REQ-DASOBO-00139690_AudioConferencingMO OED Approved DAS.pdf

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REQUEST FOR SPECIAL PROCUREMENT No. REQ-DASOBO-00139690

PART A. Requesting Agency must complete Items 1 through 13.

1. Requesting Agency Name: Oregon Employment Department (OED), for the Office of Administrative

Hearings (OAH)

2. Date of Request: June 30, 2025 3. Agency Number: 47100

4. Agency Contact Name: Faith Coleman 5. Phone: (971) 375-5565

6. Type of Request: Class Special Procurement __X___ Contract-specific Special Procurement

7. Time Period Requested: From: July 1, 2025 To: December 31, 2030

8. Total Estimated Cost: $640,829

9. Title: Supplies and/or Services to be Acquired: Audio Conferencing Equipment, Maintenance and

Support Services for the Compunetix Conference Manager System (collectively “Services”)

10. Request, Background, Current Need, and Proposed Contracting Procedure:

a. Request:

OED, on behalf of OAH, requests approval of this Special Procurement No. REQ-DASOBO-00139690 (the SP) to amend Contract No. PO-DASOBO-00008596 (previously DASPS-1701-18, DASPS-1572-15 & OED No. 16-001) (Contract), issued to Compunetix, Inc., (formerly Sonexis Technology, Inc.) (Contractor) as follows:

1. reinstate the Contract in accordance with Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 125-246-0570;

2. amend the Contract with an Effective Date of July 1, 2025 to:

a. extend the Term up to five (5) years, through December 31, 2030; and

b. increase the Maximum not-to-exceed NTE Compensation (the NTE) an additional estimated

$640,829; and

3. replace the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Procurement Services (DAS PS) with

OED as the party to the Contract, which may also result in a change to the Contract number.

b. Background:

The Office of Administrative Hearings conducts contested case hearings and rules on matters for Oregonians who have a dispute. The hearings held involve resolving matters in a variety of areas, such as Unemployment Insurance, Paid Family leave, the Department of Human Services, the Oregon Health Authority, the Division of Child Support, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and oversight and services provided by 70 plus small agencies, boards, and commissions.

The Office of Administrative Hearings must rule on these matters following federally mandated guidelines and rule-driven timelines, so it is critical that hearings are scheduled and held timely. Because

REQ-DASOBO-00139690_AudioConferencingM&O (Compunetix) _OED Page 2 of 7 these decisions made by OAH affect Oregonians and their family’s everyday lives, holding these hearings and ruling on these matters are time sensitive.

OAH holds thousands of administrative hearings for Oregonians across 36 counties, including parties that reside outside the state and country. Most of these administrative hearings are held using a conference bridge. In calendar year (CY) 2024, the OAH received 32,624 referrals for Oregonians requesting an administrative hearing. Ninety-five (95) percent of hearings scheduled by the OAH are held using a conference bridge. Every hearing held by the OAH is recorded using Compunetix’s Conference Manager System. The audio files created by the System are the official record of the administrative hearing. OAH’s current System has been customized to automatically record every hearing that is held. These audio files are saved and stored throughout the hearing process. The audio files must be retained following retention guidelines in place. Many of OAH’s rulings can be appealed to a higher authority, so the audio files must be of excellent recording quality for transcription purposes.

Customized Features:

The System has been customized to accept a 7-digit custom “access code”, which is generated by OAH’s case management system. The “access code” is comprised of the following: the first two digits of the “access code” identify the program cost code and the other 5 digits identify the “case” reference number. The customized naming convention schema serves several purposes, such as identifying the specific program or case type. The naming convention must associate the audio recording with the case reference identification number. The naming convention provides information to the business user on where the audio will be electronically filed or saved. It also identifies the coding, so the business can assign responsibility and cost charges by agency. Most importantly this schema is used to create the conference “access code” used on the “Notice of Hearing”, which is the official document sent to the hearing participants notifying them to use this “access code” when calling to join the conference for their administrative hearing.

The conference bridge system provides customized WEB capability for business administrators to:

• view statistical information related to every conference, such as the number of calls handled on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and the port usage;

• view in real time the number of ongoing conference calls, duration of calls by hours, minutes, and seconds;

• view the number of conference participants, dropped calls, hang-ups, missed calls, hold times, telephone numbers, time zone specific; and

• verify and provide reports which document the time each participant logged in and time each participant disconnected. These reports are used as verification when conference parties fail to appear for their hearing or attempt to join the administrative hearing late and their hearing is dismissed.

Customized bilingual greetings in English and Spanish allow the caller to choose appropriate prompts, such as repeating the “access code” entered and allows the user to identify whether they are a “participant” or the “host”.

