MSP-RFP-10-009.pdf

U.S. MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

Office of Financial and Administrative Management

1615 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20419-0002

Phone: (202) 653-6772 Ext. 1120; Fax: (202) 653-7821; E-Mail:

veronica.bullock@mspb.gov

Contracting Officer

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

MSPB-RFP-10-009

MSPB VOICE OVER IP (VOIP) Telephony

INTRODUCTION

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independent, quasi-judicial agency established to protect Federal merit systems and the rights of individuals within those systems. The MSPB carries out its statutory responsibilities and authorities primarily by adjudicating individual employee appeals and by conducting merit systems studies. In addition, MSPB reviews the significant actions of the Office of Personnel Management to assess the degree to which those actions may impact merit.

PURPOSE

The United States Merit Systems Protection Board is seeking quotes for installation and configuration of a Voice over IP (VOIP) telephony solution. This system will provide ‘soft phone’ capability over court Virtual Private Network (VPN) closely tied into existing customer PBX.

Requirements

1. All materials associated with the installation and configuration of this system will be provided by the selected vendor including hardware and software.

2. Proposed VOIP system shall be comprised of equipment detailed under the

‘Equipment/Software/ Licensing’ section.

3. Proposed VOIP system shall be upgradeable / updateable to include replacement of current PBX with VOIP PBX. This system will include Conference Bridge, desktop faxing, fax manager, desktop messaging, and must be compatible with our current version of Outlook.

4. Vendor must have all of the certifications necessary to be compliant to operate a government based telephone system.

5. Vendor will provide four digit dialing capability (extension dialing) from/to any VPN connected computer (see ‘Current Phone System’ section of this document for details) utilizing hardware or software based phone.

6. Vendor will install and configure router & telephony components. In collaboration with MSPB IT

7. Proposed VOIP system will support no less than four hundred (400) VOIP soft phone users, expandable to 500 users.

8. Remote VOIP phones will seamlessly integrate into current system so that users have as little down time as possible, also allowing simple access/updates to voicemail.

9. Vendor will build a dial plan and internally test users.

10. Vendor will inspect switch and VPN infrastructure and identify needed changes

11. Vendor will test telephone connection between the phone system and the telephone company off-hours

12. Vendor will supply on-site training to FAM and IT staff on soft phone features, normal administrative functions, and basic troubleshooting processes.

13. Vendor will have in person training available to all users on the use of VOIP phones.

14. Vendor will use only NEW authorized equipment. No “grey market” or refurbished equipment will be accepted. Before installation all equipment will have serial numbers checked with company for verification.

15. Installation requiring any intrusive activity (including but not limited to:

rebooting, powering down, restarting, or any loss of current capability) will take place outside normal business hours (7:00 am – 8:00 pm EST).

16. System must be able to record calls without beeps

17. Phone must be able to be used through computer from remote (telework or travel) sites.

18. Phone must be able to conference multiple calls.

19. Would like to have multiple Busy/Out of Office messages

20. Record calls with (home) access and 3- 4 hours recording time. Recorded call must be able to be broken up to allow recording to a standard CD with 16x24x speed 74 minutes 650 mega bytes.

21. Phone messages should integrate with the current version of Outlook. User must be able to dial from their Outlook address book and manage their phone messages from their computer.

22. Provide Caller ID for incoming calls and force blocked numbers and unavailable calls to be routed through the main switch board to be handled by an operator.

23. Provide Caller ID for outgoing calls to announce Agency ID information,

24. The system must be able to conference more than three external parties. If possible, after placing the first party on hold, the first call automatically comes back. Must have the ability to easily disconnect a party and continue the call with the other party on the line.

25. Phone system must have system and personal speed dial, re-dial and stored numbers. System should be capable of recalling the last ten (10) missed, received, and dialed calls.

26. Hands free desktop phone for long conferences that use either wired or wireless headsets. Wireless headsets should have a minimum range of 50 feet from base.

Additionally, we would like to explore the possibility of repeater antennas throughout the space to prevent dropped calls from the headset.

27. The system must be able to integrate directly with Active Directory so that end users do not have to be added to multiple systems.

28. The system must have the ability to reroute to PSTN (backup phone System) on failure

29. The system must be able to collect and report call data (e.g. call volume, wait time, routed calls, etc.)

30. The system must have specific regional “911”

31. The system must have follow-me ringing so that phone numbers can be auto forwarded to Blackberry, home, cell, etc.

32. The system must have the ability to broadcast voicemail to everyone, all

Headquarters, or just one regional office.

33. The system must the ability to broadcast live intercom messages to everyone, all

Headquarters, one regional office or selected phones.

34. We would like to have the ability to add the following at a later time.

a. Video over IP

b. IM/CHAT/Text messaging

c. Online Presence

d. Interactive Voice Response/call routing.

Current Phone System

• Inter-Tel switch – local PRI’s are terminated on this switch.

• A 40-port Voice Mail system with desktop messaging is integrated into this switch and provides voice mail capability to all users on the switch.

