MODIFICATION
R -- Telephone Answering Services
- Notice Date
- 3/25/2004
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 561421
— Telephone Answering Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Acquisitions and Agreements Section, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Mail drop 5230, Beltsville, MD, 20705
- ZIP Code
- 20705
- Solicitation Number
- FSIS-17-B04
- Response Due
- 4/9/2004
- Point of Contact
- Deborah Robertson, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-504-4237, Fax 3-1-504-4276,
- E-Mail Address
-
deborah.robertson@fsis.usda.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- This combined synopsis/solicitation is hereby amended to add the following statement: Pricing shall be given on a per call basis and include pricing for each option year. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The Solicitation Number is FSIS-17-B-04 and is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ). This is intended to be awarded as a Single Award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular 01-20. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) Code is 561421 and the size standard of $6,000,000.00 applies to this procurement. This requirement is being conducted as a Commercial Item and is set aside 100% Total Small Business. The requirement is for services to provide 24-Hour Answering Service on an “As Needed Basis” for USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Meat and Poultry Hotline in accordance with attached Statement of Work. The period of performance includes one base year and four (4) option years. The following Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) clauses and/or provisions apply to this solicitation as follows: FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Items; 52-212-2, Evaluation of Commercial Items.(a)The following factors will be used to evaluate offers: (i) technical capability to meet the Government requirement; (ii) past performance; and (iii) price. Technical and past performances, when combined are significantly more important than price. 52.217-5, Evaluation of Options also applies to this requirement. The Government intends to award without discussions. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions with prospective contractors if it is in the best interest of the Government. The additional FAR clauses/provisions apply: 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items; 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items; and 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items. The additional FAR Clauses cited in 52.212-5 are applicable to this acquisition: 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government, with Alt 1; 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside; 52.222-3, Convict Labor; 52.222-19, Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies; 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans; 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and other Eligible Veterans; 52.225-13, Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases; and 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration; 52.222-41, Service Contract Act of 1965, as Amended; 52.222-42, Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires; 52.222-43, Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Act-Price Adjustment (Multiple Year and Options Contracts) . Additional FAR clauses are applicable: 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services; 52.217-9, Option to Extend The Term of The Contract; and 52.232-19, Availability of Funds. Wage Determination will be incorporated upon award. The offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3 with its offer. FAR Clauses and Provisions in Full Text can be found at: www.arnet.gov. All responsible small businesses may submit a quotation which will be considered by the agency. Responses shall provide literature, brochures and other such information in order to determine the ability to meet the abovall basis and include pricing for each option year. 13. Since pricing is to be based per call...what is the average length of the current call? This would help us determine cost effective pricing since our actual cost is based on the time the operator is on the line with the caller. A one minute call would obviously cost less than a five minute call, for example. It varies depending on questions and issues involved. A call could last 3 or 4 minutes up to 15 or 20. some people have more than one question and sometimes one question leads to another. 14. Is there a current contract in place? No 15. Will training be provided to the call center employees? This will operate in the same manner as the other times large recalls required we use an outsourcing call center company. The contractor had FSIS approved materials---press releases, Q&A’s, etc that the telephone agents used. They also had an approved recorded message on their system that consumers could listen to while they waited, if they chose, to listen to a live operator. These situations arise suddenly and there is no time to for USDA to “train” agents before they answer calls. The contractor can choose to do whatever they want with their existing staff as far as “training” goes. Call center telephone agents should have the basic telephone people skills necessary to deal with the public. I would assume since a contractor is bidding on this SOW, that they are already in the call center business and have permanent, full-time, qualified telephone agents. 16. Other than amendments, is there other documentation expected to be released? No 17. Is there a submittal package (SF1449, section "k", etc..) to return? No, this is going to be a Blanket Purchase Agreement not a contract. 18. Do we simply submit our pricing? See Amendment 01 posted on Fedbizopps. Pricing shall be given on a per call basis and include pricing for each option year. 19. I have looked over the documents for the above Solicitation, and I would like to know why it is going to be issued on an as needed basis? Will government workers be doing the work at all other times, or will Contractors only be needed when a government employee won't be available for that particular day? Can you explain why the winner of the procurement will not have someone working at all times? We have Government Workers that handle the calls for our Hotline. This BPA is being issued to cover us when we have a large emergency recall and we need help to handle the overflow of calls during that time. 20. Do you have any statistics on length of calls? We estimate 200 to 500 calls per day and could be more. Contractor shall have capability of handling up to 2000 calls per day. Calls average about 3 to 4 minutes. 