S000000295 Call Center Software and Services Q&A Final.pdf

Question Number Question Subject Question Text Answer

1.00 Section 1.2 - Objective &

Goals

Please confirm The Division is only looking for a software solution and does not require two (2) full-time staff members to administer the platform under the new contract.

Yes, confirmed.

2.00 Section 1.6 - Solicitation

Schedule - Table A

Will the State please extend the proposal due date by a couple of weeks, to

March 8, 2024?

The State will extend the due date to March 1, 2024. Please see revised RFP.

3.00 Section 1.6 - Solicitation

Schedule - Table A

Solicitation schedule Would the State consider allowing more time between the time the answers to questions are posted and when proposals are due?

The answers to questions could not only affect the design, but potentially whether or not the vendor will respond to the RFP.

The State will extend the due date to March 1, 2024. Please see revised RFP.

4.00

Section 1.6 - Solicitation

Schedule - Discussions

Kickoff Meeting

Will discussions be held individually with vendors and, if so, will time for discovery be accommodated?

Will product demonstrations take place during the Discussions meetings?

Discussions meetings will be held via Microsoft Teams. Contractors may be asked to demonstrate functionality during the interview and Discussions phase. The Contractor may ask additional questions of the agency during the Discussions Phase, but full discovery generally does not take place prior to contract award.

5.00 Section 1.8.3.b - Response

Documents

Without a signed NDA, we are unable to attach our VPAT to our submission;

however, we can send a link containing access to our Trust & Security site which contains our VPAT to the TSS OSP DWS-designated person. Please advise is this is acceptable and the name and email address of the person to whom the email should be sent.

VPAT is not required at time of submission, but must be provided prior to contract award. The

State cannot commit to signing an NDA for a VPAT at this time. Should the State decline to sign an NDA, failure to provide the VPAT may cause the Contractor's proposal to be rejected.

6.00 Section 2.1 - Background

and Current Environment

In Section 2.1 of the RFP, we seek some clarification regarding the scope of services included in this solicitation to ensure we align our proposal accordingly.

Could you kindly provide us with a more detailed understanding of the procurement's intent regarding the provision of services? Specifically, we are interested in knowing whether the RFP is primarily seeking Software as a

Service (SaaS) solutions with administrative services or if it also encompasses a staffing solution. If the latter is the case, we would appreciate further clarification on whether the selected vendor is expected to provide live agents and oversee day-to-day call center operations, including but not limited to inbound/outbound call handling, email, and text/SMS interactions with customers.

The State is seeking the SaaS solution and the speicfied services for implmenting and maintaining that system.The State is not seeking a staffing solution. The call center will be staffed by representatives employed by the agency.

7.00 Section 2.1 - Background

and Current Environment

In Section 2.1 BACKGROUND AND CURRENT ENVIRONMENT, the RFP provides the following:

DWS currently contracts with Maximus to provide a third-party Genesys web-based call center software. The system also utilizes Jabber to allow the system to process calls via the computer without the use of phone lines or

Voice over IP (VOIP).

Is the intent of this RFP for the vendor to provide a similar system (Ex:

Jabber)? Or, will a cloud-based contact center solution that includes VOIP be accepted as a viable solution for this RFP?

Please see Section 2.4.C. of the RFP.

8.00 Section 2.2 - Objectives

and Goals

Will the contractor be permitted to establish a software company or collaborate with an existing software provider to assist in managing the project?

The State is seeking a softare solution as specified in the RFP. Prospective Contractor's submitting a proposal must meet the minimum experience requirements set forth in Section 2.3 of the RFP. Two or more contractors may partner in a Prime/Sub Contractor relationship to meet ther requirements of the RFP. See Section 4.1.B. of the RFP.

9.00 Section 2.2 - Objectives

and Goals

If a completely new system is required, will the contractor be responsible for covering the entire cost or will there be a percentage to be paid out?

All costs associated with meeting the requirements set forth in the RFP must be included on the

Official Bid Price Sheet.

