Vocera Badge Devices CONTROL NUMBER VA-26-00064495

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics Technology Acquisition Center 23 Christopher Way Eatontown, NJ 07724

2. Description of Action: The proposed action is for a firm-fixed-price delivery order to be issued under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V Government wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) for the procurement of brand name Vocera badge devices for the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS).

3. Description of the Supplies or Services: The STVHCS has a requirement to upgrade the current Vocera B300N badge devices to the new Vocera B7000 badge devices. This upgrade is necessary due to the current B300N badges approaching their end-of-life and support from the OEM. The VA requires Badges that allow for hands free communication (voice/messaging) between the clinical care team and nursing staff to coordinate patient care. The VA also requires the ability to call a pager or any department by name without knowing the extension number, eliminating time, steps, and the need to leave a patient’s bedside. The solution must be Federal Information Processing Standards 140-2 compliant and dual-band for distribution to nursing staff and clinical support services for communication within the patient care team. It must also provide a means for all staff throughout the facility to contact Police dispatch through the Vocera genie for immediate emergency assistance. In addition, providers need to be able to forward all calls to their pager or phone of choice for call purposes.

The solution must also be integrated with the call light system to inform staff when a patient alarm is triggered and when they need assistance. The solution will include 12 month warranty, accessories, licensing, batteries, battery chargers, and training materials to facilitate a seamless integration into the current infrastructure.

4. Statutory Authority: Pursuant to Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul (RFO) VA Deviation FAR 16.507-7, the following brand name requirement is being justified and approved as an exception to fair opportunity under the statutory authority of Section 41 U.S.C. 4106(c)(2) as implemented by RFO VA Deviation 16.507- 6(b)(2), entitled “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized”.

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Authority Cited Above: Based on extensive market research, as described in Section 8 of this justification, it was determined that competition is viable among authorized resellers of the brand name Vocera badge devices. Only Vocera (or a Vocera reseller) can meet VA’s requirements. Only Vocera, or an authorized reseller, can provide the service and support for this hands-free wireless communication system and have access to the proprietary source codes.

The STVHCS requires a solution that provides specific products and licenses that are only supplied by brand name Vocera. The hospital’s infrastructure currently supports the Vocera badge solution, including software, network compatibility, and integration with current communication systems. If the VA were to switch to a different badge type, it would require signification reconfiguration of IT systems, which would result in downtime, increased costs, and potential significant disruptions to critical hospital operations and patient care.

Currently, STVHCS has Vocera Communication infrastructure and devices in place, as well as existing software integrations for alarm routing which have already been implemented with third-party systems. A transition to a different communication system would result in significant delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements and lead to an estimated total cost of $11,000,000, which would not be recovered through competition.

This estimate was based off historical procurements for the base system to include hardware, software, and support. This does not include the potential cost for integration into existing systems. The delays are estimated to be up to 12 months in order to decommission and remove existing infrastructure, then install, integrate, activate all new infrastructure, and provide training to all staff. Failure to secure the brand name Vocera devices would result in the loss of digital two-way audio communication with staff throughout the STVHCS, reducing staff productivity, efficiency, and present an unacceptable risk to patient care. Therefore, only Vocera or its authorized resellers can provide the Vocera badge device upgrade.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Market research was conducted, details of which are in Section 8 of this document. This effort did not yield any additional sources that can meet the Government’s requirements. However, the undersigned VA technical representative determined that limited competition is viable among multiple authorized resellers of the required brand name Vocera B7000 badge devices. In accordance with RFO VA Deviation 16.507-7(c)(1)(i), this justification will be provided with the solicitation to all appropriate NASA SEWP V GWAC holders.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The Government will continue to conduct market research to ascertain if there are changes in the marketplace that would enable future actions to be put out for competition among multiple sources.

8. Market Research: The Government's technical experts conducted market research from October 2025 through December 2025 to ascertain if any other brands were viable for this action. Specifically, the VA technical experts reviewed similar hardware provided by Ascom and Spectralink. These products were researched via the vendors websites and information materials. Upon review of these companies’ products, it was found that they lack the hands-free badge solution that is required. Additionally, the software utilized by these companies is not interoperable or compatible with the currently fielded Vocera Communication Platform. Only Vocera and its resellers can provide the required hands free badges that can integrate seamlessly with the existing communication infrastructure and ensure compatibility with the current network and alarm routing systems.

Additionally, the Contract Specialist conducted market research in June 2026 utilizing the NASA SEWP V GWAC market research tool to determine what vendors can meet the requirement. The market research tool resulted in the identification of several Service-disabled Veteran-owned Small Business (SDVOSB) resellers capable of providing the required Vocera B7000 badges. Based on this market research, there is a reasonable expectation limited competition exists among authorized SDVOSB resellers on the NASA SEWP V GWAC for the required items.

NASA SEWP V GWAC has a dynamic catalog where line items can be added based on customer requests; therefore, as long as the required item or service is within scope of the NASA SEWP V GWAC, items and services can be added to a NASA SEWP V GWAC holder’s catalog.

9. Other Facts:

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