Phone system replacement RFP FY26.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Phone System Replacement

Jackson County School System 1660 Winder Hwy

Jefferson, GA 30549

PROCUREMENT TIMELINE

RFP ISSUED: 3/6/2026

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION DEADLINE: 3/20/2026

PROPOSALS DEADLINE: 4/6/2026

PROJECT START DATE: 5/1/2026

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Trade Names and Alternatives –

For convenience in designation on the plans or in the specifications, certain articles or materials to be incorporated in the work may be designated under a trade name or in the name of a manufacturer.

Whenever in specifications any materials, process, or article is indicated or specified by grade, patent, or proprietary name or by name of manufacturer, such specification shall be deemed to be used for the purpose of facilitating description of material, process or article desired and shall be deemed to be followed by the words "or equal," and service provider may, unless otherwise stated, offer any material, process or article which shall be substantially equal or better in every respect to that so indicated or specified. Burden of proof as to equality of any material, process or article shall rest with service provider. Service Provider shall submit request together with substantiating data for substitution of any "or equal" item within the response by the closing of bids. Provision authorizing submission of "or equal" justification data shall not in any way authorize an extension of time of bid response.

Please note: All “or equal” components must not void and must be supported by corresponding manufacturer warranty.

The District retains the right to be sole judge as to whether equivalency has been proven and whether alternatives will be accepted.

Award of Contract

The District does not guarantee an award of a contract(s) and it reserves the right to select the firm(s) that it considers to be in the best interest of the District.

The District reserves the right to award none, some, or all of the proposal.

The District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, to negotiate with any or all responsible submitters, and to waive any informality in the Proposal. Firms submitting proposals shall be responsible for any and all expenses that they may incur in preparing proposals.

Request for Proposal Preparation Cost

Costs for preparing responses and any other related material is the responsibility of the vendor, and shall not be chargeable in any manner to the district. The district will not be held liable for any cost incurred by vendors in responding to the RFP.

Order Term

The district is seeking pricing for a 5-year term.

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Right to Reject Any and All Quotes

The District reserves the right to reject any or all quotation submittals and to waive any informalities or regularities. The vendor’s quotation submission is recognition of this right.

In addition, the District reserves the right to fund and move forward with a purchase or not to fund and move forward with a purchase.

The District reserves the right to award for some, all, or none of the products and services sought herein.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION CRITERIA

The District may consider factors other than price alone in the consideration of bids.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

No. Factor Total Points Available

1 Vendor quote meets or exceeds district's minimum specifications 20

2 Total cost of ownership 20

3 Support and service levels 20

4 Capabilities for future growth and expansion 20

5 Implementation approach 10

6 References 10

Total Points 100

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

From the time of receipt of this RFP until the awarding of the contracts, bidders are hereby cautioned to limit any communications with the District. All questions regarding this RFP must be submitted via e-mail to Brett Irvin at dirvin@jcss.us by the deadline on Page 1. Please reference JCSS Phone System Replacement RFP in the subject line.

All addendum(s), questions and answers will be posted to the district’s website at www.jacksonschoolsga.org.

Any attempt to circumvent the RFP process by contacting personnel at this institution by other means could result in the disqualification of the bidder.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

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All offers may be submitted to the contact information below by the deadline indicated on Page

1. Please submit all proposals via email to:

Contact Information:

Brett Irvin Director of Technology dirvin@jcss.us

Proposals must be received no later than the deadline noted above and clearly labeled in the subject line “JCSS Phone System Replacement RFP.”

It is the sole responsibility of each respondent to ensure all submittals and attachments are received by the District before the deadline. The District assumes no responsibility for transmission failures. Incomplete or partial proposals will not be considered or scored.

SCOPE OF WORK

Jackson County Schools is seeking proposals for a cloud-hosted, turnkey VOIP phone system.

This will replace an existing on-premise Mitel system.

Current Environment The current Mitel infrastructure has:

1. 1,370 desk phones and extensions

2. 228 DID numbers

3. No POTS or analog lines

4. Approximately 35 ATAs

5. All WAN links between sites are 10Gb

6. Current Internet bandwidth is 9.4Gb

7. All phones are connected to Meraki or Aruba switches and utilize POE

General Requirements Proposed solutions should include:

1. Porting the district’s current DID phone numbers to a new hosting provider

2. 1,370 new phones, equivalent to Mitel 6930 or Yealink T-44U

3. Phone options for hearing-impaired users

4. No off-net, metered, or otherwise limited extensions

5. Unlimited mobile app access for all users; if this is an advanced feature, please clearly state if there is a licensing limitation on how many users can access the mobile app or advanced features

6. Services and routing for E-911

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7. A minimum of 20 auto attendants

8. A minimum of three 60 minute live training sessions

9. Centralized web management

10.Options for SSO integration

11.Options for reprogramming 35 existing ATAs, or costs for replacing them

12.All required setup, implementation, activation, and recurring service fees 13.Any limitations on supporting future growth and expansion of the proposed system

If proposing an equivalent product, please submit data verifying equivalency with proposal.

Implementation Requirements

All proposals must include:

1. Project timeline

2. Cutover strategy

3. Training details, both for end users and for Jackson County Schools Technology staff

4. Details on support hours

5. Failover, redundancy, and business continuity options during a network outage

6. Response time SLAs

7. Escalation procedures

Cost Breakdown

Please specify costs as follows:

1. One-time implementation costs

2. Hardware costs

3. Licensing costs

4. Recurring monthly costs

5. Total cost of ownership over a 5-year period

Prospective Service Providers are required to submit the following:

1. Three (3) references describing Service Provider’s portfolio experience with comparable size and scope projects

Failure by Service Provider to supply these documents shall be considered grounds for disqualification.

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