Vendor Question and Department Answer FINAL 8.6.2026~1.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 53 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 27-448DOIT-ADMIN-B-53745
- Issued by
- Illinois
About this file
Summary
This file is a Question and Answer document issued by the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) regarding a Request for Proposal (RFP) for JPMC Telecom Voice Services – Modern Services (Bid #27-448DOIT-ADMIN-B-51784). The solicitation seeks to establish a statewide master contract for modern, IP-based telephony services to replace legacy voice systems across all 102 Illinois counties. The RFP encompasses four primary service categories: POTS-like services, SIP services, hosted voice/cloud PBX, outbound long distance, inbound toll-free services, dedicated voice access, microwave connectivity, and professional services support. A pre-bid conference was held on March 26, 2026, with subsequent question submission deadlines and agency response dates throughout the bidding period. The final proposal due date was extended to August 17, 2026, at 10:00 AM CST. The awarded vendor will be a single, responsive and responsible offeror whose proposal best meets specified evaluation criteria, with no multi-award or category-specific awards permitted. The contract will transition all state agencies from legacy telephony infrastructure to a modern IP-based environment on a functional 1-for-1 basis, with migrations expected to be completed within six months of agency order requests.
Pricing must be submitted by individual county using the Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet (Attachment D), with vendors required to price all mandatory (green-highlighted) line items across ten pricing tabs to be considered responsive. Optional services may be included but cannot exceed 20 percent of the evaluated category total. All pricing must include monthly recurring charges (MRC), non-recurring charges (NRC), and usage-based fees where applicable, with FUSF rates calculated using second quarter 2026 figures. The state will evaluate proposals using a weighted scoring methodology based on required pricing elements, technical qualifications, and Commitment to Diversity criteria (worth 200 points). No set-asides, small business provisions, or BEP/VBP participation goals apply to this procurement. The incumbent legacy voice services contract (P-89953) runs through December 11, 2028, but the state does not intend to transfer any legacy services to the new modern services contract. The solicitation includes detailed technical specifications for SIP interoperability standards (RFC 3261 and related RFCs), Quality of Service monitoring requirements, failover capabilities, and professional services staffing expectations, with comprehensive attachments providing county-level service inventories, pricing templates, and coordination information for ISP Radio-to-Ethernet design locations.
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Worksheet Information
STATE OF ILLINOIS
Attachment E: TOPS RFP - CAT FOUR - Question and Answer Template Worksheet Information
| Tabs in this Worksheet | |
| Worksheet Information | This tab includes the information about the contents of this worksheet. |
| Questions and Answers | Please use this tab in this format to submit questions on the solicitation. The Department will post answers in the same format and an Addendum on the Bulletin. |
| Columns in the Questions and Answers Tab | |
| Question ID | DoIT assigned # to track Questions and Answers. |
| RFP or Attachment Section | The DoIT RFP Section Number, such as Section 1 A.7., or please name a specific Attachment and the Section Number of the Attachment. |
| Page Number | This is the page number of the RFP or Attachment. |
| Topic | This is a general topic of the question. |
| Specific Questions/Inquiry | Please enter your question here. |
| Department Answers | DoIT will respond in this section three times on the dates identified in Section 1 A.6. of the RFP via an Addendum to the solicitation on the Bulletin. |
DCFS PO19-164 CCWIS Attachment U Questions and Answers Page &P of &N
Questions and Answers
STATE OF ILLINOIS
Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology JPMC Telecom Voices Services - Modern Services BidBuy Bid# 27-448DOIT-ADMIN-B-51784 Vendor Question & Department Response
| ID | RFP or Attachment Section Number | Date | Topic | Specific Question/Inquiry | Department Answer | |
| QaA.001 | Pre-Bid Conference | 3/26/26 | Pricing | Can a bidder submit a bid for select categories but not all categories? | ||
| If so, how would the pricing evaluation work? | RFP Section D.6 |
“Offeror must price products and/or services by County using the Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County (Attachment D). The Offeror is required to submit a Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County (Attachment D) for each individual County for all line items contained within Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County (Attachment D) without deviation or may be found as non-responsive.
QaA.002 Section D.6/ Section E.7 3/31/26 Pricing 1.Asking for additional clarification based on the T-Mobile question/answer submitted on the 26th. If a bidder can only offer solutions in 2 of the State’s 4 categories, does that mean that their submission would be considered non-compliant and eliminated from consideration of award?
2.Do bidders have to respond to all 4 categories for their proposals to be compliant and eligible for evaluation and award? RFP Section D.6 The Offeror is required to submit a Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County (Attachment D) for each individual County for all line items contained within Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County (Attachment D) without deviation or may be found as non-responsive. Please note, there are 10 tabs of mandatory pricing within Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County (Attachment D) that must be priced to be considered for award.
Section E.7 If the State issues an award, the award will be made to the responsive and responsible offeror whose offer best meets the specified criteria unless otherwise permitted by the Illinois Procurement Code and Illinois Administrative Code. (The Offeror will be responsible for fulfilling all scope requirements within the RFP without deviation or may be found as nonresponsive.)
