Responses to Vendor Questions.pdf

Questions for government:

Responses to Vendor Questions:

1. RFP pg 4-5, Price Schedule. Please confirm that the descriptions in CLINs 1001, 2001, 3001, and 4001 all have a typo that refers the services for the “Base Period” IAW the PWS. Please update Price Schedule with correct reference to each option period in each CLIN. Response: Please see Amendment 0001 issued to correct the error in the extended CLIN descriptions for CLINs 1001, 2001, 3001, and 4001.

2. RFP pg. 48, item (b) states that “in order to be considered for award, if the offeror is required to implement NIST SP 800-171, the offeror shall have a current assessment (i.e., not more than 3 years old). Does this assessment need to be completed prior to proposal submission or prior to contract award? Response: Compliance with DFARS 252.204-7019 is required prior to submission of the proposal.

3. RFP pg. 70, PWS 2.0 Operational Schedule. The period of performance listed in this section is for the previous contract period. Please update the PWS with the correct period of performance for this solicitation. Response: Please see the revised Performance Work Statement incorporated into Amendment 0001.

4. RFP pg 71, PWS 2.2.

a. Will the government clarify what period of time is considered open season (e.g., November 1 through December 31 each year)? Response: The Federal Benefits Open Season period is an annual event. Open Season runs from the Monday of the second full workweek in November through the Monday of the second full workweek in December. This year, it began 8 November and ends 6 December 2021.

b. Please confirm that the additional duty hours during open season is only the last week of the open season period (e.g., December 24-31). Response: Yes, that is correct. Extended hours (until 9:30 p.m. ET) is implemented the last week of the open season period. If this was in place for 2021, the HRBCC extended hours would be 29 November through 6 December 2021.

5. RFP pg. 71, PWS 2.2. If a government observed holiday falls during extended duty hours for open season is the contractor required to open the call center? Or, are holidays excluded during the open season period each year? Response: No, the contractor is not required to open the call center. Only OPM can alter the open season period.

6. RFP pg. 71, PWS 3.2.

a. Can the government estimate the number of first-class hard copy mailings that are anticipated annually? Response: Please refer to Historical Workload Data, Section 11.2, Packaged Forms/mailings.

b. Will the government be providing all the packages, brochures, forms, and other documentation to be used in the mailings? Response: Yes. It is the government’s responsibility to provide the information to be sent (mailed, email) to the customer.

7. RFP pg. 72, PWS 3.11. Can the government estimate the number of first-class hard copy mailings are anticipated annually? Response: Refer to response above, RFP pg. 71, PWS 3.2., a.

8. RFP pg. 72, PWS 3.15 references contractor utilization of DCPS and DFAS Remedy. Will the government define what type of system DCPS and DFAS Remedy are (e.g., type of database – Oracle, etc.). Or, is DFAS Remedy referencing Remedy ticketing system? Please clarify. Response: DFAS is the agency that provides the payroll system, DCPS. Users (civilian/contractor employee’s use the system to conduct searches, reviewing payroll data. If an employee’s payroll record in DCPS needs to be modified, the User generates a ticket (REMEDY is the application used to do this).

9. RFP pg. 76, PWS 5.0 and 5.6.

a. Please confirm that the listed approved courses are only required for new hire personnel to the contract, and incumbent personnel are not required to take these courses again. Response: Yes, that is correct.

b. Are CSR personnel required to take approved listed courses each year as refresher training? If so, how many hours of annual training under the listed approved courses are required? Response: No. The LFA can conduct the training they receive annually.

c. Are all courses listed in 5.6 under each provider required to be taken by each CSR?

Please clarify. Response: RFP pg. PWS, Section 5.6, provides a list of approved vendors that offer courses on the FEHB, FEGLI, TSP, etc. It is the contractor’s responsibility to determine which vendor(s) meets its need to ensure its personnel are trained to meet the scope of the PWS.

