All vendors are to accept the information contained herein as the official response of IPTC.

Transcription

1 October 14, 2015 To: All Vendors of Record RE: Addendum #2 All vendors are to accept the information contained herein as the official response of IPTC. TO ALL BIDDERS OF RECORD AND TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: This Addendum is being issued prior to the due date for receiving proposals. This Addendum forms a part of the Contract Documents and modifies the original Request for Proposal (RFP) as noted below and shall be incorporated into the Contract Documents. All other provisions of the RFP released September 24, 2015 with the exception of changes below, shall remain unchanged. This Addendum is issued in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Request for Proposal document. All Proposals shall be based upon work as modified by this Addendum. Acknowledged receipt of this Addendum on the Acknowledgement of Addendum Form is required. Failure to do so may result in disqualification of the Bidder. This addendum addresses questions concerning RFP Customer Service Center Operations and includes Report Attachments 1 through 8. 1

2 RFP # CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER OPERATIONS WRITTEN QUESTIONS 1. Will Indygo consider a Canadian Supplier for Call Centre Services? IndyGo will consider proposals from all suppliers that are responsible and responsive for both call center and retail center services. 2. Will Indygo consider a proposal only for Call Centre Services and another provider for Retail Staffing? IndyGo will not entertain proposals that don t provide some solution for both retail and call center. The solution may include primary and sub-contractors. 3. If vendor proposes offsite support for call center then what would IndyGo do with space at new DTC? IPTC would encourage the Downtown Transit Center location to be used for call center and retail center operations. a. Please clarify whether the IPTC provides the remote desktop software and units, or whether the contractor is required to do so, if the contractor provides a call center within the City. IPTC would prefer that the vendor supply and support the desktop machines that would run IPTC licensed software through virtual desktop environment. However, proposals that do not include a hardware solution will still be entertained. 4. Transition by January 1, 2016 (less than 30 days over the holidays) is very risky and may be extremely difficult. Does IndyGo have flexibility in this target date? IPTC is currently negotiating a contract extension with the incumbent vendor with the hopes that an amended transition date for this contract could move to March Can current contractors doing business at Indy/IPTC bid on this RFP as a prime contractor? As a subcontractor? Please explain if there are any restrictions or conflicts of interest with current vendors as to potential involvement in this RFP. IPTC encourages current vendors to bid on this procurement whether prime or sub. 6. The contract term is three years with two one year options, however, the Bid Cost Offer Form on page 20 appear to request pricing for year one only. If so, how are prices for years 2 5 to be determined? Is the contractor expected to provide one flat rate that will remain fixed over the 5-year period? IPTC expects pricing for the full term of the contract. The prices for years 2-5 should be provided by the vendor in their proposal. 2

3 7. Please provide the value of the current contract and the type of units used for billing (calls, passes, hours, mailings, etc.). For the call center, the current agreement is a flat monthly fee of $38, plus pass through expenses for postage and office supplies. The term of this contract was a 5 year contract with five 1-year options starting in For the retail center staff, IPTC pays a flat $10,000 per month and directly manages ancillary costs for postage and office supplies. 8. Please clarify whether the IPTC or the contractor is responsible for maintaining the website. The website content is maintained internally by IPTC marketing and communications staff. Web development, support and technical maintenance is handled through an outside contract. 9. Please provide the make, model and functionality of the IVR. The IVR is a Genesis platform, customized and implemented by Trapeze Group, IPTC s vendor for Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) hardware and software vendor. The integration will only give users access to real-time bus arrival information and schedules. 10. Please clarify whether the IPTC staff member will continue to be assigned to oversee the retail center of whether the Contract will assume these duties. If the IPTC employee is displaced as a result of this contract, will there be Public Transit Employee Protections ramifications under 49 U.S.C. 5333(b) (formerly 13(c))? If so, who will be responsible? The day to day management and oversight of the retail operation will be the contractor s responsibility. The staff member is not a bargaining unit employee protected under 13(c). 11. In order to retain the existing employees, enable a rapid transition, and reduce disruption, please provide the following information concerning the existing call center and retail center employees: If employees are represented by a Union, please provide the following: Call center workers are not represented by a Union and are employees of First Group. For details about insurance and other benefits offered by First Group, please contact Sharad Agarwal via at sharad.argawal@firstgroup.com. Retail center workers are employees of MV Transportation Inc. and are represented by Teamsters. For additional details on contract arrangements between MV and their employees, please contact Ed Overn via at eovern@mvtansit.com. i... A copy of the current, or most recent, labor agreement covering the represented employees. ii... The name of the Union, the Union Local number and the name of the Union s business agent. 3

