RFI Request for Infomration- COM External Call Center Services .docx

COMPTROLLER OF MARYLAND

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

EXTERNAL CALL CENTER SERVICES

ISSUE DATE:

10/29/2025

RESPONSE DUE DATE:

11/12/2025 (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

*PROCUREMENT OFFICER:

Lola Tiamiyu LTiamiyu@marylandtaxes.gov

*The Procurement Officer is the sole point of contact for this RFI, all communications must come through Ms. Tiamiyu at the email address above.

SECTION 1 – BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

The Comptroller of Maryland (COM) requires a high level of customer service support, continuous communication (verbal, electronic and written) and the ability to respond to both general and specific inquiries pertaining to critical and emergent needs. The main purpose of the upcoming (yet-to-be-released) request for proposal (RFP) will be to acquire third-party/external support for the Comptroller of Maryland (COM) in the assistance of taxpayers by way of answering and resolving telephone inquiries at a beginning level, which come into the Individual Call Center (ICC) of the Taxpayer Service Division (TSD) regarding personal income tax inquiries.

The purpose of this RFI is to identify those Contractors that are interested in participating and possess the qualifications and services to meet the project objectives in Section 2 of this RFI. Please respond via email to Lola Tiamiyu (see email address on cover page) by the Due Date. Responses are limited to twelve (12) pages total.

Note: Please do not respond to this RFI with a written response to the requirements in Section 3. In addition, this RFI does not constitute a commitment to make an award to any respondent to the RFI or pay any costs incurred by any Contractor.

SECTION 2 – STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

Through this RFI, the Comptroller of Maryland (COM) seeks to:

Assess vendor capabilities for providing secure, scalable customer support for taxpayer inquiries.

- Identify best practices for training, staffing, and compliance management.

- Evaluate cost models and implementation timelines for potential solutions.

Successful contractor will be tasked with delivering services such as:

- Inbound and outbound taxpayer assistance via phone and email.

- Case management and issue resolution tracking.

- Workforce management and quality assurance.

- Compliance with federal and state data protection standards (e.g., IRS Pub. 1075, NIST 800-53).

- Multilingual and accessible taxpayer support.

SECTION 3 – CONTRACTOR/VENDOR QUESTIONS

Contractors shall submit written responses to the following questions (total page limit: 12 pages):

1) Describe your experience providing call center services for government agencies, tax authorities, tax processors or other organizations handling sensitive financial data. Include examples and contract sizes.

2) Outline your process for recruiting, training, and managing agents who handle taxpayer inquiries, including your approach to ensuring confidentiality, accuracy, and professionalism.

3) Explain how your staff comply with IRS Publication 1075, NIST 800-53, and other federal/state IT security standards for protecting taxpayer data and PII.

4) Explain how you handle seasonal spikes in call volume, including your staffing strategies, forecasting, and use of technology to maintain service levels.

5) Provide your standard Service Level Agreements (SLAs) — such as average speed of answer, call abandonment rate, and first call resolution — and how performance is measured and reported.

6) Present pricing models you have worked with in the past such as per call, per minute, per hour, per agent, or other models.

7) Would your company be able to work under a pricing structure where your Call Center Representatives are paid by the hour? Yes or no, only.

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