• There are approximately 130 ports in use on the total system which include 16 port voicemail system that supports up to 12 lines. The regional offices have an 8 port voice mail system that supports up to 8 lines. MSPB has (8) Regional Offices listed below.

Atlanta Chicago Dallas Denver

Philadelphia New York San Francisco Washington, DC

These numbers are approximate. Vendors wishing to review the layout of the PBX or any existing equipment should contact Daryll Gould at the number below to schedule an on-site visit.

Existing System Configuration

The existing host system is Inter-Tel/ Mitel running on a Windows 2000 platform running software Intel-Tel Programming 11.010. Inspection of the host and remote facilities will be done during the Site Survey. Questions not answered during the Site Survey shall be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer by COB five (5) business days after the completion of the Site Survey.

Post Award Site Survey Report

The contractor shall prepare a report which sets forth the findings of the Post Award Site Survey. This report shall contain the contractors finding of the situation, to include the Governments readiness to proceed.

This report shall also include identification of potential problems discovered during the site survey as well as anticipated solutions to these problems. Finally this report shall contain any recommendations the contractor has based on the survey. This report is due no later than (5) business days after award.

Kick Off Meeting

The contractor shall conduct a Kick Off Meeting at the MSPB headquarters site within ten (10) days after award. At the Kick Off Meeting the contractor shall conduct an in-brief of planned operations. The briefing plan shall describe the Project Plan and provide a formal review of all required documentation. During the meeting the MSPB will review the contents of the Project Plan and documentation deliverables and provide recommendations. The MSPB will also transfer all Government material, assign office storage space, review clearances, establish POC lists, and provide protocols. The MSPB can make minor adjustments as necessary to insure final product quality at no additional cost.

Following the Kick Off Meeting the contractor shall make the recommended changes to the project plan and documentation deliverables until final approval is granted by the MSPB. The contractor shall not commence work until approval of Project Plan with required documentation, no later than 2 days prior to the Kick Off Meeting. The contractor shall send electronically, to all participants the information being presented, to include the agenda, project plan, and project schedule (in Microsoft word and Adobe PDF file format) and a hard copy of the presentation to be used. Hard copies of all items shall also be provided at the meeting for each participant

Permits

The Contractor shall be responsible for determining requirements for and obtaining any and all necessary permits. If there are no permits required, this paragraph is not applicable. The contractor assumes all risk associated with the failure to identify and obtain any and all required permits to complete all required work.

Fault Protection Subsystem

The contractor shall outfit a fault protection subsystem consisting of a separate grounding conductor installed throughout the agency to protect the system to provide personnel and equipment protection against power failures and power fault currents and static charge buildup. Protection from lightning flashover shall be provided by grounding all non-current carrying metallic objects in the conduits, A/C powered racks, wiring system enclosures. Grounding conductors will be installed within the same raceways as the respective circuit power conductors. Compression connectors shall be utilized. Raceways shall not be used in lieu of the separate grounding “green” conductor. The ground terminal of all Alternating Current (A/C) outlets/receptacles (to include equipment-mounted receptacles) shall be connected to earth electrode subsystem through ground connector of the fault protection subsystem. All grounding shall conform to the requirements of the building engineer’s technical publications.

Weekly Meetings

Commencing approximately two (2) weeks after the Kick Off Meeting, there shall be the first of weekly meetings during which a status reports shall be presented. A one time submission of a meeting agenda shall be submitted for MSPB approval five (5) days prior to the first weekly meeting. The approval agenda shall be followed for all weekly meetings.

The status report shall cover all aspects of the project and shall include and updated project schedule. The contractor shall make available to the MSPB no later than one (1) working day prior to the weekly meeting the updated project schedule

Warranty

At a minimum, the contractor shall provide a minimum full/unlimited one-year warranty for all contractor provided hardware/software, materials, and workmanship, which shall not begin until final Government acceptance. The warranty period will begin after all discrepancies have been cleared and continuous 30 day burn in of the system. The 30 day burn in will commence following a successful cutover of the system and restarted if any discrepancies are detected during the burn in period. All discrepancies must be corrected before the burn in period can begin or be restarted. The MSPB will consider alternatives as to when warranty begins for proposals that offer more than one year warranty at no additional cost to the Government. The warranty shall include emergency off site technical assistant for remote diagnostic and troubleshooting as required from the manufacturer’s facility. The contractor shall track and resolve the problem(s) in accordance with standard commercial practices.

The contractor shall provide a warranty procedure guide that includes phone numbers and addresses for repair and return, phone numbers for requesting remote diagnostics, and specific procedures for obtaining these services. The contractor shall also provide phone numbers, addresses, and procedures for obtaining emergency replacement parts and addresses for returning defective items if different from repair and return. It is expected that this information will be valid during the warranty life cycle support after the warranty has expired. If the information changes after the warranty expires.

Start Up Plan

The contractor shall provide a Start Up Plan for each subsystem being installed in each of the Regional Office locations. The MSPB will approve each plan prior to the subsystem’s commissioning. Deficiencies in subordinate systems resulting in risk to other systems shall be identified by the contractor and reported to the MSPB’S COTR.