4 iii... A copy of the 5333 (b) (Formerly 13(c)) agreement between the Union and the IPTC. Please provide the following information about the current employees: iv. The number of full-time and the number of part-time employees, along with their hire dates or seniority. v... The name and plan design summary of the current medical insurance plan(s) provided to the employees. vi... Employer/Employee cost-sharing amounts for each coverage tier, deductibles and co-pays, and the effective plan year or renewal date and any other current benefit plan design (medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance)information. vii. Whether part-time employees receive benefits. viii. The benefit eligibility waiting period (i.e. 0, 30, 60, 90 days)? ix. Any Retirement Benefits are currently offered union and nonunion employees (i.e. 401(k), pension, 457 Plan, retiree medical, retiree life, etc.)? x. The current employer contribution, vesting schedule and waiting periods for any retirement plans offered? xi. Descriptions of any shift premiums, lunch/break provisions, or other work rules that impact productivity and resulting labor costs. xii. The current turnover rate for call center and retail center employees. xiii. The current overtime experienced (percentage of hours at overtime rate) for call takers. xiv. Whether employee bonuses or performance bonuses are currently offered to employees. 12. What languages other than English are required to be handled by the call center? How many calls per day are received by language category? The call center has traditionally staffed at least one full time Spanish speaking representative to ensure good service for Spanish speaking representatives. The call center receives approximately 30 Spanish calls per day (or per month). Very rarely are there requests for other languages. IPTC has arranged for the current contractor to use Language Line for 3 rd party phone translation in more than 150 other languages. Proposals may include other solutions for language access, but IPTC would prefer at least one staffed Spanish position. 13. Please clarify whether the IPTC expects the downtown retail center space to continue to be operated, or whether the operation will be shifted to the Transit Center. In early 2016, the retail center will move to the Downtown Transit Center. Until the center opens, IPTC will maintain a lease at 34 N. Delaware for the operation of the Transit Center. 14. Please clarify who will be responsible for the cleaning/janitorial service for the IPTC provided call center and retail spaces? IPTC will be responsible for janitorial services for both the call and retail centers at the Downtown Transit Center location. 4

5 15. Please clarify whether the IPTC or the contractor will be responsible for postage and postage equipment. If the contractor, please provide the number of mailings per month or year that are currently sent. IPTC will entertain proposals that cover postage costs as part of an inclusive fee, or bidders could propose to pass through postage expenses to IPTC. Please find postage history in Attachment Please indicate the total number of tickets/passes have been sold per year for past 5-years. Please also provide the total number of fixed route trips per year for the same period. The Monthly Sales Report includes the number of passes and dollar amounts from 2012 to current Find Monthly Sales Report in Attachment Please clarify whether the contractor is responsible for lost or stolen passes in its control. IPTC expects the contractor to maintain accurate inventory and deposits that reconcile within the acceptable variance posted in the RFP. Lost or stolen inventory resulting in an unfavorable variance outside the acceptable window will be the responsibility of the vendor. However, IPTC does have the ability to invalidate lost or stolen passes in the event of a trackable incident (ie, video recorded theft at the retail center or passes that become lost or stolen in the mail after the order has been filled and the inventory has been assigned to a transaction). 18. Please provide the last 3-years of audit reports indicating whether a variance was shown in the inventory versus receipts. IPTC has a monthly variance report available from January 2013 to August Please see Attachment Please clarify whether the IPTC provides an area for contractor employee parking at the DTC. If not, please provide the average cost of parking in the downtown area. Would the IPTC consider providing free or deeply discounted bus passes for the contractor s employees? IPTC contractors do ride IndyGo fixed route service for free. No parking will be provided for employee parking at the DTC. Free parking is available at IPTC headquarters, 1501 W Washington Street, a 7 minute bus ride from the DTC. 20. Please clarify the IPTC s expectations for the business continuity plan, when the IPTC provides the servers, much of the hardware and much of the software. Please provide a copy of the IPTC s business continuity plan to allow a contractor to ensure its plan can be integrated with the IPTC s. 5

