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#QuestionAnswer1What are the user profiles for headsets (e.g. call center, office worker, remote worker, mobile worker)?Headsets will be utilized for a variety of users based upon agency needs and cover all examples given. 2What type of headsets are you looking for (corded, wireless, or both)? How many of each variation? Mono or Dual Ear preference?The commonwealth is looking for an offering of compatible headsets that will work with the solutions defined within this RFP. Agencies purchase headsets as the need arises. 3Should a USB speakerphone also be proposed? Personal, small group and/or small to medium size roomsThe commonwealth is looking for an offering of compatible hardware that will work with the solutions defined within this RFP. Solutions above and beyond requirements are welcomed. 4Do you need the headsets to work with the PC (S4B only) or also need connectivity to desk phones and mobile phones?The commonwealth will utilize headsets in a variety of manners including PC softphone only, PC and desk phone, desk phone only, mobile devices, and “all-in-one”. Offerors may propose multiple solutions to cover the gambit of scenarios. 5What environments will the headsets be used in (office quiet, open office moderate noise, noisy environment)?Headsets will be utilized in any given environment as deemed necessary by agencies. 6Do you need call control on the headset?The commonwealth is looking for an offering of compatible hardware that will work with the solutions defined within this RFP. Solutions above and beyond requirements are welcomed.7What is your biggest concern surrounding audio in your contact centers and office areas? i.e. Noise, call quality, call droppingWith several hundred call centers and multiple office environments across the commonwealth, general statements are difficult to make. The commonwealth is looking for an offering of compatible hardware that will work with the solutions defined within this RFP.8What are the purchasing criteria for selecting a headset that meets your needs?The commonwealth is looking for an offering of compatible hardware that will work with the solutions defined within this RFP. Solutions above and beyond requirements are welcomed.9If wireless headset, how many will be in a single location?Agencies purchase headsets as the need arises. Scenarios can cover a range from single to hundreds purchased at any given time. 10How will you deploy the headsets?Deployment of headsets is based on agency discretion. The commonwealth welcomes Offerors proposed approach. 11How will you know and measure user adoption?This question is unclear.12In lot 3, PSTN conferencing are you looking for actual speakerphone options as well?While not a requirement of Lot 3, the commonwealth will welcome any proposal put forth. 13Documentation says 30+ copies required while website states “Responses only by Email”. Which do you prefer?Offerors must submit the material required in Part I-12 of the RFP to the Issuing Office in hard copy format.14It sounds as though this RFP was written for Microsoft, would an on-premise solution be considered for audio and video conferencing?Microsoft Skype for Business is the selected unified communication tool for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is looking for a hosted audio and video solution. Any proposed on- premise solutions must be maintained in Offeror controlled or contracted facilities and not within commonwealth facilities or data centers. 15With regards to Voice Conference service requirements: you require Dial- In for up to 250 attendees and a large conference capabilities of up to 1000 participants; can you offer a ballpark of peak times for service and estimate of how many people could be using the service at Peak times? A.k.a. What would the peak number of users be at your peak time?Conferencing peak times are dependent upon business needs. Current routine peaks do not exceed a sum of 1000 participants at any given time, due to platform constraints. 16How many audio conferences per week/month and what is estimated duration of an average conference?Conferencing duration times are dependent upon business needs. 17Same question regarding Video Conferencing; what would you estimate to be your peak number of attendees of video conferences at a single time?Video conferencing across the commonwealth is early adoption. The commonwealth is looking to grow this service through the procurement of this RFP. 18How many video conferences per week/month and what is estimated duration of an average conference?Video conferencing across the commonwealth is early adoption. The commonwealth is looking to grow this service through the procurement of this RFP. 19Are you looking to connect traditional video codecs such as Polycom, Lifesize, Cisco, etc., and or soft clients (webcam based) for managed video bridging services?While not a requirement of this RFP, the commonwealth encourages and welcomes offerors proposed solutions. 20How many site locations they are looking to connect?This question is unclear.21Do you prefer all pricing to follow the OPEX model? If so, can telephones be priced as a 5-year lease?For evaluation purposes, proposal must be quoted as a direct buy or two year purchase option as described in the RFP and in Note #2 of the Lot 1 tab within the Cost Submittal Worksheet. The Commonwealth wishes to maintain ownership of the devices.22Do you plan on including a Proof of Concept as a part of the initial deployment?The milestone of transitioning 1 and 5 Technology Park will serve as proof of concept for the selected Offerors solution. 23Reference Section: III-1. Issue: Offerors shall respond separately to each of the Lots, but need not respond to all three. Also, the table of three core service areas are required for Lots 1 and 2. If the Offeror responds to both Lots 1 and 2, does the Offeror need to provide a separate response to the three core services for each Lot?No, unless there are differences in how core services are delivered per Lot. 24Reference Section: III-2 through III-7. Issue: The response to the requirements in Section III-2 through III-7 may be different; for example Lot 1 may have a need for different personnel/key personnel than Lot 2 or 3. Given the requirement to respond to each Lot separately does the Offeror need to provide separate responses for the mentioned sections? Question: Can/Does the Offeror need to provide separate response for III-2 through III-7 for each Lot? Offerors should submit one technical proposal which clearly describes how their solution relates to each lot for which they are responding.25Reference Section: Service Delivery Management A-1. Issue: The Commonwealth states “The Offeror shall work with the Commonwealth to integrate its service delivery systems and processes with Commonwealth systems, including:Service ordering (using ESMS)Billing (using ESMS)Does the Commonwealth require the Offeror to provide Call Detail Records for usage based services? If so, how does the Offeror accept the CDRs into ESMS? If so, how often is the Offeror required to upload the usage records and is there a time limit for the record to be uploaded once placed?The offeror must provide call detail records for services that require call details for billing purposes. The offeror and the Commonwealth will agree on a format for the CDR file. That file will be used for input in the ESMS. CDRs are sent daily to ESMS to be billed and rated for daily usage and once monthly for monthly usage charges.26Reference Section: I-7. The selected Offeror must perform the largest percentage of work as compared to its subcontractors and suppliers. Does the Commonwealth plan to evaluate each Lot separately against the requirement to perform the majority of the work internal to the Primes organization?Each Lot is evaluated separately.27Reference Section: II-4. Evaluation Criteria. Will the Commonwealth evaluate each Lot independent of the other Lots?Yes.28Reference Section: Appendix Q. Need additional information for transition planning. Can VOIP and Data Center Locations Tabs be expanded to include the name of the agency, number phone positions and the number telephone numbers?Please see new information (TN Counts per location) in the following updated Appendix(s):Appendix Q – VoIP Service LocationsAppendix U - Centrex Analog Service LocationsAdditional agency specific telephone number detail will be provided to the selected Offeror.Please note these are the current TN counts and may not represent the final counts implemented per location.29Reference Section: Appendix Q. Identification of training to support Transition planning. Can Appendix Q be expanded to include the number of personnel by location that would require training on new telephone Handsets?Training needs will be dependent upon specific agency requirements. It is the commonwealth’s desire that training is consistent regardless of method of training selected by agencies. 