Department of Defense, OSD/WHS, Real Estate and Facilities Directorate, Support Service Division, Procurement Branch, Room 3C345 Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1155

R -- STENOGRAPHER/TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES SOL MDA94697Q3056. Due 112596. Contact Alvina Frazier, 703/695-5184/Contracting Officer, Donna Truesdel, 703/695-4905. (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services 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; quoters are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) Solicitation Number MDA94697Q3056 is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular Vol 60, No. 180, dated 9/18/95. (iv) This solicitation is a small business set aside. The applicable Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC) for this procurement is 7389. The corresponding size standard is 5.0 Million. This procurement is not covered by the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program. (v) Listing of line items, 0001, Same Day - No Notice, $--/page. 0002, Same Day - Non Business Hours, $--/page. 0003, Same Day - Previously Scheduled, $--/page. 0004, 24-Hour Turnaround, $--/page. (vi) Description of Requirement. OBJECTIVE: Contractor to provide a series of transcription services on a twenty-four hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week basis, for all news and background briefings, interviews and speeches conducted by the Secretary of Defense and other selected senior DOD officials. Work shall be performed on site in the Pentagon from an audio tape recording or from contractor's place of business when audio is fed through the telephone to the contractor's modem. Both methods shall be available with the method determined by the content of the event to be transcribed. Background briefings (attributed to a DoD spokesman or office and not regularly scheduled), unscheduled news briefings (attributed to a specific DoD spokesman or office and not regularly scheduled), and regularly scheduled news briefings (attributed to a specific DoD spokesman or office) should normally be transcribed and received by Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) (OASD/PA) within two hours following contractor receipt of audio feed via modem or audio tape. Most briefings shall be fed via audio console from the DoD studio through the telephone line to contractor's modem. If the briefing is not conducted in the DoD studio, an audio tape shall be fed to the contractor's modem. Regularly scheduled briefings are every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:30 p.m., although they may be delayed or canceled due to the unpredictability of news events and schedules of the senior DoD leadership. Every effort shall be made by OASD/PA to advise contractor of delay or cancellation. OASD/PA shall provide advance notification of unscheduled briefings, but notice may be as little as one hour due to the unpredictability of news events. Most briefings shall be conducted in the early afternoon on a normal work day. Approximately one in ten briefings shall be conducted before noon or after 4 p.m. or on a weekend or holiday. For example, of the 98 briefings conducted from January 1, 1994, to September 26, 1994, only three were conducted before noon and four were conducted between 4-5:30 p.m. Of those 98 briefings, 63 were regularly scheduled, none were conducted on a weekend or holiday. Speeches and interviews are from audio tapes made by OASD/PA personnel during the actual event and shall either be delivered to the Contractor (if work is performed on-site in the Pentagon) or fed through the telephone line to contractor's modem. These scripts shall be completed within four hours of receipt of the audio tape or modem transmission if received before noon on a normal work day. If received after noon, the transcript shall be due the next normal work day by noon, unless advised by OASD/PA when it will be required earlier due to the content of the transcribed text. OASD/PA shall make every effort to provide notification of upcoming speeches and interviews. However, notification for interview transcription may be as little as two hours due to unpredictability of news events. Approximately one-half of the total number of required transcripts shall be from speeches or interviews. Periodically, the contractor shall be required to come to the Pentagon to directly transcribe critical briefings or interviews. Contractor shall be given as much notice as possible but may have as little as two hour notice. A Pentagon building pass and parking permit shall be issued and picked up in room 2E765, The Pentagon. Critical briefings and interviews include those conducted during US military contingencies and to announce key appointments and new weapons systems or programs. The contractor may be required to performed on-site transcription approximately one month, unless there is a contingency or operations in which the transcriber may be required for on-site transcription service approximately twice a week. Responsibility for transcribing services after regular business hours (8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday) shall be rotated on a seven-day basis to ensure such services are available and provided on a continuous basis; seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Transcripts range in length from two to thirty-five pages; with an average of twelve pages. In the required month, approximately thirty transcripts shall be required. Approximately