MODIFICATION
R -- Board of Veterans Appeal Hearing TranscriptionCourt Reporting Services Amendment
- Notice Date
- 7/13/2006
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 561410
— Document Preparation Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Veterans Affairs;VA Central Office;Acquisition Operations Service (049A3);810 Vermont Avenue, NW;Washington DC 20420
- ZIP Code
- 20420
- Solicitation Number
- VA-101-06-RQ-0146
- Response Due
- 7/19/2006
- Archive Date
- 7/22/2006
- Point of Contact
- Hilbert Caesar 810 Vermont Ave, NW Washington D.C 20420 Hilbert.caesar@va.gov Voice: 202-273-6471 Fax: 202-273-7448
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- Board of Veterans Appeal Hearing Transcription Court Reporting Services Please note that this is only the questions and the answers. The New solicitation due date will be July 21, 2006 by 12:00p EST. Please refer to solicitation VA-101-06-RQ-0146-A1 if you have any questions. Again this is only the posting of the questions and answers; the actual solicitation is due July 21, 2006 by 12:00p I apologize for not getting all of the questions answered but will get answers to the remaining two questions as soon as the program gets back to me. Please note that I have deleted the entire Solicitation under this amendment for the purpose of posting the questions and answers. Questions and Answers to Transcription Services Solicitation Question 1: Page 1 "General Information" Would you please verify the 2:00 p.m., June 21, 2006 electronic Original/Current Response Date. A. The response date is July 21, 2006 by 12:00p est. Question 2: Page 3 "Deliverables" With regard to the On-Site Court Reporting Services or optional speaker phone transcription, would you please verify that the delivery due is the day the service is provided. Answers below to similar questions should answer your question. Question 3: Please define the term "certified reporters." A. Someone that is certified in their profession with some kind of certificate or credentials. Question 4: Page 4 "Technical Quote (Volume 1) Would you please clarify the meaning of the following sentence: "- the approach proposed is complete and adequate and in accordance with accomplishing, assessing, mapping, and determining the cost of the EEO counseling process." A. I don't think this has any relevance to this Solicitation. Question 5: With regard to the following solicitation text: "The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months," since the Contractor's price per page bid will be a firm-fixed price, how are price adjustments made using the prevailing labor rates and is there a conversion factor used to multiply an average amount of transcribed pages per hour times the labor rate? This is a Firm Fixed Price order so the above doesn't pertain to this order. There will be a clause included in the event that the government needs to extend services or extend the term of the contract, however the prices at that time will be determined on the labor rates at that point in time. Question 6: Prior to the Bid Response Date, will the Government provide VA computer network connectivity technical and security specifications necessary to submit electronic transcripts? A. I am quite sure that prior to award and not before RFQ response date that the government will give further guidance on that subject. Question 7: Please specifically outline the VA training requirements pertaining to the Privacy Act and VA Cyber Security Awareness program. The Contractor(s) will ensure that contract personnel have met VA training requirements pertaining to the Privacy Act and VA Cyber Security Awareness, which are available via the VA virtual private network and can be completed in approximately one hour each. Page 2 of 2 Question 8: Please provide a sample Work Order and outline the steps necessary to submit a completed Work Order. A sample work order will be provided prior to award or awards being made. Question 9: The Specifications of Page Layout described in the solicitation appears to resemble transcription by strictly typists using only audiotapes of previously recorded hearings. Since the solicitation specifically describes the use of court reporters, will the page layout specifications accommodate the stenographic court reporting transcript format predominately used in official court hearings and depositions? I will get an answer to this question as soon as the program office provide me with it. In reviewing the above-referenced RFQ, the following questions arose: 1.  How and when will the attachments be provided for review? Once the awards have been made the attachments will be sent to all of the awardees. 2.  Will various vendors be utilized for different aspects of the contract, or must one vendor provide all the listed services? Various Vendors will be utilized; please by all means you can submit your proposal for 1 part or all of the listed required areas. 3.  When will the "transcription only" aspect of the contract begin? Everything will begin after award; more details will be given at time of award or after award. 4.  Will a videographer be needed for the video conferencing?  I will get an answer to this question as soon as the program office provide me with it. 5.  