USG Responses to Industry Question for Unified Communications Software Platform Licensing- UC_FY26-01.pdf

Unified Communications Software Platform Licensing, UC_FY26-01 27 APR 2026

Industry Question USG Response

(U) Does the Government anticipate a single vendor providing the complete UC solution, or will teaming arrangements under Section 8.2.2.9 be evaluated equally with single-vendor offerings?

(U) If teaming arrangements are the only way the OEM is providing their software licensing and supporting services; or if there are substantial value-added for the Government with vendors’ teaming arrangements, subject to proper justification, teaming arrangements will be evaluated equally with single-vendor offerings.

(U) Will the Government evaluate the integration approach and teaming structure as part of the white paper assessment, or only the delivered capability?

(U) Per the White Paper Evaluation Criteria as stated in the Call for Solutions, the Government will evaluate the degree to which the delivered capability meets the performance objectives and requested capabilities in the SOO, includes solution architecture, integration approach, and deployment readiness. Subject to proper justification, teaming arrangements will be evaluated equally with single-vendor offerings.

(U) For requirements 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, and 4.6 (radio integration, VoIP controller interop, talk groups, bidirectional voice), does the Government expect the UC platform vendor to provide the physical radio interface hardware, or is integration with existing/third-party radio interface devices acceptable?

(U) Integration with existing/third-party radio interface devices is acceptable. It is not expected for the UC vendor to provide physical radio hardware.

(U) What GFE/GFI radio integration infrastructure, if any, will be provided at deployment sites?

(U)There should not be an assumption that a specific GFE/GFI radio infrastructure will be provided. Radios vary between Units, but here's a list as example, not limited to:

Leader Radio (Thales) PRC-148 ManPack (L3Harrris) PRC-158 HF Radio (L3Harris) PRC-160 ManPack (Collins) PRC-162 Leader Radio (L3Harris) PRC-163

(TW-875) PRC-166

(TW-950) PRC-168

(SC-4400E) PRC-169v1 (SC-4200EP) PRC-169v2 Single Channel (Thales) PRC-170

Unified Communications Software Platform Licensing, UC_FY26-01 27 APR 2026

Single Channel (L3Harris) PRC-171

(U) Does the Government anticipate the UC platform operating across multiple classification levels (e.g., Unclassified, Secret, TS/SCI), and if so, is cross-domain capability expected within the scope of this solicitation or addressed separately?

(U) Yes, the Government anticipates the UC platform to operate across multiple classification levels (e.g.: IL-2 to IL-6), and cross-domain capability is expected within the scope of this solicitation.

(U) For SOO 5.11 (Mission Partner interoperability), does the Government envision federation/peering with coalition UC platforms, or data exchange across security domains?

(U)IAW SOO 5.11, must support the ability to interoperate with DoW, NATO and Mission Partners.

(U) What is the Government's operational definition of 'disconnected, degraded, and intermittent' (DDIL) for purposes of this solicitation? Specifically, should offerors assume prolonged disconnection (hours/days) or brief intermittent connectivity?

(U) 'Disconnected, degraded, and intermittent' (DDIL) for purposes of this solicitation refers to a challenging operating environment characterized by unreliable, unpredictable, or completely unavailable network connectivity, particularly at the tactical edge. The assumption should be both for a prolonged and brief intermittent connectivity.

(U) For SOO 4.14 (serverless client operations), what minimum capability set does the Government expect when the client is fully disconnected from the server?

(U) IAW SOO 4.14, a serverless client without connectivity to a server shall be capable of performing voice multicast or unicast voice communication.

(U) What evaluation criteria and weighting will be applied to white paper submissions?

(U) The Call for Solutions did provide White Paper Full Evaluation Criteria. All criteria will be weighted equally.

(U) Given the June 1, 2026, first delivery date, does the Government expect a fully operational deployment or an initial operating capability / pilot at select sites?

(U)A mature fully operational solution would be required.

(U) Just want to confirm that we are to email you our CUI white paper directly. Thank you.

(U) If the vendor is unable to encrypt CUI documents for submitting the proposal to the USG, please reach out to the POC in Sam.gov to receive a DoD Safe “Drop Request.”