10. RFP pg. 77, PWS 5.9.

a. Is the contractor responsible for providing the ACD, IVR and ticket tracking system for the contact center? Or, is that considered GFE? Response: With respect to the ACD and IVR, the call center solution is not GFE. The call center solution is the responsibility of the contractor to provide. The ticket tracking system, (workload tracking system) is an application provided by the government.

b. It also states that “contractor shall provide a computer to access the call center software.” What computers are required since the government is providing laptops as GFE? Please clarify. Response: The NMCI does not allow for unapproved/unauthorized software to be installed on the laptops. The PWS maintains consistency; paragraph

6.2.5 requires a "zero foot print" of the Contact Center software solution on the GFE. The Contractor must provide a separate workstation for installation of any call center software or required peripheral devices.

11. RFP pg. 77, PWS 6.0 and 6.1. Will the government please provide a list of current GFE under the existing contract so that an Offeror may better understand what portions of the technology, hardware and software solution is being provided by the government versus provided by the contractor? Response: Hardware: See PWS paragraph 6.1, includes Common Access Cards (CAC), External Hard Drives, Printers, and Scanners. Software: See PWS paragraph 6.3.1.5, includes GRB Platform, Workload Tracking System, BRAAT, HRLink, eOPF, TWMS, and DCPS.

12. RFP pg. 79, PWS 6.2.5 Telephone Service.

a. Is the contractor required to provide overseas telephone service? If so, what is the estimated number of calls that are required annually to/from overseas customers? Response: All local and long distance calls to and from the Call Center are Contractor costs. The toll free number is specifically to keep the caller from having to pay for that explicit local or long distance call. The actual toll free costs/charges are passed to the Contractor on one of their locally purchased telephone numbers, and the Contractor usually pays that bill on a monthly basis.

b. Is the contractor required to include telephone calling costs (e.g., long distance calling and toll-free number call transfer costs) within our proposal price? Or, is the government covering these costs under the existing toll free number? Response: All local and long distance calls to and from the Call Center, including telephony options by the Contractor, are Contractor costs and should be included in the proposal. The government does not cover or pay for the customer’s local and long distance charges outside of the contract.

13. RFP pg. 80. PWS 7.0 and 7.1. TTY/TDD Capability. What volume of TTY/TDD type calls are received monthly and annually at the contact center? Response: approximately 1 per month.

14. RFP pg. 81, PWS 11.0 and 11.2. Historical Workload Data.

a. Are the 77,911 benefit related calls listed in row 3 part of the 88,686 calls received by contact center or in addition to the 88,686 calls listed in row 1? Response: Yes.

b. Row 5 - Please define what the total number of benefit elections includes? Response: Benefit elections are transactions made by the customer. Employees are able to use the self-service tool, GRB Platform to make changes to FEHB, FEGLI and TSP. There were a total of 137,046 elections made. Approximately 95% were made by the customer using the GRB Platform.

c. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time by type of call? Response: Based on the Historical Data shared, the current contractor employs approximately 16-17 personnel to ensure it meets the deliverables shared in the QASP.

d. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time for email responses? Response: Refer to the above response in, “c”.

e. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time for benefit related calls (FEHB, FEGLI, TSP, requests for retirement info)? Refer to the above response in “c”.

f. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time for non-benefit related calls? Response, Refer to the above response in “c”.

g. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time for benefits elections? Response: If the CSR assists with making a customer’s benefit election, on average, 5 -7 minutes. FEHB elections take the longer if the customer has several dependents to add.

h. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time for Counselor Assisted Transactions (CAT) managed calls? Refer to the above response in “g”.

i. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time for managed employee self-service transactions? Response. Typically, the customer does not call the Benefits Line, if they are making a self-service transaction.

j. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average call duration time for QC actions? Response. There is no data to share, but would refer to “c” above.

k. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average time required to complete a single packaged form/mailing? Response: Refer to “c” above.

l. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average time required to complete the manually created one election form (row 11)? Response: On average 5-7 minutes.

m. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average time to complete a scan into an employee’s e-OPF? Response: On average 1-2 minutes, once document is scanned.

n. In order to price and staff the contact center correctly, what is the average time to scan a page into the government system? Response: Scanning is quick; multiple documents can be scanned in seconds.

o. Will the government release monthly call volume data for the past year 2021? Response: Yes. Fiscal Year 2021 Call volume to include emails received: 99,391 contacts.