30Reference Section: Overall RFP vs. Lots 1, 2 and 3. Prime RFP Percentages as opposed to LOT percentages and overall scoring. Will the Prime percentages and scoring be applied to the overall single RFP, or will each Lot carry its own Prime percentage and scoring?Each lot will be scored independently. The Commonwealth may award up to three (3) different Offerors, one for each lot.31Reference Section – Lot 1. Licensing. Please identify the quantities and level of existing Microsoft O365 licensing. Can the Commonwealth please identify if Enterprise License agreements or Government?The commonwealth’s current licenses are government with totals exceeding 30,000. SKUs include G3 and Kiosk.32Reference Section – lot 1. III.8 E-1.35. Toll Free DNIS. Given that DNIS is a requirement, is there an ACD requirement of the Offeror to be integrated into Skype for Business? Also, please provide the estimated minutes of use per month of the inbound Toll Free associated with this RFP.No, ACD requirements are provided by a separate contract. This information will be provided to the selected Offeror upon award. 33Reference Section – Lot 1 III.8 item 31. integrating with Commonwealth’s O365 and Microsoft environment. How many unique “Forests” does the Commonwealth have within Active Directory?Where are the physical Active Directory Domain Controllers located?Is the Commonwealth using Exchange via O365 or does the Commonwealth have Exchange hosted on prem? If on prem please identify locations where Exchange is hosted?a. This information will be provided to the selected Offeror upon award.b. This information will be provided to the selected Offeror upon award.c. The commonwealth is in the process of migrating to O365 Exchange. It is the desire of the commonwealth that all features and functions of the selected Offeror’s solution are fully integrated with O365 Exchange. This should be completed by contract award. 34Reference Section – Lot 2. Centrex. Is the Commonwealth seeking legacy Centrex services (ISDN BRI and POTs) or a replacement via hosted VoIP that mimics Centrex capabilities?While there will be a need for legacy Centrex services (fax and alarm lines), the migration to VoIP is desired by the commonwealth. We welcome proposed solutions that meet or exceed the requirements within the RFP. 35Reference Section – Lot 1, Part 1 I-3 (Page 3). Commonwealth Skype requirements. Is the Commonwealth using Skype for Business today?What features of Skype for Business is the Commonwealth using today, if any?What Skype Packages is the Commonwealth evaluating?If Enterprise Voice is selected, what is the Commonwealth’s current voice platform(s) today? (type of product and version)Does the Commonwealth currently have access to Skype for Business client licenses??What licensing agreement do they currently have with Microsoft?Who does the Commonwealth buy their licensing through?Number of planned Skype for Business enabled end-users (end-state)?What is the Commonwealth E-mail platform? (Vendor, Software, Release?)Are the Commonwealth services hosted in multiple locations, (i.e. CRM, SharePoint, PBX)?Does the existing Commonwealth LAN supports QoS?Number of concurrent calls the Commonwealth can support?Does the Commonwealth require Call Center (Y/N – if Y what is the product, and the # of users)?Does the Commonwealth require Call recording (Y/N – if Y what is the product, and the # of users)Can the Commonwealth provide the number of users requiring Voicemail?Does the Commonwealth have a preferred end-user device vendor or is the Commonwealth vendor agnostic? Are the end-user devices the Commonwealth current owns that the Offeror could utilize in Offeror’s open architecture solution? If so, what is the vendor, model and count?Does the Commonwealth require Sharepoint integration?What is the host OS? (Windows 7 for example)Is number porting required and if so where?a. Yesb. All features except those that require PSTN connectivity.c. Packages proposed that meet the RFP requirements. d. Our current platform is Unify IP/PBX, OpenScape V7, with 45,000 end pointse. Yesf. The Commonwealth currently has an enterprise licensing agreement. g. Commonwealth purchases its licenses through its software reseller.h. Our current user base is 40,000+. The final number will be based upon business area needs as determined through the transition process.i. Migrating to O365 Exchange in the Cloud by contract award date. j. Yesk. Due to the complexity and nature of multiple agency networks this information is unavailable at this time. However, the Offeror should indicate any network requirements for their proposed solution.l. Our current ratio of calls is 6:1. The final number will be based upon business area needs as determined through the transition process.m. No.n. Yes, please see call recording requirements E-1.59; E-1.70 – 72.o. Our current user base is 40,000+. The final number will be based upon business area needs as determined through the transition process.p. The commonwealth is vendor agnostic and only desires that hardware meet or exceeds requirements listed in the RFP. The current end points are approximately 40,000 Open Stage 20-60 series devices. q. While this is not a requirement, proposals including this will be entertained. r. Desktop range from Windows 7 Enterprise to Windows 10 Enterprise. s. Please see requirements E.1.1 and D-2.2.36Reference Section: Lot 2. Limited Centrex Availability. Would the Commonwealth consider voice services via cable modem with Centrex like features as a replacement for legacy Centrex?The commonwealth will entertain any proposed solutions that meet or exceeds the requirements within this RFP. 37Reference Section: Lot 2. IRS Publication 1075. It appears that IRS Publication 1075 limits Microsoft Skype competition. Can you elaborate on the requirements outlined by the Commonwealth? Does the Commonwealth require Skype to be located in the Government Community Cloud?The Offeror can propose their own hosted solution as long as it is compliant with IRS Publication 1075. There is no specific requirement to utilize the Microsoft Government Community Cloud.38MS Skype Licensing. The RFP mentions Microsoft O365 integration, how the Commonwealth envision integration if Microsoft is not the selected vendor and an offeror provides hosted Skype?The commonwealth, through this RFP, is looking for vendors proposed solutions that will meet the requirements. 39Payphone. Can the Commonwealth provide contact information for the existing payphone provider? Verizon is the Commonwealth’s current provider for payphone services.40BTNs for VoIP Services. For transitional purposes, can the Commonwealth provide how many BTNs the current provider(s) have in their billing system for the Commonwealth’s VOIP services?The commonwealth currently has 12,442 BTNs. 41Regarding Lot 3 – Other Voice Conferencing Services, page 87 of 181, under Description, last paragraph includes this statement “This service is not intended for Lot 1 (UC and VOIP) users.” Skype for Business (SfB) Online offers a native PSTN Conferencing add-on for Office 365 which provides fully integrated E.164 / PSTN dial-in service to SfB meetings for attendees who must dial-in via a landline or cell phone (no SfB Client access). This PSTN dial-in method can be used by a Commonwealth employee or an outside attendee. Why would Lot 1 users (all or some) not benefit from having access to PSTN Conferencing dial-in via e.164 numbers fully integrated with their web conference and meeting invitations?The commonwealth foresees scenarios where satellite offices served by PBXs or traditional Centrex from Lot 2, do not have the avenue for utilizing PSTN connectivity for SfB for conferencing services off of Lot 1. Lot 3 is meant to fill this gap. 42If a prime bidder decides to ONLY bid Lot 3, would that bid be exempt from the Small and Disadvantaged Business scoring component?No.43I-12. Proposal Requirements. Submission format – electronic vs hard copy. Proposal Submission: To be considered, Offerors should submit a complete response to this RFP to the Issuing Office, using the format provided in Section I-12B, providing thirty (30) paper copies [one marked “ORIGINAL”] of the Technical Submittal and one (1) paper copy of the Cost Submittal and two (2) paper copies of the Small Diverse Business and Small Business (SDB/SB) Participation Submittal and related Letter(s) of Intent. In addition to the paper copies of the proposal, Offerors shall submit one complete and exact copy of the entire proposal (Technical, Cost and SDB/SB submittals, along with all requested documents) on CD-ROM or Flash drive in Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office-compatible format. On the Commonwealth Market page it is stated that : Responses to this bid will?only?be accepted electronically.?You must go to? to complete this bid.Please clarify the submission requirement.Offerors must submit the material required in Part I-12 of the RFP to the Issuing Office in hard copy format.44Lot 1 Tasks E – Features & Functions. 4….Self Managed Moves, Adds and Changes: Does a managed task by an Ops Team managing MACDs via a Trouble ticketing system meet the requirements or is this requirement for the customer representative to use a system portal to perform desired change?The requirement is for commonwealth staff to have the ability to perform their own MACDs through a vendor provided system portal. 45Lot 1 Tasks E – Features & Functions. How does feature/function “10…Safety & Security” differ from feature/function “11… 911 Services”?This question is unclear.46III-5 Personnel. Section B. Subcontractors #8. #8 specifies “Resumes (if appropriate and available)” whereas the following paragraph states “The Offeror’s subcontractor information shall include (through a resume or a similar document)….”. Can the Commonwealth please clarify as these requirements do not seem to be in agreement whether subcontractor’s resumes are required or only required if “appropriate and available” and are they required for all individuals?The Offeror should submit resumes for all individuals who they mention within their solution. 47III-6 Training. Number to be trained. REQ: If appropriate, indicate recommended training of agency personnel. Include the agency personnel to be trained, the number to be trained…..”. Question: Can the Commonwealth provide additional information in order to better provide the number of people to be trained?Currently the Commonwealth has 45,000+ users on their IPT platform. The Commonwealth is looking for Offerors to provide innovative solutions to train 100% of the users across different training methodologies (e.g. web based, class room, train the trainer, etc.) that meet or exceed Commonwealth requirements.48Lot 1. Toll Free Services. Can the Commonwealth please expand on the scope of providing Toll Free services as part of Lot 1? For example, is the requirement for the Offeror to integrate and manage the Government’s existing Toll Free Services (provided as GFE) or to provision and resell toll free services to the Commonwealth?The requirement is for the Offeror to port and provision toll free services as part of their proposed solution. 49Lot 1. Core Services – Emergency Preparedness. Does this imply failover/high availability/disaster recovery solutions?These requirements (see C. Emergency Preparedness) are to address how the Offeror will support continuity of operations during an emergency if the Commonwealth needs a strategy for maintaining operations for an extended period of time. Section D - Architecture and Integration (D-1.6) references failover requirements.50Lot 1. The Commonwealth states “Tickets may be submitted either via manual data entry through an online user interface”. Will the Commonwealth allow vendor support staff online access to the ESD ServiceNow ticketing system?The Offeror is required to integrate with the ESD. The awarded Offeror of the ESD contract (RFP#2) determines the specific ITSM system used by the ESD. The RFP#2 Vendor is required to provide integration capabilities and access to all other Vendors to their proposed ticketing system whether that be online or via an integrated connection that is yet to be determined.51Lot 1. Lots Evaluation. Is each Lot being evaluated on their own using Technical, Costing & SB/SDB Criteria? Will a vendor be disadvantaged if they respond with only 1 lot?Each Lot is evaluated separately.52RFP III-8, B.3, B-9. Can the Commonwealth provide the quantity and scope of in-flight projects Offeror will assume?Question is unclear. 53Lot 1. D-1.2 REQ:The Offeror shall host all core components at the Offeror’s datacenter(s). Question: Does the Commonwealth consider cloud-based Skype for Business (in the Microsoft Government Community Cloud) as being hosted “at the Offeror’s datacenter”?Yes. 54Lot 1. Tasks D-1.1 REQ: The Offeror shall provide a fully managed, vendor hosted, VoIP solution that includes an integrated MS Skype for Business UC platform. The solution shall provide full integration and federation with the Commonwealth O365 environment. Question: What services are deployed on the Commonwealth’s O365 platform?The Commonwealth is currently licensed for and leveraging the following products:? Exchange Online? Office ProPlus? Skype for Business? Office Online? SharePoint Online? OneDrive for Business? Project Online? Project Pro? Visio Pro? Yammer? Dynamics CRM? Dynamics AX? Power Bi55Lot 1 Task D-1.4. REQ: The Offeror’s solution shall, cost-effective way to support users in a multi-tenancy, multi-location (>100 locations) environment over the next 5-10 years. There are currently ~ 45,000 VoIP users that will be transitioned to the new platform. There are currently ~ 28,000 non-VoIP users (e.g. PBX, Centrex) many of which may be transitioned to the new platform. Question: What features of multi-tenancy are desired by the Commonwealth?In regards to this statement, multi-tenancy refers to multiple commonwealth agencies occupying shared facilities. 56Lot 1. 