PR8135_Addendum_No.2_Issued.pdf

ORLANDO UTILITIES COMMISSION

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

To: All Prospective Proposers Date: February 14, 2025 Subject: PR8135 IVR Solutions Replacement - Addendum No. 2

The purpose of this Addendum is to address clarifications and questions in response to the subject solicitation.

1. Has OUC explored the possibility of migrating its existing on-premises Genesys platform to the cloud as part of the intelligent IVR system upgrade, in collaboration with your current partner?

Response: Vendors are encouraged to propose different opportunities. Please make sure to properly identify them as separate (Option 1; Option 2, etc.).

2. Which is your current ERP, CIS, CRM, billing/payment systems to which the IVR system must be integrated, and do you have APIs readily available to perform the intergation?

Response: OUC utilizes an on-prem Customer Care & Billing (CC&B) CIS solution from Oracle.

Yes, APIs are in use and available.

3. Also, are your current ERP, CIS, CRM, billing/payment systems customer owned and managed systems or are these systems provided by your end clients?

Response: OUC owns and manages the Credit, Collections and Billing System

a. Do these systems in question support integration via REST APIs or what integration methodology is supported by each of the systems?

Response: Yes

4. As part of IVR analytics, do your existing system reports provide insights such as user error, system glitches, interaction breakdowns, root cause identification? If not, are there any analytics platforms deployed for such insights?

Response: Yes, OUC has a report that provides all that information; please consider the capabilities of the provider’s recommended solution.

5. Which is your current IVR testing tool?

Response: OUC uses Hammer.

6. Which is your current voicebot and chatbot system? What is the containment rate?

Response: Currently, OUC does not have a voicebot or chatbot system.

7. Do you currently have chat and async channels also for customer support? If yes, on which platform?

Response: Currently, the chat has not been deployed for the Openscape contact center.

8. As part of data export, do you currently have power BI based reporting dashboards available?

Response: OUC is in the process of deploying Power BI.

http://www.ouc.com/

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

9. Do you currently have voice/customer biometric database?

Response: No.

a. If yes, what is the existing Voice biometrics application being used and will there be any need for migration? Additionally, are you okay to store the customer biometric on cloud?

Response: N/A.

10. Do you currently use any Interaction analytics platform such as Genesys, NICE, call miner?

Response: OUC currently uses Verint to track IVR interactions.

a. Do you only need voice analytics or both voice & text for all support channels?

Response: OUC utilizes Verint speech analytics which are transcribed.

11. Please share the volume split by channels.

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response.

12. What is the total number of licenses to be considered? Will it be the 67 OUC FTE's?

Response: Please tell OUC how your proposed solution is licensed and provide recommendation.

13. Do you currently have an in-house dedicated team for your L0 to L4 Genesys (IVR) support and maintenance?

Response: Yes.

14. Could you provide details regarding the data migration component, including system specifications, data volumes, and the types of data involved?

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response.

15. Please provide detailed information regarding any costs associated with integrating the IVR system with the existing systems, as mentioned previously in the RFP?

Response: OUC expects the provider to perform integration via APIs as necessary to meet requirements.

16. Please share the preferred or currently available alternative methods to support visually and hearing-impaired customers in conducting business with the CLIENT and identified vendors, as asked under 'Customer Accessibility' requirement topic?

Response: OUC needs to ensure compliance with usability and accessibility by the Federal State Statute.

17. What is the existing Voice biometrics application being used and will there be any need of migration?

Response: OUC is currently not leveraging Voice Biometrics.

18. Please provide the Outage Management System specifications.

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response at this time.

19. Is there a specific standard system you prefer for the solution, and should it be on-premises or cloud-based? Please provide more details about your requirement under 'FAQ Integration' topic.

Response: OUC is open to on premise system as well as cloud-based systems.

20. Please provide details on the existing Knowledge Management system.

Response: Knowledge management system is out of scope.

21. Please provide specifications of the client’s backend system.

Response: Please refer to the response to question #2.

22. Please elaborate on the below point number 5 under the requirement topic mentioned as 'Voice to Text'.

""Ensure text outputs meet the input specifications of existing applications and databases”" Response: OUC currently doesn’t use voice to text.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

23. Please share detailed guidelines on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) standards.

Response: Please see attached A, Solutions Requirements line 14.

24. Could you confirm which Customer Information System (CIS) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools OUC is using, and any other critical infrastructure in place that Vonage would need to integrate with?

Response: Please refer to the response to question #2.

25. As part of IVR system testing, are there any specific testing requirement apart from the System certified capacity & Platform period simulate testing options. What you have mentioned is part of onprem testing Response: Automated testing should be included for the overall deliverable.

26. Purpose of integration with Openscape and the business use case details requried to better understand it. As in general, New / proposed system will have its own routing and reporting capabilities.

Response: CSR skills-based routing out of scope for this RFP. The IVR must integrate with the existing telephony platform.