21. The RFQ states that live operators and recorded messages must answer calls 24-hours/day, 7 days/week. Does this requirement mean that both live operators and recorded messages must be available at all times? The information on USDA's website about the hotline indicates that live operators are available from 10 am - 4 pm Eastern time on weekdays and from 8 am - 2 pm on Thanksgiving. Automated messages provide information at all other times. Yes, it requires that the contractor have live operators available 24 hours a day for 7 days a week along with a recorded message available when all lines busy. Understand that this service is for emergencies only. 22. Are there particular educational/experience requirements for hotline operators for this procurement? No 23. How often does the government anticipate issuing a BPA Call? For example, do call patterns at the hotline lead the government to anticipate using this contract to handle overflows on a daily, weekly, monthly, etc. basis, and how long might a Call extend? For example, we understand that call surges would come with the winter holidays; would a BPA Call during that time be made several times throughout that period, or would a Call be issued for November and December? Another source of call surges requiring use of the contract would be for product recalls. How does the government anticipate using the contract to handle such a surge - would the government expect to issue a Call every day as needed, or, upon hearing of a recall, anticipate a high-volume period of a week, two weeks, month, etc. and issue a Call for that period, ending or extending it as needed? There is no way to determine frequency of services. The only time of the year there is a predictable increase of calls is Thanksgiving week. USDA may or may not require overflow services at that time. Requirement for service is on case-by-case basis. There is rarely any advance notice of a large volume product recall and the duration of the service could be days or weeks and cannot be determined in advance. 24. The RFQ indicates that during a BPA Call approximately 200-500 calls per day might be handled. Does this include both calls requiring live operators as well as calls handled through automated messages? If so, what is the anticipated breakdown of calls between live operators and automated messages? Yes. This includes all calls. There is no breakdown of calls between live operators and automated messages. That is random and determined by various factors including number of agents taking calls, number of telephone lines, duration of calls, length of message, time of day, day of week, scope of recall, etc. 25. The RFQ indicates that during a BPA Call, the contract must have the capacity to handle up to 2,000 calls per day. Again, does this include both calls requiring live operators as well as calls handled through automated messages? If so, what is the anticipated breakdown of calls between live operators and automated messages? How often would the government anticipate that the contractor might have to handle more than the average 200-500 calls per day (e.g., only around Thanksgiving; every time there is a recall, which occurs every one to two months; etc.) See Answers above. 26. How many minutes, on average, is a call that involves a live operator? Consumer calls about general food safety questions may last 3 to 4 minutes on average. The length of call depends on the topic. Some calls may last longer. It is important to note that the contractor will only be addressing food safety questions using only USDA approved materials (press release, Q&A's, fact sheets) as pertain to the reason for the outsourcing requirement such as a product recall. The contractor will not be addressing general food safety questions but will refer those callers to the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline. 27. What commercial items are we providing pricing for? Each year as a lump sum? Incremental increments of support time(i.e., hour, day, week, month), labor hours by category? Per call basis and provide pricing for each option year. 28. Would a BPA call ever occur outside of normal business hours? Yes, it is possible. This entire service is for use in emergency situations only. 29. Where can we obtain the applicable wage determination? You can access the Wage Determinations at website: www.wdol.gov/sca.aspx. Click on Selecting SCA WDS. 30. Is the requirement for Spanish only applicable to the recorded messages, or does it apply as well to the live operators? Yes, both 31. Ms.Robertson, item (b) under the Statement of Work would suggest that the task is on a "will call" basis. The capacity is well defined. Should I assume the contractor must be in full swing within the (4) four hour call? Yes. When the BPA Call issued you need to be ready to accept calls within 4 hours. 32. Is there any historical data available that would include busy hour reporting? If so, may we receive a copy of it? No 33. What is the average length of call? 3 to 4 minutes, but could be longer. 34. Can the development costs be charged separately or are they to be included in the cost per call? You can include in your proposal development costs as a separate cost and include if that cost is a one time cost or the cost would be a charge everytime we issue a call. This will be considered during the evaluation process. 35. Regarding the four (4) hour response to the BPA Call, is it safe to assume the contractor will have four (4) hours to staff to handle 2,000 calls each day the BPA Call is issued? Yes 36. Are the 200-500 calls per day subject to the four (4) hour BPA? You will only receive calls after the BPA Call is issued. 37. Are the 200-500 calls per day to be received seven (7) days a week? Yes 38. Is the BPA Call only for calls over the estimated 200-500 calls per day? The BPA Call will be issued when we need additional help to handle additional calls that we will probably receive after an emergency or large meat/poultry recall happens. The contractor shall expect to receive 200 to 500 calls per day, possibly more. We estimate up to 2,000 calls per day. 39. Are the 200-500 calls to be taken after the regular office hours of 8-4? The calls are to be taken during regular and after office hours. 40. Is there an incumbent vendor? If so, who is it? No NOTE: THIS NOTICE MAY HAVE POSTED ON WWW.FEDBIZOPPS.GOV ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (25-MAR-2004). IT ACTUALLY APPEARED OR REAPPEARED ON THE FEDBIZOPPS SYSTEM ON 09-SEP-2004, BUT REAPPEARED IN THE FTP FEED FOR THIS POSTING DATE. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
- Web Link
-
Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/USDA/FSIS/AAS/FSIS-17-B04/listing.html)
- Record
- SN00669507-F 20040911/040909213916 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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