| QaA.003 | Section C.2 | 3/31/26 | Proposal Due Date | Given the large scope of this RFP, we respectfully request a 30 day extension for this RFP due date. | Per Vendor request, the Agency is extending the Proposal Due Date to Friday, May 29, 2026, 1:00PM (CST). See updated Section A.3 Schedule. |
| QaA.004 | BidBuy Error | 3/31/26 | Cancellation Error | Please note, 26-448DOIT-TELEC-B-49386 was cancelled in BidBuy in error and is not technically cancelled. 27-448DOIT-ADMIN-B-51784 will replace 26-448DOIT-TELEC-B-49386 in all respects due to the BidBuy error. All Attachments Reference Number have been changed to 27-448DOIT-ADMIN-B-51784 everything other than Agency Responses on Vendor Questions & Answer 3/31/2026 remains the same. | |
| QaA.005 | Contract Scope | 4/1/26 | Scope | Are you trying to move to a newer environment or simply provide maintenance / MACD functionality of legacy (non-IP) equipment (AA) | DOIT is transitioning fully into a modern telephony environment. Vendors should base their proposals on supporting and delivering services within an IP based, modern architecture. This contract does not expand or maintain legacy systems. |
Legacy services may remain in place during transition, but the awarded vendor will only be responsible for providing the modern replacement services. All migrations will be a functional 1 for 1 transition into the modern environment.
| QaA.006 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing - the spreadsheet appears to be asking for Dedicated PRIs between the customer and a long-distance carrier's switch exclusively for long distance and TF voice traffic. This service has generally been end-of-sale by all U.S. based telecom carriers. Is the State of IL asking for that service? or are you requesting internet service to put SIP service on? If you are requesting internet service, please specify bandwidth by location. | Correct. As explained in both Attachment D and Pre-Submission Conference, SOI has many sites and services that are still legacy. The expectation as the winner of this contract will be able to provide a modern solution to those services. As you asked, that CAN be SIP. This is not a contract for internet service. SIP does require connectivity, and is answered in a later question regarding speeds as discussed in QaA.27. This is a part of the service and NOT a separate internet product, however when it comes to pricing and sales of the product, they are broken out into separate lines items. |
| QaA.007 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing tab are you referring to dedicated access circuits the equivalent of a trunk group. Dedicated Access is being discontinued by all carriers. Are you wanting a native PRI handoff with SIP coming into the facility over a data circuit via an integrated access device? (IP to TDM conversion). | Dedicated access SIP is a separate circuit from Data ICN net. And is not a managed solution unless the site chooses hosted Voice which falls under it’s own tab AND would require the site to comply with modern cable requirements. Of which, this falls outside scope of contract and only request to vendor is cost of hosted voice service, not getting the service to the customer. In some instances, there will still need to be the native PRI handoff in instances where SIP services are required. This will be instances for Cooper-to-Fiber handoffs are needed and will be separate from the data circuits to location. |
| QaA.008 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing tab: What unit of cost are you asking for B18, 23,29 because your description is dollars per line in B17,22,28 says per line is equivalent to a pri? | Instructions 2. Vendor is to provide the monthly recurring charges associated with the circuit types indicated in the MRC column. 3. Include any Non-Recurring Charges that are associated with accessing these services in the NRC column. Dedicated Voice Access Pricing Tab does not make reference to PRI. |
| QaA.009 | Attachment C | 4/6/26 | Compliance Lines | Can the State please clarify which circuits on Attachment C are for compliance lines (fire alarms, elevators, or other alarms)? | Compliance Lines are listed in Column B as Business Lines. Offeror can use the filter drop down in Column B and deselect all but Business Lines and it will provide a list of Compliance Lines. |
| QaA.010 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Internet Connectivity | Internet connectivity is required for Modern POTS and Hosted Voice, but there is no line item for internet bandwidth on those tabs in Attachment D. Which locations listed in Attachment C currently have internet? | internet bandwidth is covered under a separate contract as it is managed by the state ICN network and resulting contract for service. If a modern POTS is required that does not connect to a 4G/5G backbone, the vendor will be working with the state to connect the POTS to the pre-existing infrastructure. All locations have internet connectivity. Again, as this is a 1 for 1 contract, there will be given a grace period to convert or port service to the awarded vendor. |
| QaA.011 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | Only the SIP Services tab of Attachment D has a line item for internet bandwidth. For other services that require internet connectivity, are Purchasing Entities required to bring their own bandwidth? | For these specified SIP services, that is correct, there are a number of SIP circuits at 2 primary locations at this time, being the 2 data centers. For all other services that require internet connectivity, the purchasing entity will be required to bring their own bandwidth. The difficulty a vendor is going to experience in this is that SOI is modernizing services and currently operating in a hydrid environment. the purposes of this contract is to bring all services into modern and each vendor will have a different solution on how that will happen. the expectation is that the bid encapsulates how the vendor provides that solution. |
| QaA.012 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Outbound Long Distance Pricing | Instruction 8 on the Outbound Long Distance Pricing tab of Attachment D refers to Reference Table 1. Can the State direct us to that table? | Instruction 8 is an error and has been removed. |
| QaA.013 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Inbound Toll-Free Pricing | Instruction 9 on the Inbound Toll-Free Pricing tab of Attachment D refers to Reference Table 2. Can the State direct us to that table? | Instruction 9 is an error and has been removed. |