27. Similarly, clarification required for the other 3P systems as are they referred here to integrate for IVR automation / self service or there is any other business use case.

Response: The IVR must integrate with existing telephony platform. Replacing the existing 3rd party systems are out of scope.

28. As part of your HW/SW requirements, you have asked for clients and server requirements necessary for successful deployment. In case of SAAS offering, recording will remain on cloud for a defined period. In such cases there wouldn’t be any integration or network mapping from a delivery standpoint. Please confirm if our asusmption is correct.

Response: Even if it is a SAAS offers, the recording of the agents interaction is out of scope.

29. Please share more details for IVR code migration. In our understanding this will be a new contact center solution implementation which will require development of IVR code along with the rest of the contact center solution deployment.

Response: This RFP objective is only to replace the IVR.

30. Please also clarify, does this RFP refers only Automated IVR solution component while the rest of the contact center components will be on existing platform. In this case, please clarify existing platform / component details to review complete details.

Response: Yes. Other integrated 3rd party systems are out of scope.

31. Online integration will connect through APIs while an Offline integration will work as Daily reporting data will be exported / automated to transfer to customer data source and from their Tableue / MS BI will be connected to generate reports. In this query, should we consider either of them is fine?

Response: Our preference will be Power BI.

32. Could you please provide customer voice recordings with us for the voice biometric registrations for your existing customers?

Response: Information can be provided after vendor selection if necessary.

33. Please provide high level use cases you want to deploy on the chat/voice bot? Can we please get the use cases you would want to have deployed on the chat and voice bot?

Response: This will be determined during project discovery and initiation with selected vendors.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

34. What languages are required to be supported on the chat and voice bot?

Response: IVR offers languages in English and Spanish.

35. Is there a need to have voice biometric for authentication of end customers?

Response: Please include voice biometric as an optional add-on.

36. Does agent use VDI environment to login to the Contact Center platform? Kindly give a brief overview of the process how agents work within the VDI environment (eg. Which systems do you access? How are you handling calls within VDI?)

Response: This is out of scope.

37. What digital channels are expected as part of the platform? Eg. Live chat (web, mobile), social media (which ones), Messaging apps like whatsapp, SMS, etc? Kindly share the list of digital channels.

Response: This is out of scope.

38. In the document, there is a mention of Verint, is Verint being used only for recording or also for Workforce management?

Response: OUC uses Verint for call recording, Speech Analytics and Work Force Management.

39. Are you open to replacing their existing hardware for Genesys, Nuance, OpenScape?

Response: The RFP is to replace the existing IVR voice interaction system.

40. Are you open to replacing Verint?

Response: Not currently.

41. Does OUC need payment gateway integration on the IVR?

Response: Yes, OUC uses 3rd party credit card bill-payment vendor. OUC process check payments internally at OUC.

42. Does OUC need payment gateway integration with Chat and Voicebot?

Response: Please refer to question # 41.

43. Is the payment gateway owned by OUC or provided by your clients?

Response: OUC process check payments internally at OUC. Credit cards are owned by 3rd party vendors.

44. Can we get details of the agents’ locations? Are they all within the US? Please let us know the agent count and location details.

Response: This is out of scope.

45. There is a mention of English and Spanish language. Are there any other language that needs to be factored when it comes to voice and chat interactions?

Response: Any additional languages can be listed as add on option.

46. Is there a need to have agents screen recorded? Are agents screen recorded as of today?

Response: This is out of scope.

47. In the document, its mentioned that there are approx 100 agents currently - 67 client and 28 Vendor, what does Client and Vendor signify?

Response: This is out of scope.

48. Are these 100 Agents Named or Concurrent? There is a mention of Peak Periods, does agent count increase during these peak periods? IF yes, then can we know what the peak months are and approximate increase in agent count for each of the peak period?

Response: This is out of scope.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

49. OUC's interaction platform receives approximately 2.6M calls annually, with Contact Center staff handling approximately 600,000 of these interactions. - What happens to the other 2M calls?

Response: They are contained through automated transactions. IVR process 2.6 million per 13 months.

The containment is 78% and 22% are transferred to an ACD queue for CSR.

50. Is there any requirement of Automated Outbound calling? Eg. Campaign based calling where end user details are loaded onto the Platform and the system automatically dials out the end user in a Predictive, preview dialing.

Response: This is out of scope.

51. What is the end of life for the Genesys OnPremise solution?

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response.

52. When is Go-live planned for this new system as part of the RFP?

Response: OUC anticipates bidders will provide a project plan based on their prior experience and the requirements in the RFP.

53. Is the customer open to replacing OpenScape and Verint with a platform that offers Native call routing as well as analytics and recording capability.

Response: This is out of scope.

54. Is there any requirement of proactive outbound SMS, Email outreach from the platform? Eg.

Sending SMS, Email to end users in bulk, etc?

Response: This is out of scope.

55. As part of the Attachment A excel sheet, Row 21 'Voice to Text' requirement, there is a mention of converting customer voice inputs to text in real time. Does the customer expect agents to have real time voice to text transciption shown on their agent interface? Or is this ask inclined towards post call transcription which can be used by Quality teams to run quality management process? Kindly clarify.

Response: OUC does not expect agents to voice text on their call.

56. As part of the Attachment A excel sheet, Row 35 'Knowledge Management' there is an ask to integrate with existing knowledge management systems and databases. Can we know which knowledge management systems and databases are currently used?

Response: Please see the response to question # 20.

57. As part of kowledge management, will OUC be open to migrate their knowledge articles from their existing knowledge management / database systems to the new platform that may come with embedded Knowledge management system?

Response: This is out of scope.

58. What is your Current annual spend on servers (on premise or cloud) to run your current Contact center operations.

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response.

59. General. Is this project budgeted and can OUC provide any budget constraints for the IVR replacement? This may help with product selection or approach.

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response.

60. Attachment B. Cloud Offering Price Schedule. The Cloud page lists Subscription in the upper section and has a placeholder for Hourly Rate at the bottom. Whereas the On Prem Price Schedule has a line item for Professional Services/Implementation. For the Cloud option, can we add the fixed fee estimate to the Additional Services section?

Response: Yes.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

61. Attachment B. Cloud Offering Price Schedule. Can sections or rows be added to this worksheet for optional items or costs that are usage-based (e.g. per minute or transaction), or is separate documentation preferred?

Response: Yes, as needed.

62. Main RFP Document, Page 28. Session Border Controllers. Which are the make and model of the OUC Session Border Controllers, and does OUC manage them?

Response: Yes. OUC manages them. This information can be provided to a shortlisted vendor if necessary.

63. Main RFP Document, Page 28. Session Border Controllers. Can the OUC Session Border Controllers support a SIP trunk over the internet to a cloud-based IVR solution?

Response: OUC needs an overall solution and architecture design needs to be part of the overall proposal.

64. Main RFP Document, Page 29. Enterprise Service Bus. Which integrations depend on the ESB, and can the ESB support REST API web services integration over the internet, or will Vendor need to provide custom middleware?

Response: Yes. Integration details to be finalized after vendor selection.

65. Main RFP Document, Page 29. Call Volume. Please confirm that IVR call volume for 2024 was approximately 2,600,000 calls (with 600,000 resulting in transfers to the contact center). With an average call length of 2.5 minutes, we are trying to determine if 500,000 minutes of IVR usage per month is a reasonable estimate.

Response: Please provide the proposal with your original estimated number of minutes (500,000) and indicate how pricing could change as the number of minutes per month increases or decreases (bracket?).

66. Main RFP Document, General. Call Flows. Can current-state IVR call flow diagrams be provided to assist with replacement estimates?

Response: Existing call flows can be provided to shortlisted vendors; However, additional review and requirements are expected of the overall deliverable.

67. Main RFP Document, Page 29. Verint. The RFP states that there is some integration between the IVR and Verint Call Recorder, but that most call flows do not involve Verint. Does the Verint Call Recorder currently record any calls in the IVR, or only calls connected to agents in the contact center?

Response: Yes, OUC currently have 100% call recording which include the Contact Center and

IVR.

68. Main RFP Document, Page 29. Nuance Speech Recognition. The RFP states that it uses Nuance Dialog Modules to support caller Name recognition. Are any other specialized recognitions required such as Email Address or Street Address?

Response: OUC uses 2 key modules (i.e., names and address modules)

69. Main RFP Document, Page 29. CIS. Which CIS product/version is being used, and is it on-premises or cloud-based?

Response: Please refer to response to question # 2.

70. Attachment A #7. Auto Attendant. Approximately how many Auto Attendant call flows does the IVR need to support? (for transfer to non-call center staff).

Response: There are multiple call flows for Auto Attendant.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

71. "Attachment A #17. Integrations. Integrations into OpenScape, CC&B, OMS, Lyons/ACH, Experience, Verint. Do any of these integrations go through the Enterprise Service Bus or are they all direct between the IVR and system?

Response: All of them go through the Enterprise Service Bus

72. Attachment A #17. Integrations. Integrations into OpenScape, CC&B, OMS, Lyons/ACH, Experience, Verint. We require an internet-accessible REST API (JSON format) for IVR integration to other systems, or custom middleware to translate between systems. If OUC cannot provide compatible API's, please list which integrations for which OUC would need Vendor to provide custom middleware.

Response: Please refer to response to question # 3.

73. Attachment A #24. Omni-Channel. Based on the omni-channel requirements and references to SMS and mobile apps, please confirm if OUC requires a Visual IVR solution, and if for Day 1 or Post Initial Deployment. An example of that would be where the customer selects an option in the voice IVR and is sent a link via SMS. The link would take them to a mobile IVR experience.

Response: Yes, this should be an optional add-on.

74. Attachment A #26. SMS. SMS is not secure and would not be PCI-compliant, so we want to confirm if the requirement is to allow customers to do self-service through SMS only, or as a means to access Visual IVR experience via web/mobile app. Meaning, IVR uses SMS to send a link to the mobile IVR.

Response: Yes. SMS would be used to send link for visual data input.

75. Attachment A #27. Outbound Notifications. For sending outage alerts and appointment reminders, please describe the current workflow. Does another system send events to the IVR to trigger outbound notifications, or does the IVR poll other systems at specific intervals to look for new notifications that need to be sent to customers?

Response: Proactive outbound alerts are out of scope.

76. Attachment A, #34. Languages. Please confirm that only English and Spanish are supported today.

Response: That is correct, other languages can be listed as add-on options.

77. Attachment A #36. IVR Transactions. For Update Account Information, Pay Bill, Stop/Start/Move, and Obtain Information. Please list the information that a caller needs to provide for authentication and to accomplish these tasks. This will help us understand the caller input requirements for DTMF and speech. If call flow diagrams or scripts can be provided, that may answer this question.

Response: Please provide a recommendation regarding industry’s best practices and include in your proposal.

78. Attachment A #48. Email. Channel transition lists Email. Please describe requirements for email support in the IVR. Is it for outbound communication or notifications only?

Response: Some specific use cases include capturing data in the IVR and then sending an email to internal staff. Including a brief audio recording from the customer.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

79. Attachment A #84. Call Context Transfer. Do the Session Border Controllers and/or OpenScape

Contact Center support the User-to-User standard of including contextual information in the SIP messaging when transferring a call between systems? If not, how is the data transferred today?

Response: No, SIP messaging is currently not used to pass information between systems.

There is an existing custom interface to pass caller data between systems. Provide recommendations on how to address this requirement in the proposal.

80. Attachment A #86. In-Queue Messages. Requirement describes In-Call notifications to customers while they are on hold. Typically, this is handled by the contact center/ACD system that manages your queues and agent routing, after the IVR transfers the call to ACD. Please clarify which system is responsible for in-queue messaging.

Response: In queue messaging is out of scope.

81. Attachment A #87. Estimated Wait Time. Estimated Wait Time while a call is in queue. Typically, this is handled by the contact center/ACD system that manages your queues and agent routing, after the IVR transfers the call to ACD. Please clarify which system is responsible for determining and playing Estimated Wait Time.

Response: IVR is responsible for playing the Estimated Wait Time.

82. Could OUC share documentation regarding the current IVR call flows?

Response: Yes, detailed call flows can be provided to the shortlisted vendors if necessary.

83. Does OUC have a timeline in mind for the adoption of digital channels beyond the voice IVR replacement?

Response: Other digital channels are out of scope.

84. Are there particular digital channels that OUC is most interested in? (web chat, mobile chat, SMS, WhatsApp, etc...?)

Response: No.

85. Can you share the approximate percentage of calls that are in Spanish vs. English?

Response: Approximately 20% of the calls are Spanish.

86. Would OUC be interested in learning about alternative pricing methods, or should we constrain ourselves to the model shown in Attachment B?

Response: Yes. Vendors must adhere to the template provided.

87. What customer authentication requirements do OUC have today and/or want to have in the new IVR? (Example: Acct#, PIN#, Last 4 of SSN, etc...)?

Response: Please provide a recommendation regarding industry’s best practices and include in your proposal.

88. Could you elaborate on the requirements for auto-attendant functionality? Will the IVR need to route only to high level extensions/departments, or will it be required to provide call routing to individual OUC personnel by name?

Response: The Auto Attendant currently can transfer to a department or individual OUC personnel.

89. Regarding the voice to text component, is there a desire by OUC to receive real time transcripts outside of the IVR? For example, delivered to a third-party analytics tool?

Response: No.

90. Dedicated openscape instance or cloud service? Where are the DCs hosted/locations?

Response: Located on-prem.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

91. Who do you currently use for Knowledge Management?

Response: Knowledge Management is out of scope.

92. IVR Call Capacity & Scalability. The current system supports 90 concurrent IVR calls per data center. Should the new IVR be designed to handle more simultaneous calls, or is maintaining the current limit sufficient?

Response: 180 concurrent call capacity is the required minimum. Please include and describe the ability to scale to meet higher call volumes during major events.

93. Conversational AI vs. NLP Menu Navigation. Does OUC expect the new IVR to include fully conversational AI, or is the requirement limited to NLP-driven menu navigation and intent recognition?

Response: Please provide details and cost comparison between different options.

94. Customer Authentication Methods. What authentication methods does OUC prefer for customer interactions? Should the system support voice biometrics, PIN authentication, MFA, or other security measures? We would like to explore all of these authentication methods Response: Please see the response to question # 87.

95. Integration with Verint Call Recording. Should the IVR be integrated with Verint Call Recorder to log self-service interactions, or is call recording only required for live-agent conversations?

