Hotline_Questions_and_Responses.pdf

Questions 42, 43, and 62 will be addressed as soon as possible.

Hotline Questions and Responses

February 16, 2018

Key: Question (Q) Government Response (R)

Q1: Is there a Prime? If so, who and what is the contract number?

R1: The incumbent is Navex Global under SECHQ117P0022.

Q2: If there is a prime, what was length/value of the previous contract?

R2: The current contract is a 1 year contract valued at $9,500.

Q3: Is this an SCA contract?

R3: No.

Q4: How many FTEs were on the previous contract?

R4: This information is not readily available. The contract is a firm-fixed priced contract for Hotline Services (24/7 telephonic and web-based service). The Contractor is in control of providing an uninterrupted solution.

Q5: Is the work on-site or off-site? If off-site, is there a mile radius from gov’t client?

R5: All work shall be performed and within the CONUS. In accordance with (IAW) the Statement of Work (SOW), Section C-5. Equipment and Facilities, “The Contractor will provide all facilities and workspace for operation of the Hotline”. IAW SOW, Section C-2.3, The Contractor shall maintain a fully operational facility… during the entire period of performance”.

Q6: Is there particular “hotline” software the gov’t requires the contractor to use?

R6: No.

Q7: Is there GFE?

R7: No.

Q8: Should calls be recorded during the session for accuracy?

R8: Recording is not required, but quality assurance is described in SOW C-6.2

Q9: Is verbatim transcription support desired or is it required for the future?

R9: Transcription is not required.

Q10: Does the 508 requirement mean that the awardee’s website must conform to 508 Compliance?

R10: Yes.

Q11: Does the Zixmail requirement mean that the awardee will be required to incorporate Zixmail as a part of the company’s website?

R11: No.

Q12: Does the government have a level of effort in mind for the number of resources supporting this effort?

R12: IAW SOW, Section H-3 Type of Contract, “This is a firm-fixed-price type Purchase Order”.

Therefore it will not be based on a level of effort.

Q13: Instructions for Technical Proposal are not given. Will the government provide revised instructions?

R13: A Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Commercial Items was issued in accordance with FAR Parts 12 and 13. No further instructions will be provided.

Q14: Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? (like, from India or Canada)

R14: No. The RFQ has been amended to clarify the requirement for U.S. vendors operating within the CONUS.

Q15: Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

R15: In accordance with Attachment 1-Statement of Work (SOW), Section C-2.2, “The Contractor shall participate in on-site review meetings or conference calls with SEC staff as requested during the period of performance.”

Q16: Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA (like, from India or Canada)

R16: No. The RFQ has been amended to clarify the requirement for U.S. vendors operating within the CONUS.

Q17: Can we submit the proposals via email?

R17: IAW the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Commercial Items, Submission of Quote, “Interested parties are requested to submit one electronic copy of your firm’s quote…”

Q18: What are the average number of telephone calls per day, month, year?

R18: Unable to provide an average number of telephone calls. Total contacts from Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms) were 1,698.

Q19: What are the average number of emails received per day, month, year?

R19: Unable to provide an average number of emails per day. Total contacts from Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms) were 1,698.

Q20: Do you have any idea of the average length of complaint calls handled by the contractor?

R20: No. This information is not readily available.

Q21: How many users at the SEC must have access to the information portal when complaints must be posted?

R21: 3-5

Q23: Will the SEC require a full log of all calls\emails, including those not resulting in an actionable complaint?

R23: Gov’t requires a daily log of real time complaints and a monthly electronic format (PDF) report on all calls and web form submissions.

Q24: Will the SEC require that contractor staff be fluent in any languages other than English?

R24: No. IAW SOW, Section C-3 Contractor Personnel, “The Contractor shall ensure that all telephone operators, supervisors, managers, and quality assurance personnel speak, read, and write English fluently”.

Q25: Regarding the constitution of a four hour response: Does the Government consider returning a call left as a message within four hours compliant? (Ref: SOW, pg 1 of 31)

R25: Yes.

Q26: Will the Government furnish a toll-free number, or will furnishing a toll free number be the contractor’s responsibility? (Ref: SOW, pg 1 of 31)

R26: It is the contractor’s responsibility.

Q27: Although Offerors are required to have “verifiable experience in operating a 24/7 Hotline within the past 2 years (Jan 2016-2017), Can the Hotline be a 10 hr a day/5 days a week for almost three years?

(Attachment 2, Proposal Checklist, Page 1, Paragraph 1 “Requirements for Award Consideration”)

R27: No. IAW the Proposal Checklist, offeror must have verifiable experience in operating a 24/7 hotline within the past 2 years (Jan 2016 – Dec 2017)

Q28: Will the toll-free number change from the current number? If not, will the SEC or the current contractor be responsible for transferring the service to awarded contractor? (SOW, C- 2.1)

R28: Yes the toll-free number will change from the current number, as the contractor will be responsible for furnishing a toll-free number. See Q26.