| QaA.014 | Attachment D | `4/6/2026 | Inbound Toll-Free Pricing | Can the State please what the Direct Trunk line item in Call-Routing features is? Particularly as it relates to bidders pricing Option 2. In the Call Routing Features section of the Inbound Toll-Free Pricing tab. | “Direct Trunk” in the Call Routing Features section refers to a toll‑free routing option where inbound 8XX traffic is delivered directly to a designated trunk group or termination path rather than through generalized switched routing. This feature historically applies to dedicated toll‑free trunks, but bidders should simply indicate whether they support this capability as an advanced routing feature and list any associated charges, if applicable |
| QaA.015 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Inbound Toll-Free Pricing | Can the State please what Split access flexible egress routing is? In the Call Redirection section of the Inbound Toll-Free Pricing tab. | “Split access flexible egress routing” is an advanced toll‑free call‑redirection capability that allows a single inbound 8XX number to be configured with split access (ingress) and flexible access (termination). This is a routing feature, not a transport circuit. In Attachment D, bidders should list any MRC/NRC/usage‑based charges associated with enabling this capability under the Inbound Toll‑Free Pricing → Advanced Features table (Call Redirection section). If the vendor does not charge separately for this capability, they should indicate $0 and mark the feature as supported |
| QaA.016 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Inbound Toll-Free Pricing | Can the State please what Select Again is? In the Call Redirection section of the Inbound Toll-Free Pricing tab. | “Select Again” is an advanced toll‑free call‑redirection feature that allows the routing system to re‑evaluate and retry alternate terminating routes when the initially selected termination point is busy, unavailable, or fails routing rules. if the first destination cannot accept the call, the carrier platform will “select again” and attempt the next available routing option (e.g., another trunk group, alternate location, or backup egress route) according to the State’s routing plan. This is a routing feature only, not a trunk or circuit. For pricing in the Inbound Toll‑Free Pricing → Call Redirection section, bidders should simply indicate whether they support this capability and list any MRC/NRC/usage fees if applicable. If there is no separate charge, bidders may enter $0 and mark the feature as supported. |
| QaA.017 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing | Instruction 4 on the Dedicated Voice Access Pricing tab of Attachment D refers to Reference Table 3. Can the State direct us to that table? | Instruction 4 is an error and has been removed. |
| QaA.018 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing tab: what does the State mean by "Circuit"? Are you looking to include access in this price? | Circuit as in Legacy and modern voice (PRI and SIP circuits) outbound and inbound toll free are in reference toll fee SIP circuits. Standard "inbound and outbound SIP" should reference a SIP circuit for VOIP service and stand alone SIP. Again, as directed for access circuits between IXC and state agencies. |
| QaA.019 | Support Model | 4/6/26 | Follow the Sun | Will the State accept commercial products that use a "follow the sun" support model? | “Follow the Sun” is a universal term in industry to annotate that it can be globally based, and acts as the “contact center” for trouble tickets. Additionally, when the Offeror is using "Follow the Sun" they are required to annotate the requirements with the vendor disclosing if they are using offshore services and where those services are hosted within tab Vendor Note. 30 ILCS 500/20‑15 – Specifications |
This section requires that specifications be written to “promote overall economy… and encourage competition” and allow the State to purchase commercial products using industry‑standard features, which includes global support structures. This is typically what allows acceptance of commercial software as-is, including its support model.
| QaA.020 | FUSF Rate | 4/6/26 | FUSF Rates | With respect to FUSF rate, can the State please identify which specific time period (quarter) should be utilized in the determination of such charges being added to the applicable pricing components. | For consistency and comparing Offers, Offerors are being directed to utilize FUSF 2026 2nd Quarter. |
| QaA.021 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | IP Based Pricing | Can bidders propose alternative pricing models for IP-based services that are not price sensitive to usage (per minute rates)? | Offerors are being directed to provide as requested. Offeror may place any alternative pricing under Vendor notes as an option. |
| QaA.022 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | For SIP services, what unit does the MRC represent? Per seat? Per session? Per address? | Please price based on concurrent call session. Any additional features (E911, failover, encryption, QoS monitoring, etc.) should be itemized within the SIP Services section as applicable, but the base SIP service MRC itself represents a per-session/concurrent call charge. |
| QaA.023 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Price By County | Are bidders expected to submit 102 versions (1 per county) of Attachment D if pricing is the same across all counties? | As discussed in the Pre-Bid Conference, No, if Counties have identical pricing throughout all (10) Pricing Tabs, the Counties can be listed on Instructions Tab under Column, Counties with Identical Pricing. Offeror must put Pricing by individual County within BidBuy under Items Tab for each County. |
| QaA.024 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Outbound Long Distance Pricing | How should bidders price services where minutes are bundled? For example - minutes of long-distance included. Should those line items be entered as N/A? Or as $0.00 with dependencies noted? | Offerors are being directed to provide as requested so that all vendors are graded equally. Should a vendor have the ability to bundle pricing, then those items should be listed in the “vendor notes” section within each correlating tab. |
| QaA.025 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | All Pricing Tabs | Can the State add a Vendor Notes section to all tabs of Attachment D? | Vendor Notes (Optional) have been added to all Pricing Tabs. Offeror is still required to provide Pricing as requested. Additional, an Assumptions Tab has been added to Attachment D. |