Response: Yes. Currently both IVR and CSR interactions are captured in Verint.

96. IVR Support for WebRTC & Cellular Agents. The network diagram shows WebRTC and cellular agents. Should the new IVR allow direct agent interaction with callers, or will it only handle pre-routing before connecting to the contact center?

Response: IVR is used for pre-routing or self-service tasks.

97. Pricing Model Preference. Does OUC have a preferred pricing model for the new IVR? Should vendors propose per-call, per-port, per-minute, or subscription-based pricing?

Response: Please complete and include the pricing form in your proposal. Identifying them as Option 1 (title); Option 2 (title); etc.

98. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Success. What are the primary KPIs OUC will use to measure the success of the new IVR (e.g., containment rate, first-call resolution, call handling time, customer satisfaction, cost savings)?

Response: The new IVR should perform equal to or better than the current system. Currently we have a 78% containment rate.

99. Handling of Peak Call Volumes. During outages or emergencies, call volume can spike significantly. Does OUC require automated IVR scaling to handle such surges, and should the solution allow overflow handling via digital channels (SMS, web, etc.)?

Response: Please provide details and cost comparison between different options. Other digital channels are out of scope.

100. Security & Compliance Beyond NIST/ISO 27001. Beyond the stated NIST and ISO 27001 requirements, are there any OUC-specific security, compliance, or encryption standards the IVR solution must adhere to?

Response: Solution needs to conform to industry best practices.

101. Demonstration & Proof of Concept (PoC) Requirements. Will shortlisted vendors need to provide Proof of Concept (PoC), and should the demonstration follow a specific scripted workflow, or can vendors showcase unique capabilities?

Response: Yes. Shortlisted vendors will be provided with an agenda to follow during presentation.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

102. Call Flow Documentation. Can we get a copy of the call flows?

Response: Please see the response to questions 66.

103. IVR Reporting. What kind of IVR reporting do you have today?

Response: OUC currently has extensive custom reporting for monitoring interactions and usage.

104. Customer Information System (CIS) Integration.

a. What Customer Information System (CIS) are you using today?

Response: Please see the response to question # 2.

b. Does this CIS (referenced above) provide APIs for the integration you need to the new

IVR, or will we need to create them? (Need to confirm this was not addressed in the Excel document.)

Response: Any required API enhancements or changes to OUC managed back-end systems would be addressed by OUC.

105. Payment Processing. When a customer calls to make a payment, how does that process work today? Are you using a third-party company for this?

Response: Yes. OUC uses a 3rd party credit card payment vendor. Customer authenticates in

OUC’s IVR and credentials and account are passed to 3rd party.

106. Outbound SMS Notifications.

a. Would you like your SMS outbound notifications (e.g., "Hey, your power’s out") to be two-way so that customers can text you back, or would you prefer just one way?

Response: Out of scope.

b. If just one-way for now, we can easily add this feature in the future.

Response: Out of scope.

107. Is your IVR system integrated with other systems (e.g., CRM, ERP)?

Response: Yes.

108. Do you have any plans for moving your telephony to the cloud?

Response: Out of scope.

109. What is the average IVR call duration in minutes?

Response: 2.5 minutes

110. What customer service and experiences KPIs would you like to measure, but don’t?

Response: Solution must provide IVR abandon, deflected, hangup, and Transferred to ACD Queue. Please recommend or provide details on how to measure and demonstrate utilization and overall solution ROI.

111. How do you measure “the best customer services and experiences”? What are the key KPIs you currently measure that distinguish OUC from others?

Response: Out of scope.

112. Are you currently using any knowledge management solutions at OUC?

Response: Out of scope.

113. Do you envision using Digital IVA or Chatbots at OUC Response: Please recommend or provide details on how these can be incorporated into an overall solution and include optional pricing.

114. Could you provide us with an overview of what your IVR solution is currently doing in terms of call deflection? Specifically: Is it only used to route calls to specific agents?

Response: No customers currently can complete several transactions in the IVR.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

115. Are there any types of payment processing happening on the IVR today?

Response: Yes. Both credit card and electronic-check payments.

116. What are the main challenges you face with your current IVR system?

Response: Looking to improve the overall customer experience. Include additional self-service options or features.

117. How often do you experience downtime or technical issues?

Response: Current system uptime is 99.98%.

118. How do your customers typically interact with your IVR system?

Response: Direct Dialog Voice Recognition with DTMF backup.

119. How do you use the data collected from your current IVR system?

Response: The data is used to make IVR enhancements.

120. What key performance indicators (KPIs) will you use to measure the success of the IVR?

Response: Please see the response to question # 110.

121. Section D. Is the diagram current? There is another diagram in the attachments that shows different equipment.

Response: Yes. Diagram is current.

122. Attachment D. You mention that Queuing and authentication are handled through the Openscape system, in order to minimize IVR interaction time. Is the expectation for the new IVR system to assume all authentication and queueing will also be handled through Openscape or will the new IVR system authenticate members.

