OPI SERVICES SSN.docx

Sources Sought Notice (SSN) Over the Phone Interpreter (OPI) Services Support

This SSN is for market research purposes only, no award will be made from this notice.

This SSN is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This SSN does not commit the IRS to contract for any supply or service. Further, the agency is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. This SSN is being published to identify potential small business sources capable of providing Over the Phone Interpreter (OPI) Services Support.

Responders are advised that the agency will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this SSN; all costs associated with responding to this SSN will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this SSN does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor the agency sources for additional information. All information received in response to this SSN marked "Proprietary” will be protected and handled accordingly. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Responses to the SSN will not be returned.

Brief Work Description:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides meaningful access to tax products and information to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations. The IRS requires interpreter’s expert in English and at least 127 other languages (list attached), and the ability to provide additional languages as the need arises. Interpreters must be physically located in the United States. The interpreter service is needed to support IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) and other taxpayer-facing IRS employees by a toll-free interpreter service that includes a language interpreter in a three-way conversation between the IRS, the taxpayer, and the Contractor’s interpreter. The IRS employee will initiate the call to the Contractor’s toll-free line to join with a security-cleared interpreter to provide in-language interpretation assistance to the limited-English Proficient (LEP) taxpayer and the IRS employee.

Specific performance:

· Maintain a 98% fulfillment rate to provide telephone interpretation services for all required IRS OPI Languages as well as any languages proposed by the contractor or requested by the Government during the life of the BPA.

· Provide interpreter services to international and national IRS employees, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

· Ensure all interpreters are accessible to participants of the OPI services in 1 minute or less.

· Maintain a consistent pool of reliable interpreters, especially for those languages identified as higher demand languages, such as Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Russian

· Provide a method for tracking each OPI service call associated with the IRS employee.

Submission Instructions The North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code proposed for the requirement is 541930 - Translation and Interpretation services.

The Government requests that all interested parties submit the information outlined below.

Please submit responses to LaShawn Brown at lashawn.s.brown@irs.gov no later than May 21, 2024, at 2:00 PM EST. Telephonic inquiries will not be accepted.

Attachment: OPI Required Languages List