MODIFICATION
R -- Telephone Answering Services
- Notice Date
- 3/23/2004
- 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
- QUESTIONS/ANSWERS SOLICITATION FSIS-17-B-04 1. How do you want this bid, time, per call, per month? Do you have any traffic statistics? Please price per call and include pricing for each option year. I have issued a amendment to the solicitation that will be posted by tomorrow to include this. 2. In the Combined Solicitation, it indicates that that contractor shall provide all equipment, labor, management, supplies to perform this service and that this is on an as needed basis. The solicitation further states that the contractor will respond within 4 hours of the BPA Call being made. My questions are: • Will the contractor be required to integrate their equipment into the FSIS current system or will the contractor be required to have a separate number prepared for this? Must have a separate number. No integration into FSIS system. • Will the contractors personnel be required on site at FSIS within 4 hours or does the contractor have to be ready to receive the calls within 4 hours? Contractor will not be onsite. Must receive calls at their own facility within 4 hours. 3. Would the Geographic location of the WA place our location outside of USDA geographical requirements? Is there any way for my county seat to pursue? (I may have other options for this, but it never hurts to ask)? Place of Performance for this requirement is at the contractor's facility. Contractor does not have to be located in any particular location. 4. Sol# FSIS-17-B-04 indicates the size standard of $6,000,000.00 applies to this procurement. Is the $6,000,000.00 for the total blanket purchase award to cover ONLY 1 year at the above amount. Or to cover the 1 year and 4 year option, if extended. The size standard is the largest size that a business (including its subsidiaries and affiliates)may be to remain a small business for SBA's programs and for the Federal contracting programs. This size standard would cover the entire period of the BPA (5 Years). 5. Is the program outsourced today? If so, are you at liberty to disclose who the provider is? No 6. Are the numbers to be answered toll free (800) numbers? If so, are they owned by the USDA? No 7. Should we assume for quoting purposes that the USDA will maintain the cost of the 800/longdistance service? No 8. The answering service seems driven by information that might be released (either by the government or by the media) that relates to a meat/poultry issue. Based on the solicitation, it appears we’d need to have a general contact management system that records customer inquiries and provides appropriate responses based on the customer issue. Is this correct? USDA provides all information. Any and all information presented to consumers must be FSIS approved. 9. I know the call volume will vary, but do you have any historical reporting we could review to understand the spikes in volume? We are estimating 200 to 500 calls per day maybe more. Contractor shall capacity to handle up to 2000 calls per day. 10. What traditionally is the training timeframe for a representative? There is no established timeframe. 11. Do you have an idea of how your decision will be made (i.e. how performance, approach and price would be weighted)? We want to be sure to build our response to you appropriately. As mentioned in the Solicitation, There are three evaluation factors: 1) technical capability to meet the Government; 2) past performance; 3) price. Technical and Past Performance, when combined are significantly more important than price. 12. One more question that I thought of last night…………..is there any specific pricing format you are looking for? (i.e. pay by hour, pay by minute, pay by call?). Just wanted to be sure we provide you back information in the proper format. Yes - I just issued a amendment to the solicitation to add the following statement: Pricing shall be given on a per ce stated capabilities. Offerors shall submit References to include such information for the most relevant contracts (completed and/or ongoing) which your company has had within the last three years. Please include Customers, name, address, and telephone number; contract number, type, and total original and present or final contract value; date of contract, place of performance, and delivery dates or period of performance; brief description of work comparable to the proposed effort. To be eligible to receive an award resulting from this solicitation, contractor must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database. To register, you may apply through the Internet at www.ccr.gov. Written quotations shall be submitted no later than April 9, 2004 by 2:00pm.Quotes may be sent to Deborah Robertson by facsimile to 301/504-4276, mail, or email to deborah.robertson@fsis.usda.gov. POC for this requirement is Deborah Robertson, Contracting Officer, 301/504-4237. Statement of Work 1. This 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. The contractor shall provide all equipment, labor, management, supplies to perform this service. FSIS intends on awarding a single award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). This BPA will consist of one base year and four (4) option years. Tasks include: (a) Provide live operators and recorded messages in English and Spanish to answer incoming calls (approximately 200 to 500 calls per day) from USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline 24 hours per day/7 days per week, including Federal Holidays on “As Needed Basis”. The contractor shall have the capacity to handle up to 2,000 calls per day. (b) The contractor shall be able to respond within four (4) hours of when the BPA Call is issued. (c) Provide a activity report, on a daily basis, electronically by email to the appropriate Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) which will show date of call, responsible call center staff member, subject matter of questions, nature of inquiry, name and telephone number and demographics of the requester if provided upon request, nature of the response give, follow-up necessary and when completed. The contractor shall be able to provide activity reports on an “Hourly Basis” as needed when requested by the COTR. (d) The contractor shall provide a Project Manager with their phone/fax number and email address. The project manager shall communicate with the COTR on an ongoing basis to resolve technical questions, issues, and problems relevant to the operation of the Call Center and to ensure appropriate information exchange. (e) All responses shall contain FSIS approved information. At no time shall the call center staff respond with opinions, whether they are the personal opinions of the contractor staff members, the opinions of the contractor as a corporate entity, or the personal opinions of the contractor as a corporate entity, or the personal opinions of government officials or representatives who have assisted in providing the response. Contractor staff shall be especially alert to ensure that opinions concerning FSIS policy and interpretations of regulations are not part of any response to persons seeking assistance. Questions in this regard should be addressed to the COTR. (f) When information supplied is not sufficient and/or other food safety questions received not related to a recall or emergency situation, the call center staff shall refer customers back to FSIS’s Meat and Poultry Hotline staff. 2. The COTR will provide and periodically update a list of subject matter contacts within FSIS for the contractor to consult with when handling questions. 3. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED INFORMATION: FSIS will provide hard copies of all reference materials and will provide new resources available to the contractor in hardcopy or electronically as they become available. All reference materials are the property of the Government and shall be returned to the Government at the end of the Agreement period. NOTE: THIS NOTICE MAY HAVE POSTED ON WWW.FEDBIZOPPS.GOV ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (23-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
- SN00669508-F 20040911/040909213916 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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