Q29: Can we acquire our own toll-free number and the SEC will post it on their website? (SOW, C- 2.1)

R29: Yes. The Contractor is required to furnish a toll-free number and the number will be posted on the SEC’s website.

Q30: What is expected number of rings before a call is answered? (SOW, C-2.1)

R30: 3-5

Q31: How/where is the contractor supplied web form linked to the SEC website? (SOW, C-2.1)

R31: SEC will list a link to the page the contractor operates on the SEC’s website.

Q32: Can you provide the incident codes? (SOW, C-2.1)

R32: If used, the contractor develops incident codes that are approved by the SEC OIG

Q33: A response time for a call is specified. What is the response time for form submission? Is an computer auto-generated response sufficient? (SOW, C-2.2)

R33: The response times for calls and web submission are both 4 hours. A computer auto generated response to web forms is sufficient.

Q34: What are the other categories and response times. (SOW, C-2.2)

R33: There are no other categories.

Q35: Does the OIG expect one hour notification of receipt of urgent complaints 24x7 or during normal business hours? (SOW, C-2.2)

R35: The OIG expects one hour notification of receipt of urgent complaints 24/7.

Q36: In order to determine "qualified personnel in sufficient quantities", can the SEC provide call length (average, minimum, maximum), call peaks per hour in a 24 hours period per week, operator response time per web form (average, minimum, and maximum), and operator web form processing peaks in a 24 hour period per week? (SOW, C-3)

R:36 Unable to provide this specific information. Total contacts from Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms) were 1,698.

Q37: What are the maximum volume of web forms per 24 hour period in a typical week? (SOW, C- 3)

R37: Unable to provide this specific information. Total contacts from Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms) were 1,698.

Q38: How is the transfer of "open" or "in progress" calls and forms going to be performed? (SOW, C-3)

R.38: The awardee/contractor will only be responsible for calls or emails it receives through its toll-free number and/or web form. The incumbent will be responsible for submitting all data to the SEC, as required. Therefore, there will be no transference of information from the incumbent to the awardee/contractor.

Q39: Are maintenance periods permitted for upgrades and such? (SOW, C-3)

R39: The contractor is permitted to perform upgrades. However, there must be no interruption of Hotline services via toll-free number or web form.

Q40: Are there SEC requirements for content or duration of "ongoing training program"? (SOW, C-4.1)

R40: Awardee/Contractor must sufficiently train its staff on its systems operations. SEC will provide information on SEC-required training, including, but not limited to protecting SEC data and personally identifiable information.

Q41: Is the "initial training" repeated on an annual basis? (SOW, C-4.2)

R41: Yes.

Q42: Is compliance with NIST 800-171 Controlled Unclassified Information required? If so, how will compliance be validated? Will the compliance matrix in NIST 800-171 be used? (SOW, C-5)

R42: An answer will be provided as soon as possible, as one is unknown at this time.

Q43: Will the SEC provide a secure tunnel for the web form from the SEC hosted website to contractor facility (SOW, C-5)

R43: An answer will be provided as soon as possible, as one is unknown at this time.

Q44: What will be the volume in web for transactions? (SOW, C-5)

R44: Unable to provide this specific information. Total contacts from Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms) were 1,698.

Q45: What is the current network traffic usage per 24 hour period for web form submissions?

(SOW, C-5)

R45: Unable to provide this specific information. Total contacts from Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms) were 1,698.

Q46: Does the SEC have a mechanism to prevent bots from submitting web forms? (SOW, C-5)

R46: No

Q47: What is the average computer response to a user while completing a web form? (SOW, C-5)

R47: Unable to answer. Web form users should get an electronic acknowledgement and instructions on how to follow up on anonymous submissions.

Q48: Are any phone or fax numbers required in addition to the support of the single toll free number? (SOW, C-5)

R48: No.

Q49: Can you provide the reference used for “industry accepted customer service standards:?

(SOW, C-6.2)

R49: There is no reference. Offerors are encouraged to provide their standards and/or methodology through their proposal.

Q50: Transfer of toll free phone numbers and internet DNS changes can take several days. In addition, SEC specific training of operators and form configurations could take several days. Can award date be confirmed to be no later than June 15th or operational call center schedule be changed to July 15th? (SOW, F-3)

R50: The Government anticipates providing a 30 day period, in order to ramp up, prior to the contract start date. Contractors are encouraged to provide a Work Breakdown Structure showing how it will achieve “ramping up” within a 30 day period upon contract award.

Q51: Is a clearance background investigation required for “Public Trust”? If so, can interim access be given until the clearance is processed? (SOW, H-6)

R51: No clearance background investigation is required. IAW SOW, C-2.3 The Contractor shall maintain a fully operational facility with staff who have executed SEC non-disclosure agreements if they are or will be handling SEC OIG complaints.

Q52: What is required for "Public Trust" access on this contract? (SOW, H-6)

R52: Each employee must complete an NDA, as required by C-2.3 and the Proposal Checklist.