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The System also prompts callers on instructions for accessing their conference and providing customized program specific information prior to being dropped into a conference. The Contractor provides secure nightly uploads of the day’s audio files to the state network, accompanied by a customized report identifying what audio files were transferred. The System provides access to audio files for at least 60 days on Contractor’s secure server.

CONTRACT HISTORY:

Oct 21, 2014, a Request for Proposals (RFP) #DASPS-2139-14 was posted by DAS PS, seeking hosted audio conference with recording services and bridged dial-in audio conferencing services. One proposal was received.

• The RFP was awarded to Sonexis.

• Contract No. DASPS-1572-15 (OED No. 16-001) was executed on 7/1/2015.

• Amendment No. 1 extended expiration date to 6/29/2017.

• Amendment No. 2 extended expiration date to 6/29/2018.

• Amendment No. 3 updated the Contract number from DASPS-1572-15 to DASPS-1701-18 and extended expiration date to 6/30/25. A Transfer of Rights between Sonexis Technology, Inc., and Compunetix, Inc., was also executed.

• Amendment No. 4 updated the effective date on Contract No. DASPS-1701-18 as 12/2/2017.

• Amendment No. 5 updated the Contract No. to PO-DASOBO-00008596, added $85,000 to remaining

Term through 6/30/2025, and added an Agency Contract Administrator to Exhibit F, Agency Personnel.

c. Current Need:

OAH needs to continue providing services for Oregonians, which include case hearings and rules on disputes; hearings resolving matters in areas such as Unemployment Insurance, Paid Family leave, the Department of Human Services, the Oregon Health Authority, the Division of Child Support, the Department of Motor Vehicles and oversight and services provided by 70 plus small agencies, boards, and commissions. OAH needs to continue its thousands of administrative hearings for Oregonians.

OAH requests to continue engagement with the Contractor to provide continuing maintenance and support for OAH audio conference with recording services and bridged dial-in audio conferences used to conduct official hearings with individuals located throughout the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and occasionally individuals participating outside the continental U.S. for the Services listed below:

• Updates, Upgrades, New Equipment o The major lifecycle items in the current environment are at the maximum age: the servers (~5 years old), the Operating System (Windows 2016), and the version of Sonexis Application Software (v14).

o The Windows 2016 Operating System from Microsoft will be End of Life on January 12, 2027, and will be upgraded and cutover prior to that timeframe.

o Additionally, a one-time upgrade component to provide new replacement servers, which will be running Windows 2022 Operating System, and the latest application software (v17) will be completed.

• Maintenance & Services

REQ-DASOBO-00139690_AudioConferencingM&O (Compunetix) _OED Page 4 of 7 o Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the maintenance increases of ~2.8% per year, as bi-annual adjustments (every two years).

o The most recent Toll-Free Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) service rates that were under the Contract were significantly below market rates. This 5-year renewal includes nominal step increases for the telephony market rates and conditions.

The total estimated costs for the Services are listed below in Table 10.c.1:

Table 10.c.1

With approval of this Special Procurement request, in accordance with Delegation Agreement #REQ- DASOBO-00139687, and the execution of the anticipated Contract Amendment, the cumulative Contract Maximum NTE will be $1,230,000, allowing for +/- cost increases until December 31, 2030.

d. Proposed Contracting Procedure:

1. As required by OAR 125-247-0287, OED will issue a public notice (Notice) regarding approval of this SP request on OregonBuys for a period of seven (7) calendar days.

2. The Notice will include provisions that any Affected Person(s) may protest the approval of this SP request.

3. The Department of Administrative Services, State Procurement Services, (DAS SPS) will respond to and resolve all protests, if any.

4. If no protests to this approved SP request are received or sustained, OED will proceed with reinstating and amending the Contract as detailed in Section 10.a above and in accordance with its Delegation Agreement #REQ-DASOBO-00139687.

5. OED will obtain endorsement from DAS Enterprise Information Services’ (EIS) before executing the Contract Amendment(s), if required.

6. Pursuant to ORS 291.047 and OAR 137-045-0015, OED will work with Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) and obtain legal sufficiency approval prior to executing the Contract Amendment(s), as required.

11. Justification for use of Special Procurement: Describe the circumstances that justify the use of a Special Procurement. Attach relevant documentation.

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The ability to amend the Contract, as detailed in Section 10.a above, can only be solicited and approved by DAS SPS through a Special Procurement process under Oregon’s Public Contracting Code, set out in Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) Chapters 279A, 279B, and 279C. On Oct 21, 2014, DAS PS, on behalf of OED, conducted an RFP #DASPS-2139-14, seeking hosted audio conference with recording services and bridged dial-in audio conferencing services. The Contract was awarded for a maximum term of 10 years.