one-half of the transcripts (primarily briefings) shall be required for same-day turnaround in a one-year period. Of those same-day transcripts, approximately ten may be after normal duty hours, on weekends or holidays. During a contingency, such as Desert Storm or Uphold Democracy, transcript requests for briefings, speeches and/or interviews will significantly increase. For example, during the height of Desert Storm, an average of four briefings requiring transcripts were conducted daily for a three-month period. The contractor shall provide increased transcribing services during a contingency period. Contractor shall provide all transcribing equipment, supplies and materials. Associated Press Stylebook standard for spelling, punctuation and grammar shall be used; and AP Stylebook shall be provided to the contractor at no cost by OASD/PA. Contractor shall have capability to log in and transfer completed transcripts remotely via telephone model and have equipment able to receive both low and broadcast quality analog audio sent via a three kHz telephone line. This modem shall be able to accept one kHz test tone without disconnecting and accept at least 30 seconds of ``dead air'' without disconnecting. Contractor equipment and software shall be compatible with OASD/PA equipment which equipment includes a PC with a 2400 bps modem using Procomm communication software, which will be upgraded to a minimum 14.4 bps modem during this contractor period. Transcription shall be accomplished using computer software compatible with Microsoft Word 6.0 so that OASD/PA personnel can prepare transcripts for various type of distribution. Contractor shall be responsible and pay for all telephone charges related to downloading completed transcripts. The government shall be responsible for all telephone charges related to providing audio recording or transmitting the audio. Contractor shall have knowledge of military terms and names and current media issues. All briefings, speeches and interviews will be conducted on an unclassified basis; contractor will not have access to classified material. (vii) Date of Delivery to be specified by TASK ORDER. Place of Delivery/Acceptance: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), Pentagon, Room 2E765, Washington DC 20301-1155. FOB Point: Destination. DELIVERABLES: Transcripts shall normally be provided within two hours of receipt of a modem feed or audio tape if a briefing, or four hours of receipt of a modem feed or audio tape if speeches or interviews, unless otherwise requested due to the content of the event or extraordinary length of the event. Completed transcripts will be fed via modem to OASD/PA, or if completed on site, provided on computer disc. OASD/PA shall advise contractor of priority of transcription if more than one is required at the same time. Transcripts shall be prepared in a single space narrative format with double-space between paragraphs. Page margins shall be no more than one-inch each side, top and bottom. Font will be Century Schoolbook or Times New Roman, 12-point type. The document shall include name of the event, time, date, location and names of principals participating in the event. Each speaker shall be identified whenever possible at the start of his or her comments. Estimated works per page is between 21 (approximately one line of text that may conclude transcript) and 640 works. Sample transcription can be provided upon request. Contractors shall provide verbatim transcripts, but omit expressions such as ``umm'' or ``ah''. Contrator shall also indicate in brackets when the interview, speech or briefing is interrupted or a point when the tape is inaudible. Incomplete thoughts, false starts, or changes in syntax shall be set with two dashes in the middle of a sentence. If they begin a sentence, complete the incomplete thought, false start or change in syntax set with an ellipsis and being a new sentence. Transcripts shall contain no more than two grammar or punctuation errors per transcript. OASD/PA shall provide a spelling list of names, geographic references, military terms that are part of current events and will update it as necessary. (viii) FAR Clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial applies to this acquisition. (ix) FAR Clause 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items is not included. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and award a contract without discussions. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussion if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all quotes if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest quote; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. (x) Offerors are required to provide a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items with their proposal. (xi) FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. Addenda to this provision has been issued: Wage Determination No: 94-2103, Revision No: 8, Date of Last Revision: 12/08/1995. (xii) FAR Clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items. Applicable Clauses: FAR 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52.225-19, 52.222-41, 52.222-42, 52.222-44. (xiii) N/A. (xiv) N/A. (xv) See Numbered Note 1. (xvi) Offers are due: Date: November 25, 1996 Time: 1400 hours. Place: Support Services Division, Room 3C345, Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1155. (xvii) Point of Contact: Alvina Frazier, 703/695-5184. (309)

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