Inmate Telephone Service

The Georgia Department of Corrections, procuring through the Georgia Department of Administrative Services, issued RFP 46700-GDC0000609 on July 16, 2013, to establish a contract with a single qualified supplier for comprehensive inmate telephone service across 65 GDC facilities housing approximately 60,000 inmates, with proposals due September 5, 2013 (extended from September 19, 2013). The procurement is undergoing formal protest, with Telmate LLC selected as the intended awardee despite challenges from incumbent Global Tel*Link Corporation and Securus Technologies.

The scope encompasses a turnkey inmate telephone system (ITS) capable of processing an average of 187,887 calls and 2,276,516 minutes monthly across state prisons, detention facilities, treatment facilities, and transition centers. The contractor must install all equipment and complete initial implementation within 60 days of contract execution, employ technicians throughout Georgia within two hours of any facility, provide a centralized web-based platform at no cost to GDC, maintain four full-time on-site administrators at specified facilities, and ensure 99.5% call availability. The system must support collect, prepaid, and debit calling with voice biometric technology, comprehensive call monitoring and recording (two years online plus two years offline storage), and integration with GDC's jail management system. All FCC and Public Service Commission regulations, NIST/FISMA, PCI DSS, and GLBA compliance is mandatory.

The contract term is three years with four optional one-year renewals. The cost evaluation framework allocates 350 points to financial proposals (150 points for commission percentage, 125 points for financial incentive, and 75 points for minimum monthly guarantee) and 650 points to technical factors. Telmate's award proposal includes an 82% commission rate on gross call revenue, a $26.1 million annualized monthly minimum guarantee, and a $3 million financial incentive. GTL, the 13-year incumbent retaining 40% of revenues under its existing contract, would receive only 23% under new terms and protests that Telmate's projection of a 300% call-volume increase to 12 calls per inmate monthly is unreasonable and unsupported. Five offerors initially submitted proposals; three advanced to best and final offer stage in February 2014. A pre-bid conference was held August 1, 2013. The FCC issued a September 26, 2013 order on interstate inmate calling rates that prompted GDC to revise the procurement timeline. Mandatory requirements include a minimum of five years' experience providing inmate telephone service to state prison systems. Liquidated damages are assessed at $500 per day for installation delays and $300 per day for repairs unresolved within ten days.