OAH has established its need for audio conference with recording services and bridged dial-in audio conferences used to conduct official hearings with individuals located throughout the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and occasionally individuals participating outside the continental U.S.

It would be catastrophic to lose OAH’s current level of conferencing services and would have a devastating impact in their ability to serve Oregonians efficiently and timely. To lose the current System and need to acquire a new system would result in additional needs for significant changes, along with loss of time and money. OAH would need to make changes to the coding in their case management system, file transfer process, billing process, and updating numerous templates, which is not in OAH’s current budget to cover these costs.

12. Findings to Satisfy the Required Standards: This proposed special procurement:

__X___ (a) will be unlikely to encourage favoritism in the awarding of public contracts or to substantially diminish competition for public contracts because:

The RFP / Competitive Sealed Proposal procurement that established the Contract was conducted in accordance with Oregon’s contracting laws and administrative rules; specifically, ORS 279B.060 and OAR 125-247-0260.

• Public notice was posted on the Oregon Procurement Information Network (ORPIN), the state’s previous eProcurement system.

• The public notice included a seven (7) calendar day protest opportunity.

• The public notice closed without response or protest.

• One Contract was awarded to the vendor who met all of OAH’s requirements. Compunetix will continue to serve as the Contractor.

It is neither time efficient nor cost-effective to introduce a new contractor who can replicate the customization of the equipment and interoperability to OAH’s systems at this time.

and

______ (b)(i) will result in substantial cost savings to the contracting agency or to the public because:

or

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___X___ (b)(ii) will otherwise substantially promote the public interest in a manner that could not practicably be realized by complying with the requirements of ORS 279B.055, 279B.060, 279B.065, or 279B.070, or any rules adopted thereunder because:

Compunetix continues to provide the much-needed audio conference with recording services and bridged dial-in audio conferences used to conduct official hearings at OAH. The current System has been enhanced to meet the needs of OAH, so OAH can meet the specific needs that Oregonians require.

Without these services Oregonians would not be able to request hearings or settle disputes in Unemployment Insurance, Paid Leave, Child Support, and DMV to name a few. This would have a negative impact on other state agency programs as well.

13. Signature: The actual signature of the Agency Head or designee (e.g., Designated Procurement Officer) is not required on the Request if it is submitted through OregonBuys. Agency may elect to attach a signed Request.

Signature: e.g. Electronically in OregonBuys _________________ Type Name: Ronda Wirth, DPO Date:

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PART B. The Department of Administrative Services completes Part B.

STATUTORY AND RULE AUTHORITY:

ORS 279B.085(2) states the Director of the Department of Administrative Services may approve a special procurement if the Director finds that a written request submitted under ORS 279B.085(4) demonstrates that the use of a special procurement as described in the request, or an alternative procedure prescribed by the Director will:

(a) Be unlikely to encourage favoritism in the awarding of public contracts or to substantially diminish competition for public contracts; and (b)(A) Result in substantial cost savings to the contracting agency or to the public; or

(B) Otherwise substantially promote the public interest in a manner that could not practicably be realized by complying with requirements that are applicable under ORS 279B.055, 279B.060, 279B.065 or 279B.070 or under any rules adopted thereunder.

OAR 125-246-0170 delegates the authority of the Director of the Department of Administrative Services to approve special procurements to the State Chief Procurement Officer. OAR 125-247-0285 through 125-247-0288 implement ORS 279B.085.

OAR 125-247-0700(2) Protests and Judicial Review of Special Procurements designates the State Chief Procurement Officer as the Contract Review Authority.

FINDINGS: The findings are accepted, adopted, and incorporated by reference herein.

CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL:

1. Notice Period. The Authorized Agency shall post the Public Notice on OregonBuys. The Special Procurement may not be used until after the completion of the seven (7) day notice period required pursuant to OAR 125-247-0287(4), and either:

a. No Written protests are received by the Contract Review Authority, State Chief Procurement Officer, from an Affected Person in response to the notice, or

b. If any protest is received during the notice period, then not until:

i. the State Chief Procurement Officer or delegate issues a written disposition of the protest in accordance with ORS 279B.400 and OAR 125-247-0700 and OAR 137-047-0700, and

ii. confirms in writing the first possible date of use of the Special Procurement.

2. ORS 279A.165 Requirements. Authorized Agency shall comply with the requirements of ORS 279A.165 and OAR 125-247-0287(12) regarding a report about this Special Procurement. Agency shall use a form and follow the instructions provided by the State Chief Procurement Officer or delegate.

3. Authorized Agency shall comply with all Enterprise Information Services (EIS) conditions and requirements prior to Contract amendment execution.

APPROVED

Jay Jackson, Procurement Policy Officer Date:

Department of Administrative Services, State Procurement Services

7/24/2025

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