| QaA.026 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | SIP Services tab, Internet Bandwidth (line 26). What bandwidth should bidders assume for SIP services at each location? | Internet bandwidth should be split between 2 major locations. (springfield & chicago, or primary and alt data center for VOIP. And then the rest of the state for stand alone SIP) 5M and 24 channels per PRI replaced, and 250M and 5000 for VOIP circuits. |
| QaA.027 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | SIP Services tab, Internet Bandwidth (line 26). What bandwidth should bidders assume for SIP services at each location? | Internet bandwidth should be split between 2 major locations. (Springfield & Chicago, or primary and alt data center for VOIP. And then the rest of the state for stand alone SIP) 5M and 24 channels per PRI replaced, and 250M and 5000 channels for VOIP circuits. The Agency has added to mandatory pricing line items to the Attachment D, SIP Services Tab as follows: 1) Internet bandwidth - 5M @ 24 Channels - MRC and NRC; and 2) Internet bandwidth - 250M @ 5000 Channels - MRC and NRC |
| QaA.028 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | SIP Services tab, line 12. What does the State mean by "proactive issue resolution" - detecting issues before reporting? Or notifying customers proactively once detected? | Correct. Notify customer proactively once detected. This should come in the form of unplanned outage notifications |
| QaA.029 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | Does monitoring require continuous QoS measurement (latency, jitter, packet loss)? Automated ticket creation? | Yes. Expectation is QOS monitoring for SIP circuits. |
| QaA.030 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | Is monitoring expected at the network level? Or at the user level? | Network Level |
| QaA.031 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | If QoS monitoring is required, does the State expect vendors to deploy their own routers and monitoring platforms? | If the vendor is providing the SIP circuit or managed SIP service, then yes — they should provide the necessary edge equipment to measure and enforce QoS. |
| QaA.032 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | If a customer currently has internet, does the State still expect QoS guarantees for over-the-top services? | QoS guarantees are only required for vendor‑provided, vendor‑controlled SIP circuits |
| QaA.033 | Services | 4/6/26 | Fraud | Does the State expect the service provider to automatically suspend service when fraud is detected? | The State expects tiered, proactive containment, with configurable policies, and rapid notification—and targeted suspension (e.g., only international or premium routes) rather than full service shutdown. Full service suspension should require State approval except in extreme, pre‑defined scenarios where catastrophic fraud is incontrovertibly detected. |
| QaA.034 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | SIP Services | Should the traffic engineering ratio for SIP Services be 10:1 or 20:1? Does the State have a standard session-to-DID ratio they expect bidders to use (for example, industry standard is 2:1 for Contact Center, but 10:1 for Administrative Users) | 10:1 will suffice across the board. |
| QaA.035 | Services | 4/6/26 | Failover Capability | What does the State expect for failover capability at small sites with only a few phone numbers? Is geographic failover (routing to another county) acceptable instead of dual circuits? | Geographic failover is acceptable for sites with few numbers. |
| QaA.036 | Services | 4/6/26 | Failover Capability | How should failover be implemented? (i.e. via trunk groups, call-forwarding, mobility features)? | All three options should be available as the failover implementation will be location or service specific. |
| QaA.037 | Services | 4/6/26 | Failover Capability | Does the State expect dual circuits at each location or logical network-level failover? | Logical Network-Level Failover |
| QaA.038 | Services | 4/6/26 | Failover Capability | Where should failover assumptions be documented if the worksheet doesn't have a Vendor Notes section? | The Department has placed on Vendor Notes section on all Attachment D Pricing Tabs. Additionally, a new tab was installed labeled Assumptions. |
| QaA.039 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Hosted Voice | Contact Center capabilities appear on the Hosted Voice tab. Which of the listed features are mandatory (evaluated) relative to Hosted Voice only? | Only the core Hosted Voice (Cloud PBX) capabilities are mandatory. The Contact Center features shown on the Hosted Voice tab are NOT mandatory for Hosted Voice evaluation. Hosted Voice must support any agency location that chooses to move to Hosted Voice—including non‑VoIP facilities replacing on‑prem PBX systems. |
| QaA.040 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Hosted Voice | Can Hosted Voice be delivered via multiple platforms? (i.e. Zoom + SIP) or does the State expect one standardized platform across all counties? | 1 standard platform across all counties. The expectation is to simplify service to users and Tier 1 support. |
| QaA.041 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Hosted Voice | How should bidders price out hosted voice when the state may already have SKUs priced on other contracts? | Bidders must submit complete, county‑level pricing for Hosted Voice in Attachment D – Master Pricing Tool and enter the corresponding totals in BidBuy, even if similar SKUs exist on other State contracts. Prices must be itemized, transparent, and market‑competitive, with MRC/NRC clearly indicated. Vendors may indicate identical pricing across counties within Attachment D, but must still enter individual county pricing in BidBuy as posted line items. Optional/add‑on features are not evaluated for price and should be listed separately as optional. |
Price proposals will be evaluated per the RFP’s formula (Maximum Price Points × (Lowest Price/Offeror’s Price)). Existing SKUs on other contracts do not remove the requirement to price Hosted Voice in Attachment D; vendors should align any identical SKUs for consistency or offer better pricing, noting that rates/discounts cannot be increased during the contract term and downward price adjustments must be flowed to existing and new connections.
