NIA1 for Inmate Phone RFP 18*0810

The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), through the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget, issued Request for Proposal (RFP) #180000000810 to procure comprehensive prisoner telephone services across Grand Traverse County and multiple Lansing City jurisdictions. The solicitation, posted on January 23, 2018, with a due date of April 4, 2018, sought vendors to provide an integrated prisoner phone system including prisoner phone registration, telephone call services, call payment systems, technical and security infrastructure, monitoring and recording capabilities, maintenance services, training, customer service, and transition planning. Evaluation criteria were distributed across eleven weighted categories totaling 100 points: Registration (10 points), Telephone Calls (15 points), Call Payments (10 points), Technical and Security/Mandatory Requirements (15 points), Monitoring and Recording (5 points), Maintenance (10 points), General/Other Requirements (15 points), Training/Customer Service/Transition/Reporting (5 points), Sections 6-17 (5 points), Contractor Questions/Prior Experience (5 points), and Contractor Personnel Resumes (5 points). Required deliverables included cell phone detection systems, extraction labs and software, video visitation capabilities, foreign language translation, call transcription, voicemail services, geo-fencing, drone detection, managed access deployments, and investigative case management systems. The contract term was established as five years with up to two one-year renewal options, with a contract period of approximately ten weeks from posting to award.

Three vendors submitted proposals: CenturyLink Public Communications, Inc.; Global TelLink Corporation; and Securus Technologies, Inc., all scoring between 99 and 100 points in technical evaluation. Global TelLink Corporation was recommended for award based on a perfect technical score of 100 points and best overall value proposition, with no specific set-aside designations or restrictions identified in the available solicitation documents. The contract was structured as a zero-dollar contract with the selected vendor responsible for providing all infrastructure, hardware, software, and support, with the vendor collecting $0.16 per minute from prisoners and their family members while paying the State $11,000,000 annually. Global Tel*Link's ancillary services proposal was valued at $53,434,500 over the contract period, significantly higher than competing proposals from CenturyLink ($3.695 million plus unlisted resources) and Securus ($20.649 million plus unlisted value), and included staffing of 31 full-time call reviewers, 35 investigative analysts with crime lab certification, and two trainers. The selected vendor committed to establishing Michigan-based operations and providing specialized equipment funding of $1 million toward combating contraband cell phone technologies, along with exclusive access to ShawnTech Premium Service valued at $14.4 million annually.