2.2 The Offeror shall describe its proposed UC and VoIP architecture. Including but not limited to the following:Overall solution architecture (redundancy, disaster recovery, etc.)Requirements for connection to the Commonwealth networkIntegration of proposed hosted VoIP platform with MS Skype for BusinessSurvivability options for critical sites. This should include any network and PSTN requirements (e.g. PRIs)Question: In requirement c above, is the Commonwealth requiring integration with an existing Commonwealth VoIP platform?No. 57Lot 1 #4 Licensing. Regarding the Commonwealth Enterprise License Agreement, what level licensing is in use at the Commonwealth?Currently a combination of E3 and Kiosk with the majority being E3.58Lot 1. Does the Commonwealth currently have its entire MS Exchange email hosted by Microsoft (aka “Exchange Online”)?No, but the objective is to have this in place by contract award date. 59Lot 1. Dial Tone Services Task E-1.8. REQ: The Offeror shall provide ability for end user to dial and connect to 411 for information service.Question: Please provide more information on the Commonwealth 411 Network solution and capability?In regards to this requirement, the Offerors solution should provide end users the ability to dial 4-1-1, which is the telephone number for local directory assistance across the U.S.60Lot 1. Main Line Services Task E-1.10. REQ: The Offeror shall provide more than 1 incoming call on a single TN at a time.Question: Can you please provide Use case?The Offeror should provide the ability for more than 1 incoming call on a single TN at a time. This is commonly used for main incoming lines where the user is able to put the 1st call on hold and answer a second incoming call where the 2nd caller doesn’t receive a busy signal or go straight to voicemail.61Lot 1. Main Line Services #10. REQ: The Offeror shall describe its approach for providing main line answering features for multiple users.Question: Please clarify the requirement as specified.Within the commonwealth, there are instances where multiple users are responsible for answering a main incoming telephone number for their office. The Offeror should propose a solution where more than 1 person has the ability to answer these calls from their own telephone, without having to be physically located at the main desk. 62Lot 1. E-1.41. REQ: The Offeror shall provide flexible hunting capabilities.Request: Please identify the specific hunting capabilities the Commonwealth is expecting.These should include, but are not limited to, loop, sequential, and random select. 63Lot 1. E 1.47. What services of Office 365 does the Commonwealth already subscribe to?The Commonwealth is currently licensed for and leveraging the following products:? Exchange Online? Office ProPlus? Skype for Business? Office Online? SharePoint Online? OneDrive for Business? Project Online? Project Pro? Visio Pro? Yammer? Dynamics CRM? Dynamics AX? Power Bi64Lot 1. E 1.49 Does the Commonwealth already use Azure Active Directory Sync?Yes.65Lot 1. E-1.61 REQ: The Offeror shall provide the ability to choose a large capacity conferencing option which allows for, at a minimum, in excess of 1,000 participants. Question: Is the Commonwealth asking for a broadcast solution or interactive experience?The commonwealth is looking for broadcast experience where the participants can utilize chat or text in order to participate or ask questions. 66Lot 1. Will our UC support staff receive calls from COPA Tier 1 on COPA ITSM system? Can Offeror utilize COPA ITSM System to manage support tickets for the UC solution?No. The support staff will not receive calls from COPA Tier 1 system.The COPA ITSM system will not be used to manage any support tickets for the UC solution. All tickets will reside in the ESD ITSM system. Whether awarded Offerors of this RFP can have direct access to the ESD ITSM system is at the discretion of the ESD awarder Offeror. Please refer to the RFP Section III-8.A for a diagram depicting types of tickets managed by organization and ITSM integration points. 67Lot 1 E 1.79-1.84. Can the Commonwealth provide a description of the types of tasks that are implied under the “Teleworking” label (feature/function letter n)?The commonwealth requires that their teleworking users have the same experience and use of features and functions as if they were located in a commonwealth networked facility, without the use of VPN. 68Lot 1. F 1.12. What SLAs are used to determine the effectiveness of the instructor?Mutually agreed upon post training surveys to be developed in conjunction with selected Offeror.69Appx I, Commonwealth ITSM Overview. How many non-standard service requests (NSSR) are there per month?The question is unclear.70Lot 3. All. Does the Commonwealth expect active participation from users/employees during the meeting? Or is this service for a broadcast/webcast audio dial-in with listen only ability?The commonwealth is looking for broadcast experience where the participants can utilize chat or text in order to participate or ask questions.71Are you willing to consider a Unified Communications Platform other than Skype for Business as long as it can provide the same functional capabilities and/or integrate where applicable?No.72Are you willing to consider a Unified Communications Client other than Skype for Business as long as it can provide the same functional capabilities and/or integrate where applicable?No.73Are you willing to consider an Audio/Video Conferencing solution other than Skype for Business as long as it can provide the same functional capabilities?and/or integrate where applicable?No if answering within Lot 1. Yes, if answering within Lot 2. No if answering within Lot 3.74Can the Commonwealth?provide the current telephone numbers associated with each site on Appendices T & U?Information will be provided to the selected Offeror75For Lot 2 services, will the Commonwealth consider "Centrex-like" services that are provided as a Hosted VoIP service rather than traditional Centrex?The commonwealth will entertain any proposed solutions that meet or exceeds the requirements within this RFP.76PART III. Technical Submittal or Part VI. A. Core - Support Services (invoices) or 23. PAYMENT (pg 114). Does the Commonwealth require a single invoice for all services provided under each Lot?Yes, one invoice for each lot.77PART I page 5 And Appendix F-Cost. Appendix F cost submittal, for the 3 lots only has a subtotal for Estimated Yearly Total. ?Industry leading voice and unified communications services will be required from contract signature and must continue through the duration of the full contract period, which has the potential of being ten (10) years. Therefore, it is crucial for the selected Offeror to stay abreast of, and deliver, advances in security practices, networking technologies, and voice and unified communications services. For the full contract period, base term of 5 years and potential of another 5 years, there is no calculation in the cost submittal for base years and renewal years. Is it the Commonwealths intent that the estimated yearly total must continue at the same rate for the full 10 year contract term?The Commonwealth’s intent is to have fixed rates for the 5 base years. Cost may be negotiated during renewal periods.78PART I. Page 4 “A key Commonwealth goal is to move the majority of Commonwealth users to a cost effective replacement unified communications (UC) platform (based on a Microsoft Skype for Business platform) from the current UC platform.” Please quantify this number or define “the majority.”It is the intent of the commonwealth to move all current IPT and UC users, which currently comprises of 45,000 lines, to the new solution procured from this RFP. These numbers are subject to change during the course of transition activities. 79PART I-4 Objectives. A. As determined by OA/OIT, in consultation with the agencies, the primary goal of this procurement is to obtain a comprehensive, secure, and cost effective voice communications solution for the Commonwealth agencies under the governor’s jurisdiction. Will this contract be extended to COSTARS participants?Yes. The Commonwealth has revised the RFP to allow for COSTARS participation. Refer to Appendix X and Y.80PART III-5. Page 24. Project Manager. Is the project manager expected to handle all moves/adds/changes/disconnects through the term of the contract that agencies TMOs do not manage themselves through the requested online MAC portal?Yes, or another appropriate vendor representative that remains as a consistent agency facing entity through the life of the contract. 