6 Regardless of local emergencies (especially snow), the call and retail center are expected to operate on normal business hours. In extreme cases, or in cases when infrastructure or facilities have been compromised, IPTC will work with the contractor to ensure continuity. IPTC hopes that this contract would come with additional resources to provide resiliency in the event IPTC infrastructure (particularly the phone system) is inoperable due to physical damage at an IPTC facility. The full business continuity plan for IPTC is currently being revised. Proposals should demonstrate the bidders are equipped to be a partner in the continuity of service in the event of an emergency. 21. Page 7 of the RFP indicated that the hours of service for the call center will change when the Downtown Transit Center opens. Please provide the number of months or days or date that contractor should consider prior to the DTC being opened, in order that everyone has consistent expectations and can provide pricing under the same assumptions. The expected opening date for the DTC is mid-june IPTC expects that the winning vendor under this contract will take full operation of the call and retail centers in March Page 8 indicates that the IPTC has a relationship with a ticket reseller to sell its passes. Please clarify whether the contractor is responsible for distributing tickets to the reseller and whether those tickets are delivered by contractor staff or mailed. The contractor will be responsible for maintaining this relationship and filling orders. The reseller occasionally asks for orders to be mailed and occasionally comes in for pick-up. 23. Page 10 asks contractors to propose a per event cost or base monthly rate. Please define event in this context. Please also provide any historical information for the past 5-years for the event as defined. Bidders may propose a fee per call or sales order filled, or may propose a monthly rate that will cover all calls and sales transactions. Please refer to Attachments 2, 4 and 5 for additional statistics on call and sales volumes. 24. Page 11 shows the equipment provided by the IPTC. Page 12, first paragraph states that the IPTC would like the contractor to consider upgrading some of the equipment/software. Page 12, third paragraph states that the contractor is responsible for the cost of office equipment, computer hardware and computer software. For the sake of consistency, please clarify the equipment and software the IPTC would like to replace under this contract. Or, that existing equipment and technology will be available to use. IPTC would eventually replace desktop computers and the Quickbooks POS and retail sales platform if proposals do not include a satisfactory solution for upgrading. The upgrade project is not currently in development in-house at IPTC. However, some bidders may already operate upgraded retail platforms that could bring considerable value as part of this procurement. The aim of the RFP was to allow the current platform to live on until, either, IPTC can upgrade OR a vendor can implement a solution as part of the contract. IPTC will review proposals that do not replace technology, but we highly value added capacity that vendors can bring as part of a comprehensive solution to operate the call and retail center. This is a best value procurement. 6

7 Also see answer to question 3a. Additionally, any proposals to use IPTC supplied space, infrastructure or technology must be expressly for the dedicated operation of IPTC customer service program. 25. Please provide a detailed list of equipment and software provided, including: description, make, model, software version, and year purchased. Hardware Call Center- Samsung NC Retail Center- Call Center Software: Windows 7 Office 2010 GIRO Hastus 2015 Trapeze Transitmaster v TrendMicro Antivirus Also see answer to question 45b Retail Center Software: 26. Page 14, pricing requires that the contractor show benefit of collected revenue for IPTC as well as benefit for improved workflow/technology. Please clarify what is required under this section. It is our understanding that the technical proposal will indicate the benefits of workflow and technology. How should a contractor indicate this in the pricing proposal? IPTC expects to see additional costs for the technology broken out in the price proposal and not presented a one fee. If the vendor is charging any processing fees for the collection of revenue (i.e. credit card fees, bank fees, etc.), IPTC would expect to see those as separate costs in the price proposal as well. 27. Within Article VIII Insurance, provision 8.5, page 46, the IPTC is requiring pollution liability coverage; would a separate insurance policy be acceptable to meet this requirement? Pollution liability coverage is not required for this solicitation. 28. Within several places of Article VIII (8.7, 8.10, 8.11), IPTC is requiring conflicting requirements for the insurance cancelation notice. Please confirm that IPTC is requiring the industry standard policy notice is thirty (30) Days for Cancellation ten (10) days in the event of non-payment). Article VIII (8.7, 8.10, 8.11) states that policies may be terminated with at least thirty (30) days prior written notice given to Owner by the insurance carrier or its agent with the exception that 7

