptable substitute to/in lieu of the past performance questionnaire/survey?

A5: No, because the Government can obtain the CPARS information provided we have the correct information necessary to enter into CPARS. The questionnaire will be added once the final RFP is issued

Q6. Reference: Labor Rate Table, page 57: The Labor Rate Table embedded within Page 57 of the draft solicitation raises a few questions:

a. The tables are structured for “labor categories” and associated hourly rates; however, captioning services are not typically priced in this fashion—we suggest that the CLINs be priced based on live event or video runtime and/or the type of output, response/turnaround, after hours support expected.

b. There is a line for “Travel/Other Direct Costs”—what annual amount does the government want all offerors to use for estimation purposes, since there is no mention of those requirements within the draft solicitation or Performance Work Statement?

c. With travel and ODC’s included, wouldn’t this be considered a time-and-materials contract vs. labor hour?

d. There are no corresponding travel or ODC CLINs within the CLIN structure contained on

Pages 3 through 7. Does the government intend to add travel or ODC CLINs in the body of the solicitation for each of the 5 contract periods?

A6: Since you state captioning services are not typically priced at Labor hours, how do you suggest pricing? Would a fixed price work better? Travel and ODCs are not required for this procurement.

Q7. What is the “Labor Rate Table” (IGCE-Data Conversion1) on Page 57 for? Does it have to be filled in?

A7. If there are multiple labor categories to be utilized in order to perform the requirement then yes.

Q8. If you truly require 24/7 availability for potential live captioning of broadcast and streaming events, along with changing start/end times of events, where will add a line item /cost for the hot standby service of the vendor? It’s very important to understand that there will be a charge associated for having a real-time captioner available around the clock, as this is the only way to guarantee on-demand, 24/7 availability to cover the approximate 6,260 hours of time when you’re not on the air or streaming live (24 hours / day x 365 days = 8,760 hours – approx. 2,500 hours of live captioning = 6,260 hours). The alternative is for the bidding vendors to build this standby coverage cost into their hourly rate for live captioning, so that you effectively have a blended rate.

A8. DMA is seeking a Closed Captioning Service that can meet the requirements defined in the PWS. If a captioning vendor requires a hot standby service to be procured to ensure this requirement is met, then this cost should be included in the vendor’s proposal.

Q9. Will you be adding a line item/cost for when additional encoder connections (either domestic or foreign) via POTS lines are required? Most vendors include the communications cost of (1) domestic POTS connection in their real-time captioning rate, and while connecting to additional, multiple encoders via POTS is doable, there are incremental costs added for each connection. It would not make sense for vendors to try and guess on adding these incremental expenses to their real-time captioning rate because of the unknown number of additional connections and locations that would be required for each live session.

A9. No. This is the first time that a vendor has proposed adding a special line item for incremental costs for additional connections. Market research was conducted by the Government to understand the feasibility of the Closed Captioning services required by DMA as well as the pricing structures of potential vendors.

Q10. Will you be adding separate line items/costs for the (3) Verbatim Offline Captioning Styles – Pop-on multi-positional, Pop-on centered, and Roll-up, along with minimum billing quantities, and increment billing quantities? At present, it doesn’t appear that this distinction exists in the pricing model. Since the various styles and associated volume quantities are not known either, it would appear that you’d have to indicate pricing for 300 hours of content for each of the (3) styles.

A10. Yes, DMA requires each of the Verbatim Offline Captioning Styles.

Q11. Will you be adding separate line items / costs for Verbatim Offline Captioning of the Surge Encoding? There will be two components to this production workflow – caption preparation + encoding to the HD MXF file. At present, it doesn’t appear that there is a distinction between these two processes – unless the assumption is that the pricing will be a blended rate of these two processes.

A11. No, the pricing for this should reflect whatever costs are involved in achieving the end result, which is defined in the PWS.

Q12. Is there a transition period from the start of the period of performance to scale into the level of effort?

A12. No, there is not a transition period from the start of the POP. The vendor is expected to meet the standards defined in the PWS from date of award.

Q13. Who operates the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) site for transferring files back and forth?

Does this need to be created and maintained by the vendor?

A13. The SFTP site for transferring files back and forth should be created and maintained by the vendor.

Q14. Are there any standards for the proposal format: font or margins? Any restrictions: use of italics or bold? Use of charts or call out boxes?

A14. No smaller than 11 font size and the margins of 1” on all sides. There is no restrictions on use of italics, bold, charts or call out boxes.

Q15. PART I - Technical Proposal is limited to 20 pages. Can we attach a proposal compliance matrix as an Appendix that does not count against the 20 pages?

A15. Yes.

Q16. Are the annual representations and certifications included in the 20 page limit for the Technical Proposal? Or, can they be place elsewhere in the proposal as an Appendix?

A16. No, they’re not counted against the 20 page limit.

Q17. In the DMA’s RFP HQ0516-15-R-0002 on Pages 5, 8 and 11, the estimated quantity for this item is “18,000” minutes presently – is this figure correct, as it appears to be dramatically more than what is described on page 59 of the RFP and on Pages 3 & 4 of the Industry Day Q&A document (Rev1 - 25 Feb 2015)? Based on this information (below), the figure appears to be closer to 180 minutes or so. Having an accurate estimate of the quantity for this item is very important as the respondents’ pricing needs to include encoding to MXF, and the run lengths are shorter than the programs in CLIN# 0004 (Offline Closed Captioning) since these are spots.

RFP reference to Encoding for Surge Events

6.4 Encoding for Surge Events Service. The Contractor shall provide encoded files for quick turn-around, pre-recorded events. A few times each year DMA projects having a "surge" of spots, defined as a large amount of product arriving at one time and needing to be aired quickly. These events are typically known and scheduled months in advance. In all cases a 24-hour turn-around is expected for approximately 40-80 individual commercials, averaging 30 seconds in length.

Industry Day Q&A reference to Encoding for Surge Events

Encoding for Surge Events Service

· Q34.Can you further define how often “a few times each year” these spot surges occur – two times, three times, other?

· A34.Five to Eight times; Christmas, Super Bowl, All-Star game. SOMETIMES we do ‘shoutouts’ for the Olympics so if that was the case, we’d have them that year as well.

· Q35.Are there traditional times of year when these surge events typically happen, and if so when are they?

· A35.Noted in A34 above and…WHEN CONGRESS IN SESSION

· Q36.How much advance notice is given as to when these surge events will occur?

· A36.Usually the notification will be announced a month in advance for sporting and seasonal holiday events. For quick turn Congressional type events the norm will be 24 hours or less

· Q37.What is the average annual volume for these spots?

· A37.Super Bowl – 60 spots; All-Star game – 50 spots; Holidays – 70 spots. These spots range from : 14 - :29 in length.

If the quantity of 18,000 is correct, and say that the standard pricing for CC prep + encoding to MXF format for a spot is $100, just for discussion purposes, then the total for this CLIN# alone would be $1.8 million…and even at $50 per spot, the total would be $900,000, neither of which make sense, given the information that’s in the RFP and that was provided in the Industry Day Q&A. Please advise as to the accuracy of the estimated quantity for CLIN# 0005. Thank you in advance for your response.

A17. The figure (18,000 minutes) is correct on CLIN 0005, as it is just an estimate.