The plan shall include the method of procedure, potential risk, risk mitigation plan, and schedule.

Test and Report

All test results and reports shall be provided to the MSPB for review and any issues flagged and reported by the contractor or reported to the MSPB, shall along with resolutions to eliminate discrepancies. Commissioning can be done in incremental phases if approved in advance by the MSPB.

Upon completion of the installation, at a minimum the following test shall be conducted:

1. All wire map, remote and end continuity, cross pairs, split pairs, shorts, and grounds are in accordance with Building standards

2. The contractor test shall be used to determine the adequacy of the cable installations by showing any irregularities, such as discontinuities, micro-bending, or improper splices for the cable span under test. The test shall be measured in both directions. End to end Attenuation measurements shall be made on all lines in both directions. Bandwidth testing shall be End to End Bandwidth of all line, measured by the frequency domain method. The bandwidth shall be measured in both directions on all lines.

3. POTS EBS functional for every group of 16 lines

4. Metallic Test accurate for every group of 16 lines

5. Emergency stands alone functional

6. MLPP functioning properly

7. Alarms and logs are properly reported to the host

Test

The contractor is encouraged to provide additional relevant testing in their Test Plan submission. This test shall be conducted in accordance with the contractor’s Test Plans as previously provided in the quotation and modifies during the weekly meetings. During a weekly meeting approaching completion of installation the plan for testing will be briefed and discussed, any updates to the previously submitted test plan will be identified and highlighted to include rationale for any changes or deviation from the original test plan. Any changes or deviations from the original test plan shall be approved by the MSPB. Within five (5) days after successful completion of all testing, the contractor shall provide the test results in a written report and shall brief the results at the next weekly meeting.

The contractor shall provide training on installation, provisioning, and maintenance of the Installed equipment, for eighteen (18) students. The contractor shall brief the training plan provided in the proposal during a weekly meeting approaching completion of the installation.

Any changes to the original training plan must be approved by the MSPB. Upon MSPB approval to any changes to the original training plan and successful completion of testing the contractor shall provide training in accordance with the approved training plan. This Training on the proper operations and maintenance of this remote switching system shall occur no later than five (5) days after successful completion of testing the necessary training material for eighteen (18) personnel shall be provided.

The contractor shall provide training for each employee in each location the contractor shall brief the training plan provided in the proposal during a weekly meeting post completion of the installation, the contractor will provide follow up training as necessary.

Inspection and Acceptance of Deliverables Daryll Gould and George Pohutsky are the Agencies Contracting Officers Technical Representatives (COTR) and will inspect and accept all deliverables. Deliverables shall be submitted as outlined below.

Equipment Deliveries

The contractor shall deliver all equipment to the MSPB Headquarters and regional offices at each location listed below. ALL DELIVERABLES ARE TO BE LABLED “INSIDE DELIVERY A MUST” This includes but is not limited to:

a. Equipment which satisfies the requirement

b. Installation of the equipment

c. Network configuration and enabling support

d. ISP and OSP Cabling

e. Training for Personnel must be onsite

Travel and Other Direct Cost

There will be no reimbursement for Travel or ODC’s. All cost will be included in the pricing schedule.

General Information

a. Contractors Performance. In performance of this contract, there is no requirement for the contractor to possess or have direct access to classified material. Any required escorts shall be provided by the Security Officer for MSPB, George Pohutsky. It is the contractor’s responsibility to secure any facility the contractor is given a key to.

b. Security Supervision. The FAM Division will exercise security supervision over all contractor personnel working on this project throughout the MSPB Headquarters and Regional offices.

Period of Performance

The Period of Performance shall be within one hundred eighty (180) days of contract award for completion of installation of the entire system.

Award Factors

• Price – A firm fixed price including a breakdown of equipment and labor.

• Compatibility with Merit Systems IT Infrastructure

• Past Performance with other Federal Government Agencies

• Must have the ability to provide the requirements as stated in this RFP, (Functions and Features).

• Consideration will be given to contractors on GSA Schedule.

Invoicing

Vendor must have the capability to submit an electronic copy of an invoice and any necessary supporting documentation at the completion of the project. All other required information regarding payments will be included in the award document.

Administrative Authority

Contracting Officers

Veronica Bullock, Stephen Smith

Project Officer (To be determined at a later date)

Contracting Officers Technical Representative (COTR)

George Pohutsky Daryll Gould

Technical Support Officer (To be determined at a later date)

Questions must be submitted by email not later than 4PM August 5, 2010.

Answers to questions will be posted on FEDBIZOPPS not later than August 9, 2010.

SUBMISSION

Responses to this Request for Information should include:

• Pricing information showing a breakdown of cost for equipment and installation.

• Minimum of three (3) references of prior contracts awarded in the last year with similar requirements. Federal Government references preferred.

• Must submit two copies of each proposal, one for pricing and one for technical

• Names and resumes of project managers.

Responses should be received at the following address no later than 4:00 PM on Friday, August 13, 2010:

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board ATTN: Veronica Bullock, Room 500

1615 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036