15. RFP pg. 102, Performance Measurement table. Row 1 – PWS Section 1.1 deliverable requires the contractor to meet first call resolution 95% of the time. Are transfers to the CBC Liaison (as required by PWS 3.7) excluded from this AQL? Response: Yes, as calls are not transferred to the CBC Liaison or any CBC staff member. If additional action is required, the ticket is routed to CBC personnel.

16. RFP pg. 102, Performance Measurement table. Row 3 – PWS Section 3.5, calls answered metric.

Method of surveillance references collected data would come from the contractor’s VOIP.

Please clarify, as we believe this data would be coming directly from the ACD/IVR system. Is this a contractor provided ACD/IVR system or government provided? Response: The ACD and any associated IVRs are Contractor provided equipment; their technical telephony solution. Related Call Center metrics (call volume, answered calls, length of calls, etc.) are usually taken from the pertinent ACD and IVR databases and provided to the government for assessment purposes. The government measures the ACD call data against the referenced RFP.

17. RFP pg. 88, item (a) – Subfactor 1 Staffing Approach. Since key personnel resumes are excluded from the page limit, are letters of commitment for key personnel excluded from the page limit?

Answer: Yes, the letters of commitment are excluded from the page limit.

18. RFP pg. 90, Volume II – Price Proposal, Factor III – Price, last bullet.

a. For ease of evaluation, is there a government template or required format in MS Excel for submission of Offeror supporting documentation? No there is not a required format, vendors may submit the required information in the format of their choosing.

b. Are subcontractors required to provide the same supporting information? If so, may they submit in a sealed package directly to the government point of contact? Yes, subcontractors may submit proprietary supporting information directly to the Government following the same submission instructions included in the solicitation.

19. What is the incumbent contract number and contractor name? Response: (N00189-17-C-0003, Sabre 88, LLC)

20. What is the current staffing level for the contract? Response: Current contractor employs 16-17 personnel.

21. Where is the incumbent contact center facility currently located? Response: (Machias ME)

22. To plan for new hire training costs, are incumbent personnel available to support the follow-on contract? And, where are they currently located? Response: Vendors are encouraged to pursue whatever staffing/hiring strategy they determine to be best, including but not limited to hiring incumbent personnel.; 2nd response is Machias, ME.

23. Will the government provide anniversary dates for incumbent personnel that are SCA/wage determination categories? Response: Currently there is no requirement for the Government to provide the requested information; however, should that change in accordance with the recent Executive Order on Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contract, the Government will provide the required information.

24. Is there anticipated to be an increase of a certain percentage of calls per year that a contractor may need to handle above the current FY 2020 numbers provided in the historical data? Response: No. In 2021, calls decreased. Most customers made self-service transactions in FY 2021 than 2020.

25. With the approaching holiday, will the government consider extending the proposal due date one week to ensure contractors have time to evaluate answers to questions and additional historical data requested to estimate staffing and price accordingly. Response: The government is not extending the due date for the RFP.

26. Due to COVID-19 requirements for social distancing in a contact center work environment, are the current incumbent CSRs working within a facility or via telework from a home office? If so, will the government continue to allow for this location structure in the new contract?

Response: CSRs for the current contractor telework fulltime. Personnel who manage documents (mail, faxes, etc.) are in the office.

27. What is the total number of laptops the government will provide as GFE? Response: It depends on the of personnel hired by the contractor. Currently, there are 19 PCs assigned to the current contractor.

2 additional questions:

1. Could the government provide a historic FTE count? Response: Current contractor employs 16-

17 personnel.

2. Can this work be performed remotely or must all the work be done at the client site? Response:

Refer to the PWS, 4.0 Personnel Requirements. Section 4.0 Telework.