1. May companies outside of the United States respond to this RFP?

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1 Telephonic Interpretation Language Services RFP Project # 6468 Questions & Answers April 5, May companies outside of the United States respond to this RFP? All respondents to this RFP solicitation must be registered to do business in New York State. Furthermore, the sourcing of services related to the RFP scope to companies that are not registered in New York State will not be considered. 2. Is this RFP open to out-of-state vendors? Would we need a New York State license? Please refer to Response #1. 3. May respondent proposals be submitted via ? No. Proposals must be submitted in person, via US postal service, local courier service or a national overnight courier service. ed or faxed proposals will not be accepted. 4. May we attend the pre-proposal meeting via conference call? No. 5. What is the estimated value of this contract? NYCEDC estimates that this contract will not exceed $100K. 6. Can we bid on telephonic interpretation services only or is it necessary to bid on all services, including CART? Respondents submitting proposals in response to this RFP may limit their proposals to telephonic services. However, their bid must cover all telephonic services outlined in the Scope of Services. 1

2 7. Is there a primary reason for this RFP? NYCEDC is committed to equal access and complies with all federal laws concerning equal access and non-discrimination. NYCEDC recognizes that language access services are an important best practice for our organization. 8. Can you please provide an estimation of the number of caller minutes- monthly and annually- that you anticipate being generated for telephonic interpretation per this project? What percentage of those calls would be in Spanish? NYCEDC cannot provide an estimate of the anticipated number of calls that will be received by our office for telephonic interpretation services nor the percentage of those calls that would require telephonic interpretation in Spanish. 9. Is there an incumbent vendor of telephonic-interpretation services for your organization? Is there any historical data for telephone services? No. This is a new NYCEDC Language Services Contract. Therefore, there are no incumbent rates or historical data which represent benchmarks that may be referenced concerning telephonic interpretation services. 10. What is the historical volume for each service required in this RFP? Please refer to Response # What is the historical spend of each service required in this RFP? Please refer to Response # Does your organization anticipate any challenges in identifying a Respondent who can fulfill the services in the RFP s scope? No. 13. What is the expected volume of this contract? We cannot project the expected volume of this contract. However, the core services provided by NYCEDC are consistent with our mission as an economic development agency and therefore unlikely likely to generate the level of language services volume associated with more external-facing agencies such as the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, for example. 2

3 14. Can you provide the current rate per minute that you are paying for telephonic-interpretation services? This is a new contract and there is no incumbent vendor for these services. 15. How will cost be evaluated for RFP respondents/ ratings offerors? See Part I, Section 2.28 of the RFP for an explanation of the evaluation criteria. 16. Is there an evaluation template that will be used? Please refer to Response # Will the unit cost be used or the unit cost times the quantities provided to come up with a unit cost? Since quantities that will be required under the contract have not been determined at this time, NYCEDC anticipates using unit cost as the basis for pricing comparison among Respondents. 18. Will cost be evaluated on the base year or total including option years? The cost will be evaluated on the base years of the contract. 19. What percentage or weight does cost carry in the overall RFP? Please refer to Response # What is the average length of a call for telephonic interpretation? Please refer to Response # What are the volume estimates per language for telephonic interpretation? Please refer to Response # Can CART requests be fulfilled with Video Remote interpretation utilizing ASL interpreters? Yes. 3

4 23. What is the expected number of minutes required for CART or sign language interpretation? We are not able to project user demand for CART or sign language interpretation. Please refer to Responses #9 and # Will more points awarded to a vendor providing a higher percentage of MWBE participation or will the evaluation criteria for MWBE participation account for other factors? For instance, will a vendor with 5% participation be awarded fewer points than a vendor with 20% participation? The Participation Goal is expressed as a range, the lower bound (5%) of which will be the minimal participation goal for which NYCEDC will award points in the selection criteria. The high percentage in the range represents the optimum participation goal. Respondents submitting proposals with a Participation Goal lower than the minimal participation goal of 5% shall receive a score of zero (0) for selection criteria. All submitted plans will be scored against each other respectively depending on the self-set goal. Those proposing on the high end of the range will receive the most points and those responding on the lower end of the range will receive the least amount of points. 25. Is there an exemption to the MWBE goal for any proposer who does not intend to subcontract any portion of the work? No. The proposing firm must make all good faith efforts to try to meet at least 5%, or the proposed self-set goal, of M/WBE participation on this contract. 26. What percentage of subcontracting is allowed for telephonic interpretation? Can a vendor subcontract 100% of the volume? Subcontracting 100% of the services to be provided under this contract is prohibited. Prime Respondents are expected to provide a significant portion of the Services. 27. Will NYCEDC accept a rate for Spanish broken out separately, and a rate for all other languages? Please provide pricing rate per Language tier. However, respondents may also submit different rates for individual languages as an alternate pricing proposal. Please see Response #40 re: alternate pricing submissions. 4

