SOURCES SOUGHT
70 -- Sources Sought for Financial Services Center (FSC) Help Desk technology solution
- Notice Date
- 3/16/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- NBC - Acquisition Services Directorate 381 Elden Street, Suite 4000 Herndon VA 20170
- ZIP Code
- 20170
- Solicitation Number
- D11PS63927
- Response Due
- 4/6/2011
- Archive Date
- 3/15/2012
- Point of Contact
- Vanessa Barreto-Wynkoop Contracting Officer 7039643694 vanessa.barreto@aqd.nbc.gov;
- E-Mail Address
-
Point of Contact above, or if none listed, contact the IDEAS EC HELP DESK for assistance
(EC_helpdesk@NBC.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- FEDBIZOPPS ANNOUNCEMENT REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)Financial Services Center (FSC) Help Desk INTRODUCTION This is a Market Research--Sources Sought synopsis to assist in determining an acquisition strategy. The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD) - Herndon on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Financial Services Center (VA-FSC) has an anticipated acquisition for identifying solutions for a consolidated help desk. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST AND INFORMATION SOUGHT From this Market Research--Sources Sought synopsis, the Government is seeking responses from contractors to assist the Government in identifying industry capability to provide technology that supports a Three Tier Leveled Consolidated Help Desk for various workloads and customer needs. The Government's intent is to obtain responses to the items listed below to assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition strategy. Interested contractors shall provide the following in their response: 1. Name of company, company address, point of contact name, telephone number, and email address. 2. Business size and identify the NAICS code for this requirement. 3. Are the types of technology solutions available in the commercial marketplace and therefore, can the requirement be competed as a Commercial Item Acquisition? 4. Identify standard commercial terms and conditions typically associated with these type of technology solutions. 5. Recommend and give rationale for the contract type that would best suit this requirement. 6. Identify existing or potential pricing structure/methodologies in support of this type of requirement. The proposed solution needs to be compatible to the VA-FSC existing infrastructure which is Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Windows NT compatible. The FSC uses an NEC SV8500 PBX system that has an automated call distribution (ACD) system software solution. BACKGROUND The FSC currently has ten separate Help Desks with various levels of technological support (including phone, hardware, and software). The ten Help Desk areas include: 1. Payroll/PAID2. Permanent Change of Station (PCS)3. Financial Accounting Service (FAS)4. Information Technology (IT)5. Financial Operations Service (FOS) Customer Support6. Financial Operations Service (FOS) Vendorizing7. Financial Operations Service (FOS) Payment Resolution Team.8. Financial Operations Service (FOS) Travel9. Medical Claims10. Management Support Division (MSD) It has been determined that it would be more efficient to have a consolidated Help Desk which will utilize the same phone system (NEC 8500 PBX System) and software. The implementation of this initiative should result in improved quality of service to all VA administrations. The idea is based on the evidence that consolidation and efficiency opportunities increase dramatically with standardization across the VA. Our standardization should include not only mergers of technology, but also strategies toward common organizational structures, procedural approaches, and business models to achieve a common culture with a consistent methodology toward problem resolution. OBJECTIVES The primary objective of this RFI is to identify options that can provide direction to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Financial Services Center (VA-FSC) as it explores solutions for its consolidated help desk needs. The option may include Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as well. To educate the FSC Consolidated Help Desk Committee on installation-wide Help Desk solutions to: Provide a single point of contact for Customers.Provide an installation-wide ticketing system with routing and updating capabilities.Provide a knowledge database for scripts and documented resolutions.Improve service levels due to better call resolution rates.Improve productivity due to wait times and defined talk- time thresholds.Cut costs. Typically based on an assessment of cost per call received. The Help Desk receives, troubleshoots, and responds to end-user problems or requests, logs and tracks the problems or requests, and determines the best manner to address the problems or requests. One of the top priorities of the FSC Help Desk is to ensure a consistent response to problem resolution, service requests, status reporting, and notification of changes related to the information technology environment of the FSC. SCOPE The Help Desk is expected to provide basic problem resolution according to the complexity of the problem, and their experience with the specific problem - the more calls the FSC Help Desk can resolve without escalating to FSC Internal Tier 2 personnel, the better. Calls/inquiries come from a variety of sources regarding a variety of issues; i.e., employees, vendors, veterans, health care providers. Employee calls may be system, travel, or pay related. Vendor calls may be payment related, or assistance on being established in our systems. Veteran and health care provider calls may be payment related or how to file claims. Completing FSC Help Desk ticket information as completely and as accurately as possible to capture basic level 1 information and the problem or request. Customized FSC Helpdesk panels may be developed for specific types of problems to capture additional information that may be useful in solving the problem. Managing the ongoing operation, administration, support, and stability of the FSC Helpdesk and Web Center applications are the backbone of this support model and mission critical to the FSC Help Desk and internal FSC Service Providers. Providing management reporting capabilities from the FSC Helpdesk system to assist FSC Service Providers in gathering and analyzing the information they need to effectively manage FSC Helpdesk tickets assigned to their groups. IT Infrastructure Library or ITIL is the most widely adopted framework for IT Service Management in the world. Tier One of the FSC Consolidated Help Desk will be a combination of functional and IT support. The FSC intends to adopt the ITIL framework for its Help Desk as much as practical. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) should be part of the solution. Working Definition of Help Desk Tier One ServicesBasic level of support where service programs are logged into the FSC Help Desk, triaged, troubleshot, and elementary problems are resolved. Examples of this include but are not limited to: Answer incoming calls and log the problem ticket or change management request into the tracking system.For functional Help Desk questions/issues, provide assistance through the use of prepared scripts and/or Standard Operating Procedures as documented in knowledge base on issues such as vendor inquiries, payment inquiries, and system navigation inquiries. For IT Help Desk questions/issues, perform basic troubleshooting for simple hardware/software problems and provide assistance with commercial off-the-shelf software such as Microsoft Office products. Recognize common problems with other systems and provide solutions as documented in knowledge base.Reset passwords and assist with sign-on problems.Refer problem tickets with complete documentation to second or third level support personnel as defined in the help desk business processes. Working Definition of Help Desk Tier Two ServicesThis level of support is where FSC Help Desk tickets are triaged when tickets cannot be resolved at Tier One. This level consists of Subject Matter Experts in areas outside of the FSC Help Desk, which may be IT related or functional; i.e., (IT, PCS, Payroll, Vendor, Accounting, Health Claims, Facilities Management, etc.) Questions/issues which cannot be resolved at Tier One level are escalated to Tier Two. Professionals in Tier Two have greater technical skills to solve specific problems than first level support personnel. They are considered Subject Matter Experts.Populate applicable problem ticket fields and attach complete documentation.Notification of resolution; i.e., ticket closure, back to Tier One.Update knowledgebase with resolution. Working Definition of Help Desk Tier Three ServicesThis level of support is not generally provided by the FSC Help Desk. However, if the call is received by the FSC Tier One Help Desk; they will log the call and attempt to direct the caller to an appropriate resource. As many calls as possible should be handled by the FSC Help Desk to maintain an accurate record of all service requests. Help Desk and/or CRM Standard Operating ProceduresFSC Help Desk personnel are expected to follow an established Problem Management Process and utilize the FSC Helpdesk application appropriately and to ensure that all problems are handled in a consistent, repeatable, and predictable manner. Examples follow: Acknowledging a service request assigned by the FSC Help Desk entry person.Completing FSC Help Desk log/journal on the status or progress of a ticket at 2 hour intervals.Completing the FSC Help Desk ticket journal upon completion to describe the resolution - this provides a knowledge base of information that can be utilized by all service providers and by the FSC Help Desk support analysts.Providing FSC Help Desk with technical information and problem solving techniques, when requested. When the FSC Help Desk continuously receives problem calls on certain issues, they may request that additional training, FAQs, information websites, and/or documentation be developed or updated to reflect the types of calls being received.Assisting the Help Desk Manager to resolve escalated problems. The Help Desk Manager is responsible for assessing the criticality of a given situation or user and appropriately escalating any special situation to an internal service provider. The Help Desk Manager should exercise discretion in the escalation of any situation - but should expect that the internal service provider will follow through with any FSC Help Desk tickets that are escalated. This will frequently involve upset customers, VIP customers, or critical infrastructure and application failures that are causing a high volume of FSC Help Desk tickets.Any network configuration changes that are made will be noted on the service request for that particular call. Information concerning these changes will be shared with all technicians and affected customers, with the work order number referenced, should additional information be needed. DISCLAIMER This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only and is not a commitment by the Government. This is not a solicitation. An announcement for proposals is not a part of this RFI and a contract will not be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and/or any follow-up information requests. QUESTIONS If you have any questions, please email questions to Vanessa.Barreto@aqd.nbc.gov by March 21, 2011 with RFI FSC Help Desk in the subject line. HOW TO RESPOND Firms interested in performing this requirement may reply to this RFI by April 6, 2011 addressing all of the six (6) items above and any other recommendations, comments or suggestions that may assist the Government with this acquisition. Comments, whether supportive or critical, are earnestly solicited regarding every aspect of this requirement. Please provide your response via email only. There is no page limit for responses. Proprietary processes or data must be clearly marked and documented as such in the response. Email response to Vanessa.Barreto@aqd.nbc.gov with RFI FSC Help Desk in the subject line.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/40793cfe8b186a98e1177f36f097c2ff)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Dept. of Veterans, Financial Services Center (FSC)7600 Metropolis Drive, Bldg. 5Austin, Texas 78744
- Zip Code: 78744
- Zip Code: 78744
- Record
- SN02402176-W 20110318/110316234540-40793cfe8b186a98e1177f36f097c2ff (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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