Response: Customer Authentication needs to be done in the IVR.

123. Line 27 - Transactional Messaging - Attachment A. Regarding transactional messages, what channel should be used to send messages like a payment confirmation?

Response: Out of scope.

124. Line 29 - Data Sharing - Attachment A. What is your agent’s desktop solution today?

Response: OpenScape Contact Center.

125. Line 30 - Cross Channel Authentication - Attachment A. What is your Identity Provider for SSO authentication?

Response: Management of the platform must utilize SSO for internal employees.

126. What are OUC's existing Knowledge Management systems and databases that are required for integration with the IVR? Do you provide access to APIs for integration? What type of API (REST, Soap, etc.)?

Response: OUC does not have Knowledge Management solution.

127. Line 36 - Transactions To Complete - Attachment A. Are APIs available for integrations to satisfy these uses cases? What type of APIs (REST, Soap, etc.)? Please specify the systems required to integrate with to satisfy these use cases.

Response: Any required API enhancements or changes would be addressed by OUC.

128. Line 37 - FAQ Integration - Attachment A. What platform hosts the FAQs? Are the FAQs on your website today and if so, is there a requirement for authentication/authorization to access the FAQs Response: FAQ’s to be built out via call flow and messaging. No authentication is required.

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129. Line 46 - Tiered Service Level Support - Attachment A. Where is the service level information on a member stored? Is that data accessible using APIs, please elaborate?

Response: Functionality to provide routing and caller experience based on customer priority

130. Line 48 - Channel Transition - Attachment A. What is your channel management system that you use today for transitioning callers?

Response: Provider to recommend or propose solution multi-channel transitions.

131. Is OUC seeking a Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution complete with IVR, Routing, Reporting and WFM or just the NLP IVR to work with existing telephony (routing, reporting)?

Response: The scope of this RFP is to replace the existing IVR solution.

132. Calls handled by agents appear to be 600,000. How many calls are offered to agents annually?

Response: Last year the IVR transferred 545,000 calls to the ACD queues.

133. Is there additional context on why abandonment is at 19% (e.g., where in the IVR customers are falling out)?

Response: Customers typically abandon during or before they are authenticated in the IVR.

To be flushed out after vendor selection and during the course of the project to optimize the new solutions.

134. What is the current authentication rate?

Response: Approximately 65%.

135. Do you have universally skilled agents? Is your external vendor handling a specific call type(s)?

Response: Yes. With designated groups for Commercial, Collections, and Residential.

136. Of the most common call types specified in the RFP, how many of those call types are self-serviceable in the IVR today?

Response: Detailed self-service features and functions will be evaluated after vendor selection as part of project discovery and requirements.

137. What is the current first call resolution (FCR) metric?

Response: Not tracked today.

138. What is Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores like for the current IVR?

Response: 8 out of 10.

139. Which vendor provides the current IVR current technology platform?

Response: Genesys Voice Portal & Nuance Voice Recognition.

140. Does the current solution dynamically scale to support surges in call volume (e.g., during black sky storms events)?

Response: No. The current infrastructure has been designed to handle historical peak volumes.

141. Current Volumes & Operations. What is your total monthly call volume in number of calls?

Response: Last year OUC made 2.6 M calls annually.

142. Current Volumes & Operations. What is your average handle time per minute?

Response: Out of scope.

143. Current Volumes & Operations. What is your total monthly chat volume in number of chat sessions?

Response: OUC does not have a chat.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

144. Current Volumes & Operations. What is your total monthly survey volume in number of completed surveys?

Response: Out of scope.

145. Current Volumes & Operations. What is your total monthly support volume in number of tickets?

Response: None.

146. Current Volumes & Operations. What specific languages and dialects need to be supported in the IVR system? English and Spanish Response: English & Spanish

147. Existing Technical Infrastructure. Please confirm if our understanding of your current architecture is correct:

- OpenScape Voice Platform

- Verint Call Recording System

- SIP trunk configuration (261/262)

- IVR capacity of 90 calls per datacenter

- Integration with Nuance Speech Servers

- Are there any components or specifications we have missed or misunderstood?"

Response: None.

148. Integration Requirements. What CRM system do you currently use, if any?

Response: OUC does not currently have a CRM system.

149. Integration Requirements. What Case/Ticket System do you currently use?

Response: NA.

150. Integration Requirements. What business intelligence tool do you currently use?

Response: Power BI.

151. Integration Requirements. Please list all core business systems that will need to integrate with the IVR (e.g., billing, CRM, workforce management) Response: Please refer to the response to question # 2.

152. Integration Requirements. What is your CIS system (Salesforce or internal)?

Response: Please refer to the response to question # 104b.

153. Integration Requirements. If CIS is internal, is there API documentation available?

Response: Yes.

154. Integration Requirements. Do you require agent call control capabilities (dial, transfer, etc.)

within the CIS interface?

