0 Updated SOW NFFO20002302161.pdf

Statement of Work National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) West Coast Region

Marine Mammal Hotline Services

NF-FO2000-23-02161

Background

The Protected Resources Division within NOAA Fisheries is seeking to contract with an answering service to serve the U.S. West Coast Region (California, Oregon, and Washington) in order to provide answering services for the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network (WCMMSN) and the SOS-Whale Hotline. The numbers would be as follows: 1-866-767-6117 for WCMMSN and 1-877-SOS-WHALe (1-877-767-9425) for the SOS-Whale Hotline. The answering service would be manned 24 hours/day, including holidays, unlimited fax/emailing/phone call dispatching, and willingness to work from a custom answering protocol. This is requested to be a multi-year contract with a base and four (4) option years. The objective of this work is to provide a reliable and educational source of information to the public when calling to report marine mammal stranding’s in California, Washington and Oregon or report entangled whales along the entire U.S. West Coast.

The WCMMSN & SOS-Whale Hotline is authorized by NMFS to investigate stranding and entanglement events involving whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions. For the WCMMSN, the answering service must be able to discern between Marine Mammal Protection Act violations (which should be reported and transferred to 1-800-853-1964) and marine mammal stranding’s. Stranding calls related to the WCMMSN should follow a set protocol (which will be provided) and educational messaging should also be given. Callers should provide their name, phone number, location and species of the stranding, and any other relevant information.

This information will then be relayed to the local marine mammal stranding coordinator as identified on GIS maps that will be provided to the operators. For the SOS-Whale Hotline, which responds to large whale entanglements only, callers would either call the 1-866-767-6117 hotline and be transferred or call the NOAA Fisheries whale entanglement hotline at 1-877-767-9425 (or 1-877-SOS-WHALe). Information from the whale entanglement hotline, including details of the entanglement and a point of contact for the reporting party would be directed in real-time or via voice mail to the NMFS stranding coordinators or their alternate. The NMFS stranding coordinator or their alternate will in turn ensure that the answering service is made aware that the message has been received. Quarterly reports of the number and type of calls coming into the hotline will also be required and will be reported to points of contact within the Protected Resources Division.

Average Call-Out Minutes per Hotline:

West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network

January 1000 minutes

February 1000 minutes

March 1000 minutes

April 1500 minutes

May 1500 minutes

June 1750 minutes

July 1750 minutes

August 1750 minutes

September 2000 minutes

October 1000 minutes

November 1000 minutes

December 1000 minutes

West Coast Region - SOS-Whale Hotline

January 11 minutes

February 22 minutes

March 21 minutes

April 63 minutes

May 186 minutes

June 83 minutes

July 91 minutes

August 83 minutes

September 101 minutes

October 30 minutes

November 37 minutes

December 3 minutes

Deliverables

Task 1 : The contractor shall provide 24 hour service including holidays, unlimited fax/emailing/phone call dispatching, and willingness to work from a custom answering protocol.

(See Protocol Attachments)

Deliverables:

A. Quarterly reports of the number and type of calls coming into the hotline will also be required and will be reported to Protected Resources. The quarterly report should be provided in an Excel file with the number of calls, type of call (types will be provided on protocol attachments), number of minutes per call, and who the call was referred to.

B. Update of protocol and educational messaging as required and on a monthly basis if necessary.

1330-52.215-70 SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLEs (2005)

The following is a schedule of all deliverables, including administrative deliverables, required during the period of performance of this contract:

Item Description Quantity Due Date Deliver to Reference

Task 1 Quarterly Reports Varies

At least one report every quarter. (Every December, March, June, & September)

Requester/ POC Deliverable 1A

Task 1

Protocol and Educational Messaging

Varies As Needed Requester Deliverable 1B

Evaluation Factors

1. Ability to keep (port over) the current hotline phone numbers from previous vendor

2. 24/7 answering service and response

3. Ability to work from a custom protocol for each hotline that will be updated and changed as frequently as needed

4. Cost

5. Ability to provide call data for each hotline per quarter as described in the Deliverables section

6. West Coast vendor location is preferred or a knowledge of West Coast coastal geography

Additional Criteria

1. Previous experience handling marine mammal stranding and entanglement calls is highly desirable

2. All calls should be answered by a live person, not a recording

3. Operators must be able to be understood clearly by all callers

4. The call directory must be updated as requested by NOAA Fisheries as stranding hotline points of contact may change throughout the duration of the award

5. Relaying calls must be done via phone call, text, or email as requested by each Network partner

Confidentiality and Data Privacy

This contract may require that services contractors have access to Privacy Information. Services contractors are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all subjects and materials and may be required to sign and adhere to a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA).

Government Furnished Resources The Government will provide all necessary information, data and documents to the Contractor for work required under this contract.

Place of Performance

Work will be conducted at other than the government facility (i.e. off-site)

Overtime, Travel, and Training

Overtime is not anticipated or authorized at this time. If overtime is required, a contract modification must be executed by the Contracting Officer prior to performance.

Travel in support of the listed tasks is not authorized, and the use of a government vehicle is not required.

Reallocation of Funds: Reallocation of obligated funds within line items (e.g. decreasing travel to increase labor) may be authorized in writing by the CO.

Period of Performance

Performance Period and funding for the project are requested as a Base with four (4) Option Years, with the Base Year starting no later than September 1, 2023 to institute a seamless shift from the previous vendor, and as not to cause a gap in critical Hotline coverage during peak summer stranding season. Place of performance will be off-site at the Contractor’s location and all necessary equipment and materials will be provided by the Contractor. Work described herein is primarily sedentary and performed in an office setting.

Period Start Date End Date

Base Period (No later than) September 1, 2023 August 31, 2024

Option Period #1 September 1, 2024 August 31, 2025

Option Period #2 September 1, 2025 August 31, 2026

Option Period #3 September 1, 2026 August 31, 2027

Option Period #4 September 1, 2027 August 31, 2028

Billing

Invoices may be submitted in arrears at the end of each month in which services are performed, the vendor will submit an itemized invoice to the NMFS Point of Contact (POC) and NMFS Project Officer (PO). It is preferred that invoices are submitted in electronic form via email to the POC, with a copy to the PO.

Do you need a post-conference meeting/kickoff? Yes