| QaA.042 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | POTS Like-Service | Can the State please include detail as to how POTS lines are used at each location? I.e. lines vs. alarms | As a general rule, POTS are business lines, alarms, elevators, fax, modems. Each will be addressed upon award of contract. Additional information is unavailable as all of the services across the state are managed by the customer agency and is their responsibility to provide “inventory description” and keep it up to date, which could be proven false or inaccurate at best. A 100% audit of these services would put DOIT / SOI beyond the 3 year time-limit of the current emergency contract and thus become a moot point. Should a vendor push and require knowledge of the service being provided, the answer will be that the service provided will be disclosed post award in the modernization kickoff meeting with the contract representatives and subject matter experts as stakeholders. |
| QaA.043 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | POTS Like-Service | Should bidders assume battery backup and cellular failover for all POTs line replacement? | This will be vendor specific in their replacement of the traditional service. State will not be providing UPS and cellular failover is not a requirement. |
| QaA.044 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Microwave | What is the State's intended use case for microwave services in the state? Does the State truly mean microwave, or is cellular / wireless intended? | This does truly mean Microwave and is the intended backup of the Starcom21 service that Illinois State Police (ISP) uses. |
| QaA.045 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Microwave | Are microwave services expected to mean the same SLA standards as fiber-based services? | Yes, Service Level Agreement (SLA) as fiber based service. |
| QaA.046 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Microwave | Is microwave considered best effort? And if so, how would it be evaluated? | To answer how it is evaluated, best effort is based on line of site and data loss %, however that is a functionally difficult term. The assumption on Agency part is that the vendor should be supplying a fiber circuit to addresses listed in QaA.47, a new Attachment F is being provided and pricing should be based off attachment F, NOT the microwave point to point, as that is considered a legacy form of pricing these types of circuits. Standard Microwave is Fiber to RAD gear to “air” and then RAD to fiber. The Agency expectation is that a vendor is aware this and is able to take Attachment F and derive their own solution and pricing as anything more detailed could be considered proprietary and favorable to a specific vendor or company. Microwave circuits at present are managed on both sides by 1 vendor and service is guaranteed to the terminal. Best effort is in the LOS and data loss. P2P circuit should still be a known quality. |
| QaA.047 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Microwave | How should bidders price microwave without distance, site locations, and line of sight data? | The Agency has created Attachment F ISP Radio to Ethernet Design to assist Offeror. |
| QaA.048 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Professional Services | What level of professional services staffing does the State expect? | The Professional Services are listed within the Professional Services Tab. Professional services level of staffing would be expected cover each Attachment D Category Tabs. The vendor should be responsible for breaking that out into a logical team and effort, but at a minimum the Agency would expect that the vendor has a dedicated resource as a sales rep, solutions / projects rep, maintenance / ticket / escalation manager, billing manager. The expectation is that if awarded the contract, the vendor is able to support the state in their needs as we perform MAC/D, report trouble, answer billing and inventory questions, meet for QRBs, provide architectural solutions when quotes and needs are requested. |
| QaA.049 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Professional Services | What are the Professional Services Standard and Overtime hours? | Standard Hours: 8:00AM-5:00PM (CST) M-F/ Overtime Hours: 5:00PM-8:00AM (CST) M-F plus Weekends and Holidays |
| QaA.050 | Attachment D | 4/6/26 | Professional Services | Are there certifications required for professional services staff? | There are no certifications for professional services. The Agency would expect Offeror Staff to be qualified to hold the designated position based on industry standards. |
| QaA.051 | Services | 4/8/26 | Features | In Attachment D, how should bidders distinguish between features that aren't available and features that are available at no additional charge? | For features that are not available, bidders should enter ‘N/A’. For features that are available at no additional cost, bidders should enter 0.00 in the MRC field. |
| QaA.052 | Services | 4/8/26 | Features | For optional / non-evaluated services / features, will bidders be deemed non-responsive if a specific feature isn't available in their offering, but the line item is colored green in the workbook? | The Agency has updated Attachment D as follows: 1) Pricing - All Tabs - Green highlighted cells Pricing is Required; Purple highlighted cells Pricing is Optional; 2) All Tabs now have Vendor Notes; and 3) Assumptions Tab has been created for Offeror Assumptions |
| QaA.053 | Attachment D | 4/8/26 | SIP Services | SIP Services, line 25; is the State referencing a specific set of "interoperability standards"? Please specify. | RFC standards that explicitly address SIP interoperability was the intent behind this line item. RFC 3261 referencing SIP, but there are others (3265, 3311, 4028. 3581, 3582, 4497 to name a few) that help insure interoperability between SIP and SIP/PBX devices. Then SIPconnect helps define PBX-SIP trunk interoperability. The State is not referencing a single specific RFC or standards body. The intent of ‘interoperability standards’ is to ensure SIP trunking is compatible with commonly deployed PBX systems and supports industry‑standard SIP behavior as defined in RFC 3261 and related SIP interoperability RFCs (e.g., RFC 3265, 4028, 4497), as well as typical carrier‑grade interconnection practices such as SIP connect. Vendors must ensure full interoperation with legacy handoff types such as PRI or analog where required. |
| QaA.054 | Attachment D | 4/8/26 | SIP Services | SIP Services, line 25; is the State specifically asking for the cost of an Integrated Access Device (IAD) to convert IP signaling to a PRI handoff? | Yes. If cost is the same as a standard SIP circuit, then please use the answer previously given for bandwidth & channel. Again 5M @ 24 channels. |
| QaA.055 | Attachment D | 4/8/26 | SIP Services | SIP Services, line 18; can the State clarify what the State means by Advanced Call Handling features (i.e. round-robin, percent allocation, etc.)? | Advanced Call Handling refers to features such as round‑robin routing, percent‑allocation routing, and similar call distribution and routing capabilities. The State is not referencing any specific vendor‑proprietary feature set or standard. |