Response: Out of scope.

155. Customer Experience & Metrics. What specific customer experience KPIs do you currently track?

Response: Out of scope.

156. Customer Experience & Metrics. Do you send out CSAT surveys or track NPS? If yes, what are your current scores?

Response: Out of scope.

157. What specific types of customer surveys do you currently conduct?

Response: Out of scope.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

158. Customer Experience & Metrics. How will you measure ROI of the new IVR system? Please specify both:

a) Financial metrics (cost savings, efficiency gains)

Response: Vendor to provide ROI analysis with documented assumptions.

b) Operational metrics (containment rate, first call resolution)

Response: Please see the response to question 110.

159. Systems Requirements. What are your specific workforce management and forecasting requirements?

Response: Out of scope.

160. Systems Requirements. What are your peak volume handling requirements?

Response: Please see the response to question 92.

161. Systems Requirements. What are your maximum acceptable latency requirements in milliseconds?

Response: 500ms.

162. What is your required BCP Architecture for the IVR system?

Response: Need more information to answer this question.

163. What are your specific redundancy requirements (active-active, active-passive)?

Response: See Attachment A, solution requirements tab, line 12.

164. What is your minimum required system availability percentage?

Response: See Attachment A, solution requirements tab, line 12.

165. Data Retention & Storage. For how long do call recordings need to be retained (in months/years)?

Response: 7 years

166. Data Retention & Storage. What are your specific backup requirements (frequency, retention period)?

Response: 7 years.

167. Data Retention & Storage. Do you have any geographic restrictions on where data can be stored/processed?

Response: US Government Cloud Storage.

168. Compliance Security. What specific regulatory requirements must the IVR system comply with?

Response: All applicable regulatory requirements.

169. Implementation & Transition. What is your required go-live date for the new IVR system?

Response: See response to question # 52.

170. What internal resources (roles and time commitment) will be available for implementation?

Response: Vendor to identify or highlight critical resources needed for the success of the project.

171. What specific training delivery methods do you require (in-person, virtual, documentation)?

Response: Vendor to recommend training courses or material for success.

172. Implementation & Transition. What is your preferred cutover approach (big bang, phased rollout)?

Response: Vendor to recommend cutover plan and provide implementation details.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

173. Support & Maintenance. What are your specific support hour requirements and expected response times by severity level?

Response: 24x7 365 support with 1hr response SLA.

174. What IVR system administration capabilities do you want to maintain internally?

Response: Vendors provide guidance and recommendations based on solution proposed.

175. Support & Maintenance. What are your acceptable maintenance window times and frequencies?

Response: Any maintenance must be coordinated and agreed to in advance.

176. Future Capabilities. What specific AI/ML capabilities do you plan to implement (e.g., intent recognition, sentiment analysis)?

Response: Vendor to provide guidance and recommendations regarding required functionality and optional addon costs.

177. Future Capabilities. What future system integrations are planned within the next 24 months?

Response: To be determined.

178. What specific self-service transactions do you plan to automate in the IVR?

Response: Includes but not limited to: Account Balance, Account Status, Credit Card and Echeck Payments, Start Service, Stop Service, Mover Service, Payment Extensions and Pay Plan. Selected vendor to provide discovery and requirement gathering sessions to identify all self-service opportunities as part of the proposal.

179. Vendor Selection. What are your top 5 vendor evaluation criteria besides price?

Vendor Selection. Please rank these criteria in order of importance (1-5)?

Response: Please refer to section 3.15 Proposal Evaluation Criteria; page 18 of 30.

180. Vendor Selection. Which departments/roles will be involved in vendor selection?

Response: Customer Service and Digital & Technology.

181. Will there be an immediate need for Microsoft Teams integration with this solution?

Response: No. Out of scope.

182. Call Flow Documentation. Please provide existing IVR call flows (e.g. Visio, Lucidchart, &/or other documentation) if available.

Response: Please see the response to question # 82.

183. Voice to Text (row 21). How is the 95%-word recognition accuracy rate defined? Is this a standard word-error rate or another calculation?

Response: Vendor to provide details regarding proposed solution’s recognition accuracy rate commitment.

184. Voice to Text (row 21). Can third-party Speech-to-Text/Automatic Speech Recognition platforms be deployed in addition to primary vendor solution to meet word error rate threshold requirements?

Response: OUC is looking for a complete IVR solution. Vendors’ proposal must disclose if 3rd party components are required to meet defined requirements. Include any additional 3rd party fees or costs.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

185. Conversational AI (row 22) / NLP Integration (row 33). Are there any detailed requirements around open speech NLU ("How can I help you today" > {open user input} vs. Guided Speech ("To make a payment, say 'Payments'") and DTMF/keypad entry ("press 1 for payments")? Can the IVR solution / user interface combine open NLU, guided speech ("say X for X") and DTMF/keypad entry ("press 1 for Payments") per conversation design best practices (e.g., on retries/fallbacks) to ensure best User Experience and highest containment/performance?