Q53: Can the verifiable experience be increased to 5 years to be consistent with other federal contracts? (Proposal checklist, table)

R53: No. IAW Proposal Checklist, recent experience is defined as verifiable experience operating a 24/7 Hotline within the past 2 years (Jan 2016 - Dec 2017).

Q54: What is the duration of the “post-contract” record retention and caller follow-up agreement?

(Proposal checklist, Table)

R54: 60 days

Q55: Will the new contract have access to the "post-contract" record retention and caller follow-up agreements of the incumbent? If so, how will they be transferred? (Proposal Checklist, table)

R55: No. The awardee/contractor will only be responsible for calls or emails it receives through its toll-free number and/or web form. The incumbent will be responsible for submitting all data to the SEC, as required. Therefore, there will be no transference of information from the incumbent to the awardee/contractor.

Q56: Other than the “form”, what is expected on the website? (Proposal checklist, table)

R56: Text information and form initiation button.

Q57: Is there an estimated value for this contract?

R57: No. The Independent Government Cost Estimate is nonpublic information.

Q58: The RFQ states that “Technical proposals shall be limited to 15 pages.” Does the 15 pages include a table of contents and graphics and tables embedded within the body of the technical proposal? (RFQ)

R58: The RFQ has been amended. The 15 page technical quote limitation does not include a cover page, table of contents, or attachments. Technical quotes shall be limited to 15 pages.

Attachments (which could include graphics and tables) should be presented in attachments, which shall be limited to 5 pages.

Q59: Can SEC OIG provide statistical data focusing on Hotline complaints in order to better understand the nature of complaints and volumes? Specifically (1) Count of calls based on incident codes; (2) Volume of calls; and (3) Average call duration. (SOW, C-2.2)

R59: (1) No. This information is not readily available. (2) Total contacts from Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms): 1698. (3) No. This information is not readily available.

Q60: How many call operators currently support the 24/7, 365 SEC Hotline? (SOW, C-2.1)

R60: This information is not readily available. In 2017, approximately 1700 calls and web-forms were received by the incumbent.

Q61: Can SEC OIG elaborate on the training requirements expected in the training program for resources supporting the Hotline? (SOW, C-4.2)

R61: Awardee/Contractor must demonstrate their system and procedures for handling SEC OIG hotline contacts and communication, both standard and urgent.

Q62: Are there specific laws or regulations governing the environment in which complaint data is stored? (SOW, H-10)

R62: An answer will be provided as soon as possible, as one is unknown at this time.

Q63: Is Zixmail to be used for all email correspondence between the contractor and SEC OIG or is the use of Zixmail specific to the passing of complaint data? Can other encryption methods of passing data between the contract and government be leveraged? (Proposal checklist, page 1)

R63: Zixmail

Q64: How is the data currently transferred to SEC OIG and what is the secure method? Does the Government have a preferred method of secure transfer? (SOW, C-2.2, Paragraph 2)

R64: Zixmail is specified as the secure and only acceptable transfer method in the SOW.

Q65: Can the facilities be located in various CONUS locations? Are there any security requirements for the Facility? (SOW, C-3)

R65: Contractor facilities can be located anywhere within CONUS. There are no security requirements for the facility.

Q66: Can you please provide a link to the current web-site? What type of User Interface is OIG looking for? (SOW, C-2)

R66: The current website is https://www.sec.gov/oig. OIG is looking for form based user interface.

Q67: What is the historic and expected contact volume for the hotline by channel?

R67: Cannot anticipate expected volume. Total contacts Jan 2017 – Dec 2017 (calls + web forms): 1698

Q68: What is the historic or expected contact arrival pattern at 30-minute interval for the entire hours of operation?

R68: This information is unknown.

Q69: What is the historic and expected Average Handle Time for a customer services agent?

R69: This information is unknown.

Q70: Would the government accept a solution from a large business subcontracted to a small business?

R70: No. IAW Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Commercial items, “The contemplated contract will be a competitive set-aside for small business concerns”.

Q71: Would a cloud-based solution be acceptable?

R71: No.

Q72: Is the current web-based complaint system hosted at the SEC?

R72: No. The web-based complaint system is hosted by the incumbent.

Q73: Could the government provide the following metrics that would help us estimate the effort involved:

https://www.sec.gov/oig

(1) Average and peak number of complaints (for both telephone calls and web-based) received in the last 3 years

(2) Average number of complaints received that are categorized as urgent

(3) How many telephone lines does the Government maintain to receive complaints today?

(4) How often has the Government requested changes to the web-based system, e.g., x times in a quarter, year, etc.?

73:

(1) Unable to provide average and peak number of complaints. Total contacts Jan 2017-Dec 2017(calls + web forms) were 1,698;

(2) The average number of urgent calls is unknown.

(3) One (1) telephone line is used to receive complaints today.

(4) The Government has requested one (1) change in the past 5 years.