10.00 Section 2.2 - Objectives

and Goals

Please confirm whether the division requires 125 named agents, or 125 concurrent agents.

The State requires 125 unique named users and the ability for them to work concurrently in the system.

11.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Is there a specific software company preference or will the contractor be given the opportunity to present their findings for consideration in the bid selection process? It is important to clarify whether the expectation is to engage a large, established software company or if other options will be considered.

DWS does not have a preference.

12.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Can the Division confirm if there are any integration requirements with existing systems, and if said systems offer open APIs?

There are no integration requirements.

13.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Are there any external systems that the contact center needs to integrate to?

If yes, please provide the solution, and if it has open APIs to use for that integration?

No.

14.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Given the Division's use of Microsoft Teams, is there a desire for the proposed solution to interface with Microsft Teams? If the desire is to integrate with Microsft Teams, can the Division confirm that the contractor's solution shall be a certified solution for Microsoft Teams at the time of submission - listed in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-contact-center?tabs=connect

No.

15.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Can the Division confirm that redundancy and/or geo-redundancy is a requirement?

See Section 2.18 of the RFP.

16.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Is the request for a voice-only solution or does the Division require that the contact center solution have the ability to provide digital channels such as webchat, SMS, e-mail, etc.?

Voice Only.

17.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Is this a voice only contact center, or are you using any other channels besides voice such as SMS, Web chat, email, social media?

Voice Only.

18.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Is there a need for Screen Pop - to display callers data to agents? Does the current system support Screen pop?

No.

19.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Does the Division require that the contact center solution have the capability to offer next-gen generative AI components?

No.

20.00 Section 2.4 - General

Requirements

Does the Division require that the contact center solution offers virtual agent capabilities (i.e. Chatbots, Voice bots)?

No.

21.00 Section 2.4.G - General

Requirements

When asking for transcription of calls, is this for live calls or for recorded calls?

Recorded.

22.00 Section 2.4.I - General

Requirements

When stating "messaging provided by DWS", are you stating that the recorded messages or just the text expected to be played?

DWS will provide the text/script for the Contractor to record and add to the system.Scripts must be recorded by a person, and not be computer generated. See Revised RFP.

S000000295 Call Center Software and Services Questions

23.00 Section 2.4.I - General

Requirements

Please explain this requirement further: 2.4.I - The system must record and house messaging provided by DWS as well as provide the Spanish translation for the messages

Are you asking for call transcriptions - English speakers to be translated to

Spanish? And Spanish speakers to be translated to English?

DWS's hold messaging and menus are currently translated by the current vendor and recorded on behalf of DWS with DWS approval.

24.00 Section 2.5 - IVR

Requirements

In the attachment, it shows what appears to be transfers to phone numbers.

Will these be external groups, or will they be moving to the proposed solution?

Both, internal and external to the system.

25.00 Section 2.5 - IVR

Requirements

Does the Division require that the IVR be DTMF prompt driven or is spoken options (speech recognition) also a requirement?

IVR is what is required.

26.00 Section 2.5 - IVR

Requirements Do you have any automated workflows for self-help? No, just hold messaging that provides additional information based on call queue.

27.00 Section 2.5 - IVR

Requirements

Does the IVR software or Call Center software will be integrated with DWS web service or DWS system for lookup?

No.

28.00 Section 2.5.A - IVR

Requirements

Please confirm that the State requires just one call flow (Phone System

Workflow) to be implemented.

DWS will only need 1 Workflow. Please refer to Attachment A: Phone System Workflow .

29.00 Section 2.5.C - IVR

Requirements

Please clarify what is meant by "run more than one IVR at a time". How many IVRs does the State have that need to be implemented?

DWS will need 4 IVRs. Please refer to Attachment A: Phone System Workflow .

30.00 Section 2.5.D - IVR

Requirements

Regarding "shall assist DWS with adding new IVRs as needed", is the expectation that the professional services to add IVR trees be included in this pricing or would DWS accept a discovery session to determine level of effort and pricing to follow?

DWS should be able to manage their own IVRs with assistance from the contractor on an as needed basis.