5 28. What is the estimated number of dual handset phones required? We do not anticipate that more than two set of dual handset phones will be required; again, this is a new contract with no incumbent benchmarking data. 29. Will NYCEDC accept electronic copies of training materials rather than printed materials? Yes. 30. Could NYCEDC confirm that answering calls within 3 telephone rings refers to the speed of the answer before the call answering machine begins? Yes, this is correct. 31. If a vendor s telephony platform is able to handle call volumes through one toll-free number, will NYCEDC accept using one toll-free number rather than three? A submission that proposes one toll-free number for meeting our service needs will be considered. 32. The RFP states that the consultant will provide a voice-over filecould NYCEDC confirm that the vendor will need to record the interpretation in each of the languages requested? Yes, the vendor would need to record the voice-over in the languages requested by NYCEDC. 33. What are the estimated annual minutes required for telephonic services? See Response # How frequently will voice over messages be changed and how many differing messages does NYCEDC expect? We cannot predict the circumstances that will necessitate a change in voiceover messages or how many different messages NYCEDC may need outside of its normal business operations. 5

6 35. Could NYCEDC confirm the percentage of calls expected to be emergency in nature that will need to be prioritized over customer service calls? No. 36. The RFP states that the vendor will provide necessary equipment including monitors and booths. Could NYCEDC clarify that this does not apply to telephonic interpretation? This requirement does not apply to telephonic interpretation services. 37. Is it your intention to award to multiple vendors or one vendor providing all services? Part I, Section 1 of the RFP states NYCEDC may select one or more consultants. In addition, see Part II, Section 7.6 titled NYCEDC Rights. 38. Is this a multiple source contract? Please refer to Response # If multiple vendors are selected, how will the work be divided and what does your current disbursement strategy look like? If multiple vendors are selected a determination of the division of work will be made at that time. 40. Should each copy of the proposal be submitted in a separate envelope or may we group all proposal volumes, pricing volumes, etc. in a single envelope by volume? There should be five separate, sealed envelopes for each hard copy version of the cover letter, proposal, pricing sheet, DBA Data Form, and M/WBE submission. Alternate pricing proposals should also be divided into separate envelopes with the Service Category clearly labeled on the outside of the envelope. 41. Where should the cover letter be included: See Response # Will the sign-in sheet from the pre-proposal meeting be made available online? Yes. The sign-in sheet will be available at: 6

7 Questions Raised during the Pre-Bid Conference re: Telephonic- Interpretation Services 1. Could you please clarify the different types of phone interpretation services as described in your slides? Telephonic interpretation services as set forth in the RFP are divided into three categories: On-Demand- The on-demand service option would provide telephonic interpretation services based on an unscheduled need for interpretation services by a staffer in response to engagement with an LEP individual. Ondemand presumes that both the NYCEDC staffer receiving call and the LEP can communicate well to determine the language in which assistance must be rendered. The billing structure will reflect the actual minutes usage incurred in the conversation that takes place. On-demand anticipates brief calls where the LEP caller is only seeking information in response to a few questions, not more extensive consultation or substantive guidance from our office. Call Center Assistance The call center service option would provide telephonic interpretation services when the LEP caller is seeking more extensive subject matter consultation or guidance about an EDC project or program. The optimal use of this option would be executed via a scheduled conference call or phone briefing by a staff persons or persons to an LEP individual or group. Customer Service Connection Assistance- This option would be needed when an LEP caller contacts our office and the staffer receiving the call needs assistance in determining what the basic caller query is or what language is being spoken. This option would also be used in connection with a voice-over file or emergency-related messaging. 2. What is the anticipated number of minutes of phone interpretation services per month for foreign language and for CART? See Responses # 9, 13, and How are you handling your telephonic interpretation service times without a service provider? If the NYCEDC staffer is able to identify the language of the LEP caller, then the call is routed to another NYCEDC staff person who is proficient in the language of the LEP caller. 7

8 4. Can you explain about 15% MWBE? If we are MWBE certified, do we automatically meet the minimum? Or must we subcontract with MWBEs to provide products and services within the participation goal range stated in the RFP? If you are a New York City-certified MWBE firm registered with the Department of Small Business, you automatically meet the MWBE requirements of the contract. For the second part of this question, please see Response # Given the existing NYC and NYS contracts in place for language services, why is NYCEDC issuing a new bid? Will this represent a separate contract or agreement? NYCEDC is neither a state agency nor a city agency. Therefore, it may not access language services from either the state or DCAS citywide contract. This contract will represent a separate and new contract for NYCEDC. 6. Will this contract allow for other services outside of over the phone interpretation, eg. Video Remote Interpretation (VRI), Video for Spoken Language, On-Site ASL, Translation of Documents, Website. Please refer to the RFP s Scope of Services for Telephonic and In-Person Interpretation services. NYCEDC has a separate contract for document translation and utilizes Google Translate for its website. 7. What has been budgeted for this contract? A final determination has not yet been reached by NYCEDC. 8. For the implementation of new projects, will NYCEDC provide the successful vendor with planning and background information on the type of event for which interpretation services are needed? Yes. NYCEDC staff will brief the vendor and their assigned interpreter about the event and relevant subject matter. If there are specific industry terms of terms of art, the vendor will be briefed on that as well. 8