| QaA.056 | RFP Section E.7 | 4/8/26 | Award | The RFP award language in Section E.7 states: “If the State issues an award, the award will be made to the responsive and responsible offeror whose offer best meets the specified criteria …”, which uses singular terminology. Additionally, the RFP scope and contract terms describe the establishment of a single statewide contract for voice services. Please confirm whether the State intends to make: • A single award to one prime vendor, or • Multiple awards (e.g., multiple prime vendors, category specific awards, or a vendor pool) | The Agency will be awarding the solicitation to the one (1) responsive and responsible offeror whose offer best meets the specified criteria. This is not a multi-award opportunity. |
| QaA.057 | Attachment D | 4/8/26 | Professional Services | Will the State please provide definitions for the roles listed in Attachment D - Related Professional Services? Please include any credentials or qualifications for each role. | The Agency has updated Attachment D, Related Professional Services Tab, with Job Roles for each listed position. See QaA.050 for additional information. |
| QaA.058 | Attachment A/ RFP Section F.1.29 | 4/8/26 | Service Credit Billing | Attachment A, second paragraph says that if a service credit is not applied on the next monthly bill and the JPMC entity has to request the service credit, the percentage of credit increases by 10%. Please clarify our understanding that the increase is a one-time penalty. Section F.1.29 of the RFP requires Service Credits be applied within two (2) billing cycles, but Attachment A indicates that credits should be applied to the next month's bill. Can the State please clarify the timeframe in which Service Credits should be applied? | Attachment A v.4.16.2026 has been updated to reflect service credit applied has now been revised to two (2) month billing cycle and now aligns with RFP Section F.1.29. The penalty is a one (1) time penalty. |
| QaA.059 | RFP Section E.7 | 4/16/26 | Award | If the state receives no bids that encompass all voice services requested, will the state use this RFP to award partial bids to more than one vendor in order to cover all services? | No, the RFP Award can only be awarded to one (1) Offeror. |
| QaA.060 | Summary Updates | 4/16/26 | Updates | In response to the (59) questions, the Agency thought it prudent to recap some of the updates for the Offeror's awareness: 1) Attachment F Radio to Ethernet Design has been added to the solicitation for additional information purposes; 2) Attachment D Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet has been updated to v.4.16.2026, Offeror are encouraged to review updates as discussed in Agency Responses with emphasis of the two (2) additional line items added to the SIP Services Tab; 3) Attachment A Service Level Agreement has been updated to v.4.16.2026 as it relates to Service Credit Billing Cycle updated to two (2) months. | |
| QaA.061 | Attachment D | 5/1/26 | Pricing | As a follow-up to the State's answer to QaA.051, entering "N/A" in any green field of the State's revised Attachment D breaks the formula. Propose that bidders leave lines for features that aren't available blank, and put $0.00 on lines where features are available at no additional charge / included. Is this acceptable to the State? | Attachment D Green Highlighted areas are mandatory pricing lines being evaluated under Pricing. Offeror's are required to provide pricing for all green highlighted line items. If Offeror is not able to provide a green highlighted line item they are free to subcontract those line items. |
| QaA.062 | Attachment D | 5/1/26 | Inbound Toll-Free Pricing | Cells C56:C60 of the Inbound Toll-Free Pricing tab reflect the State's monthly minutes of use. Which County workbook should bidders put cost in for the CPM calculation? | All Counties should contain CPM calculations. The State requests an option to have a Toll Free circuit placed in any county where an agency could set up service. |
| QaA.063 | Attachment D | 5/1/26 | Outbound Long Distance Pricing | Outbound Long Distance Tab, Cell F55, appears to have a broken formula. | Outbound Long Distance Tab, Cell F55, has been fixed. Offeror's should use Attachment D Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County v.5.5.26 for Pricing submission. Offerors are required to submit the updated Attachment D Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet by County v.5.5.26 for each County Pricing. |
| QaA.064 | Attachment D | 5/1/26 | Dedicated Voice Access Pricing | Regarding Dedicated Voice Access and the associated pricing in Attachment D: Is the State asking for "dedicated" long distance PRI's (direct circuit between customer PBX and IXC switch) in this tab: That product has generally been EOL-EOS from most major carriers within the last few years as customer's have moved away from this topology and are now using SIP services. | No. This is a dedicated SIP request. |
| QaA.065 | Attachment D | 5/1/26 | Outbound Long Distance Pricing/ Inbound Toll-Free Pricing | Is it acceptable to put in “N/A” in the green pricing cells on the tab “Dedicated Voice Access Pricing” (cells B14, B18, B23, B29, B30) if the vendor is responding to Option 2 (Does not utilize Dedicated Access Circuits) for the tabs “Outbound Long Distance Pricing” and “Inbound Toll-Free Pricing”? | No, please put 0.00 if Offeror is using Option 2 within Outbound Long Distance Pricing/ Inbound Toll-Free Pricing. The net result will be the same for weighted grading, as Option 1 is expected to have pricing per minute and circuit costs. Option 2 is only pricing per minute. On the Summary page, all of this is weighted the same. |
| QaA.066 | Attachment D | 5/1/26 | Microwave | In the Microwave tab, is the State asking for a fiber-based data network (Layer2 or Layer 3) between the locations on Attachment F, or is the State asking for a microwave solution between the sites. | Fiber based data network. The State assesses the solution to be 100%. Since, the Agency responsible has stated they will assume management of the Microwave solution portion and only require a fiber circuit to location. Locations listed were placed in addendum attachment F. Fiber circuit may be fiber or copper handoff, as directed by ISP while modernizing. |
| QaA.067 | Attachment F | 5/1/26 | ISP Radio to Ethernet Design | Please provide USPS addresses for each location on Attachment F. If a USPS address isn't available, please provide latitude / longitude coordinates. | All items will delivered to DoIT Warehouse, 5300 6th St. Frontage Road E, Springfield, IL 62703, for Property Tagging and SAP requirements. If exceptions are needed, they will be handled on a case by case basis. |
| QaA.068 | Attachment F | 5/1/26 | Legacy Phone Services | Is there a set deadline for all counties to switch from legacy technologies to the new services offered by the selected bidder? | The Offeror will be expected to respond when the State requests a port or order when transitioning from the Legacy Phone Service to the Modern Phone Service, expeditiously, but no longer than six (6) months from Agency order request. The Agency has actively transferring Legacy Phone Services (P-89953) to Modern Phone Services (P-94019). The Legacy Phone Services Contract has a term of 12/12/2025 thru 12/11/2028. The Agency does not intend on transferring any Legacy Phone Services to the RFP resulting contract. |