Response: Vendor to recommend and provide the best solution for utility clients.

186. Omnichannel Capabilities (row 24). Is deep linking to mobile apps or web required? What is the expectation for the authentication state when moving from voice to mobile web? E.g., should the user remain logged in if authenticated by voice, or be prompted to authenticate again on the target channel?

Response: No.

187. Omnichannel Capabilities (row 24) SMS Messaging (26). What SMS and omnichannel experiences exist today? Can you provide use case information and call/channel/data flow details? Are any of the stated requirements related to net-new SMS or omnichannel capabilities (and associated integrations)?

Response: Cross-channel interactions have not been deployed. Selected vendor to provide discovery and requirement gathering sessions to identify all self-service opportunities as part of the proposal.

188. Omnichannel Capabilities (row 24). If Omnichannel capabilities are already defined, could you please list out the data fields / examples to be shared across channels?

Response: Not currently defined.

189. Omnichannel Capabilities (row 24). Will sessions be synchronized across channels? For example, starting half of a task on Voice and finishing the other half on web.

Response: Yes, this is a potential case.

190. Omnichannel Capabilities (row 24). Will resumed sessions be required? For example - if a user calls in and completes half a task before hanging up and later calling back in and having the experience pick up where the user left off.

Response: Yes, this is a potential case.

191. Language Support Expansion (row 34). Is the ability to switch languages within the call flow required? Or is the requirement only to offer Spanish at the top of the call flow via language selection? Is automatic language detection (of speech) required? Or is the requirement satisfied with input-based (speech or keypad) language selection?

Response: Up-front choice only.

192. Transactions to Complete (row 36). Attachment A lists four use cases for the IVR (Update Account Info, Pay Bill, Request Service, Obtain Info on Elective Programs); can you provide a list and/or mapping of primary use cases or call types that are currently handled by live agents but NOT included in the IVR transactions listed here?

Response: Selected vendor to provide discovery and requirement gathering sessions to identify all self-service opportunities as part of their proposal.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

193. 1.4.3.c. Given the inherent advantages of an integrated vendor platform, is OUC open to replacing their contact center platform along with a new IVR?

a. If changing to cloud-based CCaaS is an option would be migrating from Verint into an integrated platform be an option, as well?

Response: No, out of scope.

194. 1.4.3.c. Does your current IVR support chat, email, SMS or any social media channels or is it Voice only?

Response: Current IVR supports Voice interactions.

195. 1.1. Does the 2.6 million call volume include SMS, Chat, Email and other social media channels?

a. If not, what is the annual volume for each channel?

Response: No. Currently it is voice only.

196. 1.4.4. What Languages do you wish to support. Please provide a list.

Response: English and Spanish. Any additional languages can be listed as add on option.

197. 1.4.2. Chat bot integration. How many interactions does the current chatbot handle? What is the goal for the new chatbot? Is the chat bot available in voice and regular chat? What specific channels do you wish to be available on? (X, Facebook, TikTok, etc.?)

Response: OUC does not have a chatbot solution currently.

198. 1.2.2. For Self Service other than Enabling customers to access account information, make payments, report outages, or schedule services through automated IVR menus. What are the next 3-5 most common reasons for calling?

Response: Start Service, Stop Service, Account Balance, Account Status, Credit Card Payment and Echeck Payment

199. 1.2.2. The bidder must have proven experience implementing IVR systems that support natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and AI-based customer service automation. Are you looking to answer questions, make payments etc. using NLP?

Response: Yes.

200. Do you currently have a Single Knowledge repository?

Response: No.

201. What do your agents leverage for help when on a call or chat?

Response: Out of scope.

202. What is the end-of-life/end-of support date for your current Genesys IVR system?

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response.

203. What is the end-of-life/end-of support date for your current Nuance platform?

Response: This information is not relevant for RFP response.

204. Would it be possible to receive call flows from your existing IVR flows as part of the RFP documentation?

Response: Yes.

100 West Anderson Street l PO Box 3193 l Orlando, Florida 32801 l 407-434-4339 Telephone l 407-434-4338 Telefax l www.ouc.com

205. Assuming that there are no companies that accomplish both IVR and AI well, would there be a willingness to procure an AI platform to integrate with what you choose (or even sit on top of what you already have today)?

Response: Please see the response to question # 184

206. Please provide Attachment G (referenced in Exhibit 2, Section 2 of the RFP document).

Response: Attachment G referenced in Exhibit 2; Section 2; page 35 of 59 of the RFP documents is not required at this time.

Note:

In other respects, except as specifically stated above, the subject solicitation remains unchanged. There shall be no communication between any Supplier, their employees, or subcontractors concerning this solicitation to anyone within Orlando Utilities Commission except for the Buyer of Record.

Sincerely, Marcel Martinez Strategic Sourcing | Supervisor