Phone Replacement System

The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, Florida, issued Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) No. 26-501/DL on April 10, 2026, to identify qualified vendors for replacing its existing Avaya Definity G3 Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone system with a modern, fully integrated telecommunications solution. The Authority serves approximately 400 employees across seven sites and operates 374 active stations, requiring a comprehensive replacement system that includes telephone sets, blinking lamp fields (BLFs), conference phones, automatic call distribution (ACD) capabilities, voicemail integration with Office 365, mobility solutions for remote workers, system redundancy with disaster recovery capabilities, E911 functionality, and ongoing vendor support. Proposers must deliver a compatible, expandable, and upgradeable system with specific technical features including Extension to Cellular (EC500) call sharing, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), caller ID-based call routing, faxing capabilities, and ACD reporting and analytics. Minimum qualifications require proposers to demonstrate five years of experience providing phone system services with Florida licensing, with key personnel possessing ten years of relevant experience and appropriate certifications. Proposals must include detailed pricing for one-time implementation costs, annual recurring costs for licensing and support, and three-year and five-year total cost of ownership calculations submitted on a lump-sum basis. Questions must be submitted by May 28, 2026, with the final addendum deadline of June 1, 2026, and all proposals are due June 9, 2026, at 2:00 P.M. Eastern Time via the Bonfire platform. The evaluation committee will assess submissions based on documentation completeness, relevant qualifications, past project experience, organizational capacity, detailed technical methodology, estimated pricing, and Small Business Enterprise (SBE) participation plans, without the use of a formal scoring matrix.

The Solid Waste Authority has implemented an Economic Inclusion Policy requiring evaluation of Small Business Enterprise participation plans from all proposers. Respondents must comply with Florida's drug-free workplace requirements, provide non-collusion certifications, certify non-participation in boycotts of Israel and prohibited business activities in Cuba, Syria, Sudan, and the Iran Petroleum Energy Sector, and attest to non-participation in human trafficking. No subcontracting is permitted, and all proposers must comply with E-Verify employment eligibility verification and Cone of Silence provisions restricting communications regarding the solicitation. The RFEI explicitly states that the Authority is not committed to awarding a contract through this process; rather, this solicitation is a mechanism to identify qualified parties and establish a shortlist for potential future engagement through a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) process. No specific budget range or award value is disclosed in the solicitation documents, and no incumbent vendor or current contractor information is provided. The existing Avaya Definity G3 system currently servicing 374 active stations must be integrated with or replaced by the proposed solution, particularly regarding voicemail integration with Office 365 and mobility solutions for the Authority's remote workforce.