| QaA.069 | Attachment F | 5/1/26 | ISP Radio to Ethernet Design | Please provide the microwave bandwidth requirements between each location identified on Attachment F. | Fiber Based Data Network. The State assesses the solution to be 100%. Since, the Agency responsible has stated they will assume management of the Microwave solution portion and only require a fiber circuit to location. Locations listed were placed in Attachment F ISP Radio to Ethernet Design. Fiber circuit may be fiber or copper handoff, as directed by ISP while modernizing. bandwidth requirements are not required by Offeror as they are only providing fiber to end location. |
| QaA.070 | Attachment D | 5/3/26 | Microwave | Is it acceptable for a provider to respond to all services in this RFP except for microwave? | Attachment D Green Highlighted areas are mandatory pricing lines being evaluated under Pricing. Offeror's are required to provide pricing for all green highlighted line items. If Offeror is not able to provide a green highlighted line item they are free to subcontract those line items. If Offeror requires a subcontractor, Offeror will follow Information and Technology Request for Proposal Offer to the State of Illinois, Section B requirements and price accordingly. |
| QaA.071 | RFP | 5/3/26 | Section F.3.3 | Please clarify what is needed for the requirement in F.3.3 that states “dedicated facilities that maintain a permanent connection between two (2) points at specific sites and with automatic number identification (ANI).” | The State is referring to traditional dedicated point‑to‑point telecom circuits (or dedicated SIP facilities) that provide a permanent, reserved connection between two State locations and ensure that Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is delivered reliably for every toll‑free call. Specifically having vendor level failover between the 2 data center's in Springfield and Chicago. |
| QaA.072 | Attachment D | 5/12/26 | Microwave Tab | In your answer to your question 66 and 67 (MICROWAVE) it states that the state Is looking for a Fiber Based Data Network. On the Microwave tab in the pricing Workbook there is still conflicting information/Data that is Mandatory and requested that would related to a microwave system vs a data network. Is the pricing workbook going to be updated to reflect a fiber Based Data Network only and remove erroneous items related to a microwave solution? For examples: Line 6 “Design Implement operate and maintain a microwave system”, Line 13 “ Supply required antennas , radios, mounting hardware..” Line 23 “ Regulatory licensing assistance, radio access hardware”, also in lines 11 and 21. Lines 21 and 23 are particularly troublesome because those are in Mandatory pricing (green shaded cells). | Yes, the Microwave Services tab has been made optional and has been removed from the required pricing scope. The Microwave Services Pricing has been switched from Green to Mauve and Optional Pricing for the Offeror. Vendors are still encouraged to provide optional service costs and associated equipment costs. If these costs are known to fluctuate, vendors should annotate this in the Vendor Notes section. In such cases, the vendor will not be held responsible for cost variations. |
The intent is to include Microwave Services as an optional feature under the master contract. Vendors will not be advantaged or disadvantaged based on whether they choose to complete this tab.
| QaA.073 | Attachmemt F | 5/12/26 | ISP Radio to Ethernet Design | Also, there are 6 locations that do not have any real street addresses. Real USPS street addresses are needed for quoting any Fiber based solution, and if there is no USPS address, at a bare minimum LAT and LONG coordinates from Google Maps are needed for the sites below from Attachment F: Long St. & 200thAve Ohio; Route 20 W Industrial Park Galena; 45 US Main Pesotum; 24620 E 2500N Topeka; RTE 100 PO BOX 158 Grafton, IL; 9700 S Cass Ave Argonne; 9630 N State (IL10 @IL29) Mason City | Please see new Attachment F-1 Coordinates 5.20.26 for Attachment F ISP Radio to Ethernet Design coordinates. |
| QaA.074 | Attachment D | 5/14/26 | All Tabs | Within the pricing section, the following text, “OPTIONAL SERVICES: Please fill in optional services related only to this tab's category, and optional services cannot exceed 20% of the total evaluated category. “ Many of our services have multiple options and variations depending on the service type or are grouped into sizes,( ie 1-25, 25-50, 50-100 etc). In addition, many options are different flavors of the same option. It would be impractical or impossible to select all of the options but simply totaling up all the options could potentially exceed the 20% evaluated category threshold. We would like to provide the State of Illinois with as many options as possible so that they may best choose the services that are the most cost effective but do not want to be negatively impacted in the evaluation process. Will providing multiple options negatively affect our score in a section? | No. Providing multiple optional service variations will not negatively impact your score. Evaluation scoring is based strictly on required elements; optional services are not evaluated for points. Optional entries simply give the State visibility into additional offerings that may be exercised, if needed, during the life of the contract. |
That said, please ensure that all optional services submitted are germane to the scope of the category. Optional services should supplement or extend the core offering—not introduce unrelated products or an excessive volume of add on items that fall outside the intended service area.
Providing multiple variations of the same option (for example, tiered quantities or size ranges) is acceptable and will not conflict with the 20% optional service threshold. The intent is to avoid situations where optional items significantly inflate pricing beyond what is reasonably connected to the required service.
In short:
You are welcome to provide multiple optional variations as long as they remain relevant to the category, and doing so will not lower your evaluation score.
QaA.075 Attachment D 5/14/26 Microwave In Atachment D – Master Pricing Tool, Tab – Microwave – Please confirm that Line 19 “Point-to-point and point-to multipoint microwave connectivity” should contain the MRC for the entire Attachment F network? Do we include this same cost then on line 19 for each county? For the Microwave Tab in Attachment D, please price Attachment D as written, and enter the same MRC values on each county tab. County location does not change the evaluation; this structure is strictly for consistent scoring across all vendors. The Microwave Services Tab, Line 21, Point-to-point and point-to multipoint microwave connectivity MRC only covers access, if additional hardware is required it would be priced separetly from the MRC. If other services are not a one time charge - NRC, they will also be included in the MRC.
Any construction related variances, special build requirements, or distance based adjustments should be listed in the Vendor Notes section as an optional variance or construction code. This ensures all vendors are evaluated equally on the MRC while still allowing you to identify any location specific build requirements.
In summary:
• Price Attachment D normally.