8 29. Within Article VIII, provision 8.11, the IPTC is requiring that evidence is required thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of an existing policy. In order to obtain the best possible policy conditions and pricing often renewals are not finalized until 15 days prior to expiration. Please confirm that IPTC will modify language to read No less than fourteen (14) days after the expiration, cancellation or termination of any such policy, Provider shall supply Owner with a new and replacement Certificate of Insurance and Additional Insured endorsement as proof of renewal of the original policy and coverage, with such new or replacement policy and endorsements in the same manner and for the same coverage and amounts in favor of Owner as set forth in this Article. Article VIII, 8.11 does state in the last sentence of that section No less than fourteen (14) days prior to the expiration, cancellation or termination of any such policy, Provider shall supply Owner with a new and replacement Certificate of Insurance and Additional Insured endorsement as proof of renewal of the original policy and coverage, with such new or replacement policy and endorsements in the same manner and for the same coverage and amounts in favor of Owner as set forth in this Article. 30. Please provide the list of attendees at the pre-bid meeting. The list of attendees at the pre-bid meeting held on October 1, 2015 has been posted under attachments to the RFP # Customer Service Center Operations website at coverage may be terminated upon ten (10) days written notice provided to Owner for nonpayment Will there be an opportunity for follow-up questions after a response from the IPTC has been received? Selected vendors may be asked to participate in an interview session which may afford an opportunity for additional responses. 32. Is there an organization chart available which will delineate all of the roles within the CSC the contractor will be responsible for? IPTC does not dictate organizational structure of its vendors. The contractor will be required to comply with SLAs as negotiated in a final agreement. Oversight of the contract performance will be maintained by various IPTC staff including the marketing and finance departments. Please refer to the RFP for delineation of contractor responsibilities. 33. Once the DTC Call Center opens, the CSC will be open an additional 9 hours per week. Has any statistical analysis been completed which can quantify the impact this will have on call volume? No 8

9 34. Is there data on how the additional work hours will impact staffing needs? Demand for the call center service is driven mostly by travel patterns and number of buses in operation each hour of the service day. Please see Crude Peak Time Analysis in Attachment 6 that shows number of buses in operation each hour of each day. Please refer to Peak Vehicle reports in Attachment 7 for a frame of reference. An additional sample report with hourly call data to illustrate the typical peak is posted. More data for peak times are being collected and synthesized into a report that will be published soon. 35. Is there a revenue based target for calls? No. 36. Are there current metrics or SLA s in place with the current vendors? The only metrics currently measured are the answer rate. The contractual minimum is 90%. Anything beyond 2 minutes in the queue is counted as an abandoned call. a. If so, can you share the current metrics/sla s that are tracked and measured? Please see Call Center Answer Rate report Attachment What other customer/pos services (automation, web purchase capability, enhancements to IVR, mobile applications, etc.), are planned for the next year? IVR for next bus arrivals and schedule data, real time arrivals integrated on Google Maps, as well as text for next information for real time bus arrivals are anticipated to be operational before the end of Real time arrival screens and touch screen information kiosks will be deployed at the DTC in Additionally, a handful of real time arrival screens could be installed at major downtown stops within a year. All other improvements to passenger information and ticketing are beyond a one year horizon. a. How are those expected to impact call and fulfillment activity/volumes? No statistical analysis or surveys have been done on what the specific impact will be on call volumes. Approximately 80% of all callers are strictly looking for next bus arrival times. Best estimations are that with an operational IVR, text message system, the DTC real time arrival system and real time arrivals on Google Maps, the call center could realize volume reductions in the order of 30-40%. IPTC may bind value in proposals with a scaled price structure for operation of the call center based on required staff or volumes. 38. Are fare-boxes currently or capable of being equipped with barcode scanners in addition to the magnetic strip readers? Current farebox configurations are not compatible with barcode scanners. There are long term plans to modernize the fare collection system; however, significant back office system work, hardware upgrades and funding requests must be undertaken. Additionally, IPTC will be studying the fare structure to identify opportunities to offer new fare products (ie stored value versus unlimited use passes) in the next several months. The results of the study will help inform the direction of technology investments. 9

