Voip, call center, and IVR services

The State of South Carolina, specifically the Department of Administration's Office of Technology and Information Services (OTIS), is seeking a comprehensive telecommunications services contract for statewide hosted services across three distinct lots: Hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Messaging Services, Hosted Contact Center Services, and Hosted Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Services. The solicitation requires all services to be SIP-enabled and deployed from Tier 3 or Tier 4 data centers located exclusively within the contiguous United States. Offerors must submit complete proposals for all three lots, demonstrating three years of enterprise-level telecommunications experience and providing at least three references from similar-sized projects. The original proposal deadline was extended to March 25, 2022, at 11:00 a.m., with award notification scheduled for April 15, 2022. Evaluation criteria include Technical Proposal (50 points), Price Proposal (30 points), and Experience and Qualifications (20 points). The contract will have an initial three-year term followed by four optional one-year renewal terms, with an estimated effective period from May 25, 2022, through May 24, 2029.

No specific set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises were identified in the solicitation documents. The contract allows for multiple vendors to be awarded per lot, with up to five total awardees per lot, and provisions for adding additional contractors if their pricing is within 15 percent of the lowest-priced contractor. Existing infrastructure includes current VoIP telephony managed services across state agencies, with some legacy systems remaining. The state requires comprehensive insurance coverage, including $5 million per occurrence and $10 million aggregate for information security and privacy liability. While specific award values are not explicitly stated, the solicitation includes detailed pricing templates for various service tiers, end-point equipment, and optional features across the seven-year contract period. Vendors must provide direct billing to individual Using Governmental Units (UGUs) and remit a monthly administrative fee to the Division of Technology Operations. Strict requirements prohibit any offshore contracting or processing of state data, with all personnel performing work required to be located within the United States.