• Use the same MRC for each county tab.
• Put any construction variances in Vendor Notes. Microwave Services Tab is optional and not calculated in the Evaluation criteria. Please note, the Agency has corrected Vendor Question as " Point-to-point and point-to multipoint microwave connectivity" is Line 21 and does not appear in Line 19.
| QaA.076 | RFP | 5/15/26 | Section 3.5 | Please clarify exactly what you mean by Called Number Services in Section 2.7. | I assume you mean section 3.5 “called number”. “Called Number Services” refers to any service features, functions, or routing behaviors that are triggered by the number that is being called (the terminating or destination number). These services operate based on the dialed number rather than the calling party |
| QaA.077 | RFP | 5/15/26 | Section 3.5 | Do all the questions in Section 2.7 refer to SIP services? If not, please provide a list of the services it refers to. | I assume you mean section 3.5. Yes, all are for SIP services |
| QaA.078 | BEP/ VBP | 5/15/26 | BEP/VBP Goals | The Bid Buy portal shows the answer NO under “Is there a BEP/VBP participation Goal?” Does this mean the Commitment to Diversity: Vendor Answer Sheet is not required? Or, if it is required and responders are not utilizing BEP and/or VBP should they select “Bid has no BEP Goal” and “Bid has no BEP Goal - No Verification Needed” on the answer sheet and then leave all other fields blank? | Yes, the BidBuy portal is correct there is no BEP-VBP Participation Goal for this RFP. Please see RFP Section D.4 for Commitment to Diversity Elements which are still required. Please note, the Commitment to Diversity: Vendor Answer Sheet Responses are evaluated, as noted in Section D.4, for two-hundred (200) points of the overall points allowed. The Offeror is required to submit the Commitment to Diversity Vendr Answer Form to be considered for Evaluation of the two-hundred (200) available. The Commitment to Diversity: Vendor Answer Sheet is based on Offeror overall performance with Commitment to Diversity and not based solely on this procurement opportunity. |
| QaA.079 | Attachment D | 5/15/26 | Legacy Services/ Long Distance Tab | Illinois is seeking a modernized voice solution. However, the pricing workbook reflects only legacy technologies that the state is seeking to replace. Will the government provide additional instruction for how to price a modernized solution? For example, the Long Distance tab requires pricing for T-1 circuits, which only the incumbent can continue to provide and which will be replaced. How should offerors price a modernized solution? | The legacy services shown in the pricing workbook are provided only to illustrate the circuits and technologies currently in place. Offerors are not expected to replicate legacy technologies. Instead, please provide pricing for a modernized solution capable of fully replacing those legacy circuits. |
To remain vendor agnostic, the State has included the existing service inventory for reference while allowing offerors to propose the modern solutions they believe best meet the State’s needs. Offerors may enter modernized pricing and describe the corresponding solution in the Vendor Notes section on any applicable tab.
If an offeror wishes to propose optional services beyond the required items, these may be included in the Optional Services section. Optional service entries will neither benefit nor harm the evaluation score; only required pricing is scored. Offeror should review Instructions on each Tab for guidance on how to price the individual tabs.
| QaA.080 | Attachment F | 5/15/26 | ISP Radio to Ethernet Design | To properly price your varied locations, we need validated USPS addresses for all sites that are noted from Attachment F. The following addresses do not appear as such addresses. Would you please provide USPS addresses for the service delivery sites that are noted below? Long St and 2000Th Ave, Ohio; RT 20 W Industrial Park, Galena; US 45 S Main, Pesotum; 24620 E 2500N, Topeka; 2438 E 700 N Rd, Strasburg; 9700 S Cass Ave, Argonne; 2468 E Lincoln Way, Chicago Heights; 9630 N State (IL10 @ IL29), Mason City Also please provide an alternate validated USPS addresses for the PO box: RTE 100 PO BOX 158, Grafton | Please see new Attachment F-1 Coordinates 5.20.26 for Attachment F ISP Radio to Ethernet Design coordinates. |
| QaA.081 | RFP | 5/15/26 | Section A.3 | We would like to request a 30-day extension for the due date of this RFP. | The Agency will extend the RFP Due Date to June 30, 2026, 10:00AM (CST). Please note, due to the RFP being published on April 1, 2026, RFP Section C.6 Offeror Questions and Agency Responses is being updated from "ten (10) days before Offer due date" to June 5, 2026. All Offeror Questions must be in by June 5, 2026, for Agency Response. |
| QaA.082 | Agency Updates | 4/16/26 | Updates | The Agency is providing the following information for Offeror awareness of some of the important updates: 1. RFP Due Date has been extended to June 30, 2026, 10:00AM (CST) 2. Attachment F-1 Coordinates 5.20.26 has been created to provide additional information for Attachment F ISP Radio to Ethernet Design. 3. Offerors must use Attachment D Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet v.5.21.26 for pricing individual Counties. Attachment D Master Pricing Tool Excel Spreadsheet v.5.21.26 supercedes all previous versions. Please note, the Microwave Tab has been upated to Optional Pricing and will not be factored into the Pricing Evaluation. | |
| QaA.083 | BEP/ VBP | 6/15/26 | C2D Vendor Answer Sheet | Some of the requirements of the State's Commitment to Diversity and U-Plan conflict with Presidential Executive Orders 14173 and 14398, Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.222-90, and guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and several executive agencies. This being the case, will the State confirm that it will accept as sufficient proposals in which the bidder agrees to comply with the State’s requirement’s only to the extent that those requirements are consistent with the terms of the bidder’s federal contracts and federal certifications? | The Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) is a State of Illinois Agency; thus, DoIT must abide by the State of Illinois Procurement Code and Laws. |
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