31.00 Section 2.7.B - Call

Recording Requirements

Can DWS provide the average call duration for these 30,000 calls to better estimate storage requirements?

Average call length for the month of Janaury was 12 minutes.

32.00 Section 2.7.B - Call

Recording Requirements

In 2.7.B The system must have the capacity to store up to 30,000 calls per month.

We assume that this gives us some indication to number of incoming/outgoing calls that you expect with room for growth.

What would your best guess be of how many will be:

- incoming

- outgoing; and

- average call duration

Over 90% incoming, average handle time in 12 minutes. Our system currently records the hold time as well, which is not needed.

33.00 Section 2.8 - Training

Requirements Do you require that training to be on-site or can we provide it remotely? Remotely is fine.

34.00 Section 2.8.E - Training

Requirements

Is it expected that the contractor will provided training throughout the contract at will? Will DHS accept the train the trainer model for future trainings?

Train the trainer is acceptable, but the contractor would be required to develop and provide the training materials for the state trainers.

35.00 Section 2.10.D - Reporting

and Audit Functionality If required, how many licenses will be required? 125 plus the option for additional licenses in the future if needed.

36.00 Section 2.10.E - Reporting

and Audit Functionality

2.10.E - Audit Functionality - All fields inquired and/or modified. Please explain further. Is there a 3rd party system that contains the data that is being inquired upon or modified? If so, what is that system. Perhaps provide a use-case/example.

If a file is viewed or modified by an employee, the State wants to know which specific user viewed the record and/or made the modification. A use case example could involve an employee inappropriately viewing or altering records of friends or family members and disclosing information they should not have access to or altering information to achieve a favorable outcome for friends/family.

37.00 Section 2.11.C - Hosting

Is FedRamp 100% mandatory or not really? We generally find that most agencies have certain security check boxes/requirements which can be completed outside of the FedRamp full certification.

FedRamp is required. See Section 2.11.C of the RFP.

38.00 Section 2.13 - System

Access

Is there a desire to integrate with a single sign on (SSO) system to allow login using Division email addresses? If so, what SSO solution is currently in use?

Single Sign On is not contemplated in this RFP.

39.00 Section 2.13.A - System

Access

Regarding the reference to automated workflows for functions such as referrals, applications, etc., is the intention for the Call Center Software to connect to ARKNET or other systems to enable integrated workflow between systems? If not, is there any further explanation that can be provided about what the intended functionality is for the automated workflows within the Call

Center Software?

No.There is no expectation for an Automated Workflow scenario (other than the 1 workflow necessary to route the initial call to the appropriate IVR (4) as stated in the responses to

Questions 28 and 29).

40.00 Section 2.15.E -

Maintenance & Support

Please specify the days/hours that the contractor has to provide user and technical support. Please also identify the holidays when contractor support is required.

State employee schedule available on the Arkansas Secretary of State website

(https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/news/calendar/), as it updates each year. Hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM CST.

41.00 Section 2.17 - Data

Conversion

As the data being collected is sensitive PCI/PII data, does this data need to be scrubbed from the call recording?

No.

42.00 Section 2.17.A & B - Data

Conversion

The data being included appears to be related to a CRM, specifically #B.3 -

#B.6. Does DWS have a CRM that contractor will be replacing?

No.

43.00 Section 2.17.B - Data

Conversion

Section 2.17.B In regards to the current data being collected; What is the system or repository for this data? Is it a customer relationship management system, or some other database? Is your intention that the new system would have an integration with that solution or database to see and/or update this information? Please provide more detail around this requirement.

The data is currently housed in the Genesys Cloud Database. It is the State's intention for the information currently housed in this system to be converted to the successful Contractor's proposed solution and accessible through that system.

44.00

Section 3.5.C - Explanation of the Sub-Sections of the

Technical Proposal - Risk

Please clarify what is meant by Documented Performance?.

An example of documented performance could be "The Contractor has implemented a certain strategy on the last four projects and client complaints and issues have decreased by 30%. Client satisfaction on the mitigation strategy is 10/10."