10 39. Has budget been allocated to fund this project? IPTC has budgeted federal funding for the call center and retail center operations. a. If so, can that be shared with vendors? IPTC s financial reports can be found on our website Is it possible to re-badge existing call center and retail services staff? Yes. a. If so, will there be opportunity for the new vendor to interview current Customer Services and Retail staff upon award? Yes, if the winning bidder would like to transition existing contracted staff, IPTC would encourage an interview process. 41. Is there currently a training program provided to Customer Services Staff that outlines their responsibilities and system instruction? A limited training program has been developed by the current contractor. a. If so, can this be provided to vendors for further clarification on current operations? Please refer to contact information for the current vendors in question Is it a preference of IndyGo for vendors to process payments and fulfillment and remit payment to IndyGo? a. Or is it the desire of IndyGo that the vendor processes all payments in the IndyGo payment systems for immediate transfer? IPTC would prefer all payments would be handled by the contractor, especially if there are POS improvements being proposed. See answers to questions 3a and Is there a current Exit Plan in place with current vendors that will provide appropriate handoff of Customer Service Operations? IPTC expects to receive proposals from vendors on a transition plan. The new contract will start before the current contract expires so that a seamless transition can occur. Please see answer to question 4. a. If no, is there a plan to create an exit strategy as the incumbent vendors end services, that will provide some efficiency to the hand-off process? The new vendor and the current vendor will work with IPTC to finalize a transition plan, but proposals should address an approach for transition. See answers to questions 4 and 45. b. It has been stated that IndyGo will provide the required systems and access to those systems. If the vendor is to provide devices (PC s), are there specific system requirements that can be shared to ensure compatibility with IndyGo systems and network capability? Access to the IPTC system will be via VMWare Horizon View client or Teradici PCoIP client. Please see the requirements located here for the VMWare 10

11 client: _horizon_clients/3_0 44. It has been stated that IndyGo will provide phone capability with your existing Avaya phone system. Will access to Administrative portions of the phone systems be made available to the vendor (CMS, PBX and Reporting)? Yes with administrative oversight. 45. It has been stated that IndyGo will provide facilities for the Customer Services activity. Does this include furniture such as desks, chairs etc.? Yes. 46. Is it possible for a vendor to provide basic call services at go-live and implement new systems to manage and track calls and fulfillment information in a phased approach? Yes. See answers to questions 4 and 45. Technology implementation could be rolled into a transition approach proposal or could be a stand-alone phase of the contract work. 47. Is there a backup facility in the event of a disaster where services can be performed? IPTC will work with the contractor to provide limited services. 48. What is the business continuity/disaster recovery capability for the Avaya phone systems (CMS, PBX and Reporting) managed by IndyGo? The full business continuity plan for IPTC is currently being revised. Proposals should demonstrate the bidders are equipped to be a partner in the continuity of service in the event of an emergency. 49. Will IPTC consider extending the due date for proposals for this RFP? IPTC will not accept proposals after the due date deadline of October 28, 2:00pm. 50. Can you please give instruction on how to organize the technical proposal? Should respondents organize the response in the order of the scope of work or would the agency prefer a different structure? Each proposal will be evaluated as a whole with best value in mind. Bidders are encouraged to be creative in achieving efficiency and meeting basic requirements outlined in the RFP. 51. The submittal instructions request an electronic submission on a CD. Would the agency allow electronic submissions on flash drives instead of on a CD? Yes 52. Can you confirm that the Retail Center s hours of operation will not change with the opening of the DTC? The proposed hours in the RFP are not final; however, when the DTC opens, IPTC does plan to expand retail center hours beyond what s currently offered. 11

12 53. May the Customer Satisfaction survey be conducted via and on-line survey tools? Yes. Phone surveys are acceptable as well. 54. Please confirm that inventory for tickets will be transferred to the contractor without charge and that payment for inventory used is made after the tickets are disbursed? Yes. IPTC will transfer ticket inventory and will receive monthly reimbursements as tickets are sold. 55. Would IPTC consider changes to the contract (Section 1.5, page 6; Section 3, page 34) regarding extensions as follows: The term of this contract may be extended upon mutual agreement of both parties for additional years, at the rates agreed to by the parties. After the solicitation has been awarded to the selected vendor, the terms of the contract will be discussed individually. 56. Would the IPTC consider modifying the Termination for Convenience provision (paragraph 9.3) to allow for both parties the opportunity to terminate should contract conditions become unfavorable? See answers to question Is there a requirement for MBE or WBE vendors? There is not a requirement for MBE or WBE. This solicitation does have a DBE requirement and IPTC encourages the partnership for vendors to use DBE as well as MBE, WBE, VBE or DOBE contractors. 12