For the on-site reporter services, will there be consecutive hearings during the day or will they be held simultaneously and different locations, and will transcription be required the same day? A. On average,   5 Central Office hearings per day 12 video hearings per day 12 Waco travel board hearings on the days the Board is conducting such hearings 12 Waco travel board hearings on the days the Board is conducting such hearings   The contractor would not process all these hearings, they should concentrate on their hourly fee opposed to the number of hearings and whether they can handle one or two court  reporters being available per day. Within what time period will it be known whether the June 26, 2006 start date is firm (as opposed to tentative) A. All dates are tentative until award or awards have been made. 3.  If I'm interpreting the numbers correctly there are approximately 21 hearings a day.  Is that correct?  How many concurrent reporters are required on a daily basis?   On average,   5 Central Office hearings per day 12 video hearings per day 12 Waco travel board hearings on the days the Board is conducting such hearings 12 Waco travel board hearings on the days the Board is conducting such hearings   The contractor would not process all these hearings, they should concentrate on their hourly fee opposed to the number of hearings and whether they can handle one or two court  reporters being available per day.   4.  Does the court reporting contractor sell copies of the transcripts to any of the parties or does BVA supply copies to all the parties?    Absolutely not, that's clearly stated in the SOW.  The government is the sole owner and their privacy   CONFIDENTIALITY AND NONDISCLOSURE All audiocassette tapes will be returned to the BVA. Once a transcript is accepted by BVA, the Contractor(s) will purge all paper and electronic systems of the hearing transcript. The Contractor(s) will not retain any information or personal identifiers that are subject to the Privacy Act. Confidentiality: The transcriber shall hold in the strictest confidence all information relating to the individuals and issues involved in the BVA proceeding that he/she may gain in the performance of his/her services. The Contractor(s) will ensure that contract personnel have met VA training requirements pertaining to the Privacy Act and VA Cyber Security Awareness, which are available via the VA virtual private network and can be completed in approximately one hour each.   Data Rights: BVA reserves the right to make additional printed and electronic copies, or portions thereof, of all transcriptions as it deems necessary and the Contractor(s) shall have no claim for additional copies.     5.  I was somewhat unclear on the delivery schedule:       Is it the case that for hearings where one of our court reporters is present the transcript is due by the end of that same business day?  If so, is there a cut-off time after which the delivery deadline would roll over to the next business day?  (E.g. if a reporter has 6 hearings to do in a day and doesn't do off the record until 5:00pm when are the 6 transcripts due?)   A. The last hearing is normally concluded by 4 p.m.  If the contractor is quote real time recording prices the transcripts will be due by COB.        B.  If a hearing is conducted by speakerphone with our court reporter here in our office and the parties in their respective offices then the transcript is due in two business days?   A. Yes        C.  If we are given a recording by BVA to transcribe the transcript is due in 14 calendar days?              A. Yes   With regard to the On-Site Court Reporting Services or optional speaker phone transcription, would you please verify that the delivery due is the day the service is provided. A. The last hearing is normally concluded by 4 p.m.  If the contractor is quote real time recording prices the transcripts will be due by COB. Please see other questions below and this may answer your question. 9.  Does DVA pay travel for assignments outside the Washington metropolitan area?  Outside CONUS?                        A. No, the Government only pays appearance fee for on-site court reporting, no travel expenses.  Contractors in the Waco and St. Petersburg area are available to bid for those assignments.               10.  What percentage of work is in the DC office?  What percentage of work is OCONUS?   A. We conduct hearings 5 days a week here in our DC office.  The travel board dates are listed in the SOW. No work will be conducted OCONUS   Who is the current vendor and what are their prices? I will get a name of the Vendor currently performing services however I cannot disclose their prices. I will get the name of the by Monday July 17, 2006 by 4:30p est.   Would you send me the Q&A from last week? These are all the Q&A's  Would you send a sample format of a transcript? A sample format will be sent to all awardees when awardees have been selected.   What is VETS100?  Must we be registered now or do we register after award? It is always good to register with VETS-100; however, in this case it is not necessary because one of the exceptions is for commercial Items. How many contracts will you be awarding? A. That depends on the proposals.     How will you be evaluating the price proposal?  (i.e. what are the weights for the three delivery requirements?) Technical Factors are more important than price. Selection of the company to perform this task order will be based on the Government's assessment of the best overall value. I apologize for not getting all of the questions answered but will get answers to the remaining two questions by Monday July 17, 2006. Thanks, Hilbert hilbert.caesar@va.gov
- Place of Performance
- Address: Dept of Veterans Affairs;811 Vermont Ave, NW;See Statement of work for;other related POP.
- Zip Code: 20420
- Country: United States
- Zip Code: 20420
- Record
- SN01088194-W 20060715/060713220611 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |