RFP - Mass Notification System for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

Harris County, Texas is soliciting competitive proposals through a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a comprehensive Mass Notification System to serve the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, with a contract term commencing on or about July 1, 2026, and the potential for four one-year renewal options subject to Commissioners Court approval. Proposals are due by 2:00 p.m. local Houston time on April 6, 2026, with a mandatory pre-proposal conference scheduled for March 11, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. via Microsoft Teams and written questions to be submitted through Bonfire by the specified deadline. The system must be capable of reaching residents, visitors, and employees across Harris County's 1,788 square miles and population of approximately five million, and must support opt-in text message alerts, self-registration via web and mobile platforms, social media integration, geofencing capabilities, real-time analytics, multilingual support in 14 languages, and two-way communication features including message acknowledgment and survey responses. The selected vendor must integrate seamlessly with existing county infrastructure including Active Directory, Human Resources Information Systems, Emergency Operations Center Management platforms, FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), Harris County's website and mobile applications, and social media accounts, and must replace or supplement the current Everbridge platform (Ready Harris Alerts) which maintains over 54,000 active profiles. Deliverables include all software customization, design engineering, hardware and equipment installation, integration, configuration, testing, database management, system administration, and maintenance, with vendors required to propose a delivery method from premise-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), or hybrid model options, establish at least 20 administrator accounts, provide comprehensive project management within ten days of award, assign a dedicated project manager with minimum five years of mass notification system experience, deliver comprehensive training with materials and online tutorials, and provide 24/7 technical and customer support with documented Service Level Agreements and Key Performance Indicators. Evaluation criteria include scope of service and system functionality (25%), integration and interoperability (20%), messaging and delivery performance (10%), experience and training (10%), implementation and support services (10%), project team qualifications and experience (10%), vendor presentation and demonstration (5%), and pricing (10%), with cybersecurity and IT controls assessed on a pass/fail basis, and vendors must demonstrate a minimum of five years' experience implementing mass notification systems for government or private entities of similar size and complexity and be established in business for five or more years.

The RFP does not specify set-aside designations for disadvantaged, minority-owned, women-owned, or other category enterprises, though Harris County requires contractors and subcontractors to provide detailed subcontractor information and certifications regarding HUB/MWBE and Section 3 program participation on the Subcontractor Listing Form, with the County reserving the right to reject proposed subcontractors on any reasonable basis. Harris County currently operates the Everbridge platform (rebranded as Ready Harris Alerts) as the existing infrastructure that the new system must integrate with or replace. The RFP documentation does not disclose specific budget ranges or award values, establishing instead a fixed-price, all-inclusive fee pricing model requiring transparent cost breakdown including mass notification system software licenses, project management, installation, system configuration, data migration, hardware and equipment, travel, training, maintenance and support, and any third-party software or additional interfaces and licenses. All contractors must comply with Harris County's minimum wage requirement of $21.65 per hour (adjusted annually), maintain comprehensive insurance coverage including workers' compensation with employers' liability limits of $1,000,000, commercial general liability with per-occurrence limits of $1,000,000 and general aggregate of $2,000,000, automobile liability with combined single limits of $1,000,000, and professional/errors and omissions liability of $1,000,000 with Harris County named as additional insured on a primary and non-contributory basis. Vendors must meet Harris County's minimum IT security vendor controls standards, certify compliance with tax residency requirements under Texas Government Code 2252.001 et seq., disclose complete litigation history for the preceding five years, and submit Form 1295 disclosing interested parties prior to proposal submission, with subcontractors on contracts exceeding $25,000 requiring payment bonds equal to 100 percent of the proposal amount.