81PART III-5. Page 24. Incident Manager. Can the Commonwealth please define in further detail the differences in the expectations between the Service Desk and the Incident Manager?The Incident Manager acts as the owner and single point of contact for all incidents related to voice services. The Incident Manager will be responsible for the tracking, escalation, communication, and management of incidents and outages from the time of initial logging through resolution. The Incident Manager is the focal point who interfaces with the commonwealth ensuring timely communication during incidents, appropriate escalation as indicated for high impacting incidents, and post incident reports. For recurring or high impact incidents, the Incident Manager passes information needed to initiate the problem management process including documentation of work arounds, known errors and root cause analyses. The Service Desk processes service requests in addition to opening incident tickets when calls are received, assigning them to the proper resources, ensuring timely updates and managing the ticket to closure. The Incident Manager plays a role during a service impact and as indicated, after service restoration. 82PART III-8.A. Pg 28. Work Plan - Service Delivery Management. Which Offeror (ESD or Voice RFP VSD) will be responsible for the cost associated with the integration of their ITSM system with the Offeror from RFP#2?Each vendor will be responsible for its own cost incurred for the integration.83PART III-8.A. Pg 28. Work Plan - Service Delivery Management. How will the Commonwealth govern disputes between the multiple vendors from each of these RFPs?Commonwealth will provide overall governance over their suppliers and would facilitate a dispute resolution between affected parties as deemed appropriate. 84PART III-8.A. Pg 29. Support Services. Which Offeror (ESD or Voice RFP VSD) will bear the financial responsibility for the integration between CMDBs; Which Offeror (Enterprise or Voice RFP) will bear the financial responsibility for the integration between Event Management Systems?Each vendor will be responsible for its own cost incurred for the integration.85PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Delivery Management, Pg 32. A-6. Can the Commonwealth specifically define the standards that the ITSM systems must meet?Please refer to the diagram in section III-8.A for specific ITSM requirements. Offerors responding to this RFP are expected to have the capability to process tickets on their ITSM system for incidents, changes and problems and maintain the CMDB. The Offeror’s ITSM system must be able to integrate with the ITSM system hosted by the awarded Offeror of the ESD services (RFP #2) and support bi-directional transaction processing for those processes. Additionally, integration is required for the VSD to pass events to the Enterprise SIEM hosted by the ESD awarded Offeror.86PART III-8.A. A. Support Services, Pg 30. Footnote. Can the Commonwealth clarify who bears the costs relative to the statement "The selected Offeror shall transition to the ESMS replacement once it becomes available?" Will the awarded Offeror be able to participate in the development of the ESMS replacement?Once the Offerors services are enabled and accepted by the Commonwealth, any changes to services or additional costs will be managed through the standard contract change management process. The ability of Offeror to participate in the development of the ESMS replacement will be determined based upon the award of the new solution.87PART III-8.A Tasks - Service Delivery Management, Pg 33. A-11. What is the minimum level of ITIL certification that is required to meet this requirement?Offeror staff should have achieved ITIL V3 Foundations certification at a minimum to meet this requirement.88PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Delivery Management, Pg 33. A-13. Please define further the statement “ability to scale resources to meet increased business needs”. Does this mean the Offeror should have ability to add resources to the program at their own expense regardless of the reason for the additional resources <or> will the Commonwealth agree that additional costs could be assessed in the event the need for those additional resources is driven by decisions made by or activities implemented by the Commonwealth that significantly changes the assumptions that were used to determine the initial resource requirements.The Offeror is responsible for scaling resources to meet increased business needs for supporting their proposed services. If there are agreed upon changes in the proposed services throughout the contract, those changes will be managed through the standard contract change management process.89PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Request and Billing, Pg 35. A-16. In the event a mutually agreed upon interval cannot be established will those products be exempt from SLA calculations until such an agreement is met? If not then how will the Commonwealth evaluate if service delivery SLAs are met or missed?A service cannot be enabled until mutually agreeable interval is established. 90PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Request and Billing, Pg 35. A-17. If there are no available facilities to the desired location and a build out is required will those requests be excluded from the SLA calculations?At the Commonwealth’s sole discretion, it may waive or extend an SLA. 91PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Request and Billing, Pg 35. A-19. How will situations be handled when the order creator delays acceptance and Offeror has met the requested delivery dates by the agency? Will the Commonwealth permit those orders be closed regardless of the formal acceptance from that order creator?The date the billing starts will be based on the date the order was delivered successfully and completely by the offeror regardless of the date of the agency acceptance. 92PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Request and Billing, Pg 35. A-20. How are multiple changes for the same line handled? In the event 3 separate changes/actions are requested for 1 line would this be quantified as 1 change or 3 changes?If these changes are processed at the same time and added all on one order, it is one change order. Currently only one order can be processed at a time against each ESMS CI. 93PART III-8.A. Tasks-Service Asset and Configuration Management, Pg 37. A-27. Do the requirements for Configuration Items (CI) only pertain to those CIs that are dedicated to the Commonwealth infrastructure and not the shared or backbone infrastructure for the Offeror?Correct. The requirements only pertain to those configuration items which are part of the Commonwealth infrastructure. 94PART III-8.A Tasks-Service Asset and Configuration Management, Pg 38. A-43. Which Offeror is responsible for the cost associated w/ the ESD integration and will the Commonwealth govern that relationship?Each vendor will be responsible for its own cost incurred for the integration.95PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Desk Management, Pg 41. A-45. In the event incident volumes increase due to a decision or technical direction change by the Commonwealth how will the Commonwealth handle the additional resource cost associated with the increase volume?The offeror should staff service desk to handle all incident volume increases related to its services. 96PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Desk Management, Pg 41. A-48. The diagram shows that all incidents are called into the ESD and the ESD provides the communication to the end user during the management of incidents and events. However this clause states the VSD for this bid communicates with users, keeping them informed of the progress, impending actions…. Which is the accurate flow of incident/event reporting and communicating with the end users/agencies for this RFP?All calls initiate through the ESD. Once forwarded to VSD may call directly to end-user if needed for problem validation/resolution. VSD maintains responsibility for updating ticket.97PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Desk Management, Pg 42. A-56. Will tickets lacking the required information per the established scripts that prevent the triage process from occurring be placed on customer "hold" time until the required information is provided by the agency?Yes, if it prevents the triage process from occurring.98PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Desk Management, Pg 43. A-63. Is the requirement for the Service Desk personnel to perform the trap and trace <or> simply to process a trap and trace request and sending them to the appropriate support team to execute on the request?The Service Desk personnel are to facilitate the request and ensure the appropriate parties receive required data and process the request in a timely fashion. 99PART III-8.A. Tasks - Service Desk Management, Pg 43. A-64. How long is the requirement for tickets to be accessible?Through the term of the contract.100PART III-8.A Tasks - Service Desk Management, Pg 43. A-71. Will the Commonwealth be acceptable to different timeframe (within a reasonable range) in the event the Offeror cannot meet the 15 minute requirement?No101PART III-8.A. Tasks- Event Management, Pg 48. A-84. Which Offeror (RFP #2 or RFP #1) is responsible for the cost associated with the electronic interface required? How will the Commonwealth govern this relationship between the different suppliers?Each vendor will be responsible for its associated costs.102PART III-8.A. Tasks- Event Management, Pg 48. A-85. Which Offeror (RFP #2 or RFP #1) is responsible for the alert out to the Commonwealth for an event?The RFP 3 vendor will be responsible for notifying the RFP 2 vendor and the Commonwealth.103PART III-8.B. Tasks - Service Level Agreements, Pg 54. B-19. Please further explain the meaning of making tiered service offering available to accommodate agency needs and budget?The Offeror is required to provide their service in three tiered service levels (Bronze, Silver, and Gold). Commonwealth Agencies can then choose what level of service meets their business needs.? The Offeror should review Appendix M - SLA Data Sheets (Availability and Time to Resolve SLAs) requirements for each service tier.? The Offeror will be expected to also present their tiered service costs in the Appendix F - Cost Submittal (note: reference to service costs should only be included in Appendix F - Cost Submittal).104PART III-8 - Lot 1. D. Architecture and Integration, Pg 58. D-19. Will the Commonwealth consider a formal network assessment during the transition phase to verify the data network bandwidth estimates provided during the RFP phase is accurate? If the Commonwealth has completed a formal network assessment, will the results be provided to Offerors?Yes.No, the Commonwealth has not completed a formal network assessment.105PART III-8 - Lot 1. E. Features and Functions, Tasks, UC Functionality, Pg 67. E-1.52. Can the Commonwealth further define user friendly and intuitive?Simplistic with minimal need for instruction. Offerors will have the ability to showcase this during oral presentations. 106PART III-8 - Lot 1. E. Features and Functions, Tasks, Recording, Pg 70. How long is the requirement to maintain the recorded meeting audio and video in archives?The commonwealth requires a minimum of 30 days with an option to export to commonwealth storage. 107Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 12 E. Contract Integration. Given the complex nature of the services that the Commonwealth is requesting, such as service integration, new technology deployment, Cloud services, and third party integration, can the Commonwealth provide further clarification around the requirements, specifically to other terms (i.e. Click Through, Statements of Work, PPMs, etc.) or any other terms associated with the user interaction including those from a third party?Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any additional terms and conditions the Offeror would like to add to the standard contract terms and conditions must be submitted with the proposal. The Commonwealth will not accept click through agreements or any other terms and conditions that are not part of the final contract between the Commonwealth and the selected offeror.108Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 6 Purchase Orders. Offeror’s understanding is that all orders must be placed through the ESMS system; therefore, how would this section apply? Can the Commonwealth provide examples as to when it would apply? Can the Commonwealth provide an example of when the Purchasing Card might be used and is the amount negotiable? ((Group/General)) All orders must be placed through ESMS, but the Commonwealth will use its ERP system (SAP-SRM) to create follow-on purchase orders which relate to the orders placed through ESMS. Section 6. Of the IT Contract Terms and Conditions covers the purchase orders which result from the ESMS orders.109Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 10. Information Technology Policies. Offeror has stringent / equivalent or greater IT policies – would the Commonwealth permit Offeror to follow our internal policies?The selected Offeror must, at a minimum, meet the Commonwealth’s requirements.110Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 12. Contract Integration, (e) Other terms unenforceable. Individual services may have specific obligations by Offeror and Commonwealth. How does the Commonwealth intend to integrate those terms into the agreement? For example, Statements of Work, or policies and procedures.Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any additional terms and conditions the Offeror would like to add to the standard contract terms and conditions must be submitted with the proposal. The Commonwealth will not accept click through agreements or any other terms and conditions that are not part of the final contract between the Commonwealth and the selected offeror.111Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 14. Transition. Offeror believes the Commonwealth’s timeline is extremely aggressive. Is the Commonwealth willing to negotiate an extended timeline? Is the Commonwealth willing to entertain an Offeror’s proposed timeline? Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.112Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 18. Other Contractors. Can the Commonwealth clarify how it intends to ensure cooperation among contractors?Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.113Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 1.f. Definitions. Can the Commonwealth provide further clarification regarding what Developed Works and Services you anticipate?Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.114Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 26. Default. Can the Commonwealth provide further clarification regarding 26. (a) (iii) Unsatisfactory performance of the Services?Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.115Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 13. Services (a). If provided product or service becomes commercially unavailable during the contract term, how does the Commonwealth recommend the Offeror address that under the terms and conditions of this contract.Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.116Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 33. Contract Controversies. Can the Commonwealth propose an informal dispute resolution process for inclusion in this section prior to a formal dispute.Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.117Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 34. Data Security. Regarding Information Technology Policies and Data Security policies, Offeror has stringent / equivalent or greater IT policies – would the Commonwealth permit Offeror to follow our internal policies?The selected Offeror must, at a minimum, meet the Commonwealth’s requirements.118Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 36. PCI Security Compliance. Can the Commonwealth elaborate how this section might apply to the services in this RFP#3?Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.119Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. In General. Given the short RFP timeline and expedited transition timeline, would the Commonwealth consider use of previously negotiated contract terms and conditions? No.120Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. General I-23. RFP item General I-23 (p.12), appears to be inconsistent with Section “I-23 Term of Contract” Please clarify?Please clarify the question.121Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. RFP reference in 2(a) and 2(b). ???Due to the inherent evolutionary nature of technology, certain products are decommissioned and no longer commercially available, while new products are introduced. Please address the acceptable transition methodology to move from one technology or service to a replacement technology or service. ???Reference Part III-10 of the RFP (Objections and Additions to Standard Contract Terms and Conditions). Any suggested revisions to the terms and conditions must be noted in the Offeror’s proposal.122Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 22 Billing Requirements, and Section 23. Payment. In RFP IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS Section 22 Billing Requirements, and Section 23. Payment, it appears that multiple invoices and payments are acceptable. Can the Commonwealth confirm this? ?The Commonwealth requires a single invoice.123Part VI. IT CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Section 22 Billing Requirements, and Section 23. Payment. Does the Commonwealth require a single invoice for all services provided under this new contract?Yes, the Commonwealth requires a single invoice.124Section III.8 item 18. Change Management, Pg 40. The Offeror shall provide a draft Change Management Implementation Plan which shall include: a) Contact information for change/release manager(s) and b) Standard change freeze windows. Please clarify what does the referenced “Standard change freeze windows” mean?“Standard change freeze windows” is akin to blackout periods. This requirement asks the Offeror to identify any specific windows of time during which, the Offeror cannot perform certain types of changes for a specific business reason. Offeror must follow Commonwealth policy.125Lot 1. Part III-8. Service Delivery Management Tasks, Pg 29 and Pg 32. Service Desk - The selected Offeror (i.e., Supplier) shall provide an ITIL compliant Vendor Service Desk (VSD). The Supplier will integrate its service operations processes and service desk with the Commonwealth’s vendor-provided Enterprise Services Desk (ESD). The Supplier will also be required to integrate its CMDB with the enterprise level CMDB through the development of an integrated asset and configuration management (SACM) solution. Is the Service Desk being referenced TIER 1? If so, how does the Commonwealth define Tier 1 with regards to the level and skill set of the call takers.The Commonwealth is expecting the Offeror of this RFP to propose and provide appropriately skilled and experienced service desk personnel based on the support needs for their proposed services within this RFP. The ESD (RFP #2) will be providing the initial incident triage and/or incident forwarding to the other telecom providers (RFP 3 – this RFP and RFP 1).126Lot 1. Part III-8. Pg 58, item 4. The Offeror shall describe its proposed approach to providing licensing for Skype for Business that includes a review and potential leveraging of the Commonwealth’s current Enterprise License Agreement (ELA). How does the Commonwealth acquire Microsoft licensing today? Will the Commonwealth be changing software re-sellers during the term of the contract? Is it expected that the Offeror will provide all licenses required?Today the Commonwealth utilizes the existing software procurement contract. At this time it is unknown if the re-seller will be changing during the term of the contract. The Commonwealth will provide Office365 licenses via its Enterprise Licensing Agreement, however if Offeror’s proposed solution requires different licenses the Offeror is responsible for providing licenses.127Lot 1. Part III-8. E. Features and Functions, Recording, Pg 70. E1.71. How long is the requirement for storage?The commonwealth requires a minimum of 30 days with an option to export to commonwealth storage.128Lot 1. Part III-8. E. Features and Functions, Pg 60. Skype for Business. Please provide the estimated quantities for the following:users who will be enabled for Enterprise Voiceusers who will be enabled for PSTN callingusers who will be enabled for Skype for Business to Skype for Business callingusers who will be enabled for mobilityusers who will be enabled for videoAll features and functions of Skype for Business, including but limited to PSTN calling, mobility, video, and skype to skype calling should be available to any user who subscribes to Skype for Business. 129Lot 1. Part III-8. E. Features and Functions, Pg 60. Skype for Business. Is monitoring and archiving required?This question is unclear. 130Lot 1. Part III-8. E. Features and Functions, Pg 68. E-1.58. How long is it requirement to maintain the recorded meeting audio and video in archives?The commonwealth requires a minimum of 30 days with an option to export to commonwealth storage.131Lot 1. Part III-8. E. Features and Functions, Pg 68. E-1.60. How many conferences will be held at any given time?Conferences are dependent upon business needs. Routine peaks do not exceed a sum of 1000 participants at any given time, due to platform constraints.132Lot 1. Part III-8. E. Features and Functions, Pg 67. E-1.49 - Active Directory. What is your current active directory forest level?? If unknown, what are the Microsoft server OS version for your domain controller infrastructure today?Windows 2008 R2.133Lot 1. Part III-8. E. Features and Functions, Pg 63 and Pg 56. E-1.22 - Online MAC process. Is the desire for the online MAC to be an electronic interface between ESMS and the Offeror systems that process MACs. If the desire is not to build an interface between ESMS and the Offeror online MACs system how will ESMS inventory be reconciled to ensure inventory is accurate?No, not at this time.There is currently no electronic interface between ESMS and the offeror systems. There is no planned interface.ESMS is the CMDB for all Commonwealth telecommunications services and equipment, and all of these services are billed from the ESMS. If it is not ordered through ESMS, it will not be provisioned, added to inventory, or billed in any Offeror systems. Any processes outside of ESMS or the replacement system are the responsibility of the Offeror.134Lot 1. Part III-8. Pg. 56. Skype for Business - general requirement. Is federation required with users outside of the Commonwealth? i.e. external users and/or other companies and entities that the Commonwealth does business with? While this is not being leveraged at this time, it is being considered by the commonwealth.135Lot 2. Part III-8. Pg 75 General Question & D-2.4, Pg 77. D-2.4. To bid on Lot 2, is the requirement for the Offeror to provide the requested services to every location even in the event that some locations may not be served by the Offeror? In the event of that type of scenario, would the Commonwealth entertain an alternate option?Yes.Yes.136Lot 2. Part III-8. Conventional Toll Free and Advanced Routing, Pg 80. If the Commonwealth requires any Toll Free features not defined on page 80 of the RFP, will the Commonwealth agree to add features at the applicable rates, in the future?Selected offerors may utilize the contract change or amendment process to present additional features and functionality within scope of the contract. 137Lot 3. Part III-8. A - Voice Conference, Pg 87. Voice conference Services (Office 365 users), Description. For the users who have Office 365, will they have access to the public internet to be able to make calls?Yes.138All lots. Will the Commonwealth permit leveraging your Service Now or any other license(s) not identified or will the expectation be that the Offeror source their own license(s)? Please identify all potential licensing Offeror will be required to provide.No license will be provided.139All Lots. Part I and Part III-1. Diagram Pg 2; Table Pg 20. The diagram on page 2 of the RFP shows SIP Trunking as Lot 2, however, the Cost Matrix and Table on page 20 of the RFP list SIP Trunking as Lot 1. Is SIP Trunking to be included in Lot 1, Lot 2 or both?SIP Trunking is to be a part of Lot 1.140Appendix K. CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS. Policy Statements: 4. All Changes must adhere to the approved maintenance windows. General Maintenance as defined in ITP-SYM010 provides for the ability to request General maintenance outside of windows which does not match the RFP where Submitter is required to email their Emergency CAB for Approval. Can Commonwealth please clarify which process follows the exceptions policy ITP-SYM010 and could be classified as Standard General Maintenance?General maintenance requests would follow the same process as the Standard change. Note: ?In the past General maintenance is something the vendor is required to do to maintain the integrity of their network and the Commonwealth can’t really prevent them from doing it. Following the Standard RFC process allows the vendor to complete the maintenance and provides the Commonwealth a vehicle to obtain documentation and notification.141Appendix K. CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS. To implement Enterprise changes in a non-Enterprise window, the Change Submitter is to email their Emergency CAB the brief description of the change, impact of the change, change window timeframe and justification. An ECAB reviewer will reply to the request and copy the Change Manager with approval or rejection. For General Backbone Maintenance requests that are classified as Standard and that fall outside of the Standard ITP-SYM010 window, how does the following RFP statement apply? ?To implement Enterprise changes in a non-Enterprise window, the Change Submitter is to email their Emergency CAB the brief description of the change, impact of the change, change window timeframe and justification. An ECAB reviewer will reply to the request and copy the Change Manager with approval or rejection.The approval of an ECAB member is not required. Approval can be given by the director responsible for the specific area being impacted or an individual designated by the Director.142Appendix K. CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS. 1. Change Window - RFP references ITP-SYM010, which states -“Pre-approved, standard changes are exempt from blackout / freeze windows. Please clarify relative to RFP section 2 and the definition of Standard? RFP references ITP-SYM010, which states -“Pre-approved, standard changes are exempt from blackout / freeze windows.Approved Standards are exempt from being implemented during a Commonwealth Enterprise window.The definition of a Standard: Definition – A Standard change is pre-authorized by Change Management and follows an accepted and established procedure to provide a specific change requirement. It is considered a routine task with low risk. Review and processing occurs entirely at the Functional Group level.??Each CAB maintains a list of changes that it has approved to be classified as Standard changes. Standard changes must be nominated and pre-approved by the Functional CAB before submission as an approved standard.? Once approved they no longer require authorization from the CAB on a request-by-request basis or CAB discussions.?Characteristics of a standard change include all of the following:A defined trigger to initiate the change.The type of change occurs frequently.Tasks are well known, documented and proven.Risk is low and always well understood.?NominationA change can be nominated as a Standard by providing a completed Change Request template to the Functional Change Manager. The template must be provided with all repeatable steps to install, test and back out the change. A general notification, if needed, is to be included in the template. Any special conditions, such as a defined window, are to be included in the template. The Functional Change Manager coordinates review and approval by the Functional CAB. Unapproved nominations should be discussed at a Functional CAB meeting as needed. Provided all Functional CAB members approve, the change is then logged as a Standard change, given a unique identifier and individual change requests follow the Standard Change review. The Standard plan template and a list or log of approved Standard changes is maintained by each Functional CAB Change Manager.143Appendix M. SLA Data Sheets. For all SLA requirements. There are no exclusions listed for issues outside of the offeror’s control (e.g. vendors from RFP #1, RFP #2, etc.). Will this be a general exclusion for all SLAs?Offerors will not be responsible for issues determined by the Commonwealth to be out of the Offerors control. 144Appendix M. SLA Data Sheets. For all SLA requirements. Can multiple SLAs apply to the same event?In the event that multiple SLA’s apply the SLA with the higher credit will be used.145Appendix M. SLA Data Sheets. For all SLA requirements. In the event that a Commonwealth design change is requested to the environment that impacts the original service level risk assessment will the contractor have the ability to request a re-negotiation of the contracted SLAs?Yes. The SLA methodology provides details of requesting adds, changes, and modifications to SLAs.146Appendix M and Part III -8. SLA Data Sheets. Pg 53 - Service Level Agreement – 01 Time to Deliver – Agency. What determines a service being delivered on time? Is it the agreed upon standard interval of the supplier or the requested due date from the order submitter regardless of the standard interval?Standard interval determines if the service was delivered on time.The standard interval always applies.147Appendix M and Part III -8. SLA Data Sheets. Pg 53 - Service Level Agreement – 01 Time to Deliver – Agency. In the event the Offeror does not have available facilities to the location (e.g. fiber build, equipment add, etc.) will those orders be accepted as exclusions to SLA – 01.At the Commonwealth’s sole discretion, it may waive or extend an SLA.148Appendix M and Part III -8. SLA Data Sheets. Pg 53 - Service Level Agreement – 01 Time to Deliver – Agency -- During negotiation the Commonwealth would be willing to discuss variables of the SLAs with the expectation that negotiated changes in SLA variables would be met with a corresponding reduction in service cost. SLA-1 has an extremely high target of 99% related to industry standards. Can the Commonwealth provide a potential expected cost reduction % in the event the Offeror were to propose 98% (a reduction of 1% on the target)It will be discussed in negotiations.149Appendix M and Part III -8. SLA Data Sheets. Pg 53 - Service Level Agreement – 01 Time to Deliver – Agency. Is the Remedy credit of “one month for cost of services” for all voice services provided to the customer or just the monthly cost for the order(s) that were missed in that given month?Remedy credit has been changed to a fixed rate per missed order. Please see revised Appendix M – SLA Data Sheets.150Appendix M. Change Management Successfulness. SLA - 03 -- Exclusions do not include Commonwealth causes for a failed change. Exclusions do not include Commonwealth causes for a failed change. Please explain how these would be monwealth will consider waiving an SLA in the event it is determined by the Commonwealth that the failure is the fault of the Commonwealth. Please see revised Appendix M – SLA Data Sheets.151Appendix M. Change Management Successfulness. SLA – 03. There are times when the Commonwealth may deem a required general maintenance requirement on shared infrastructure as unauthorized however the Offeror may deem the change a requirement to maintain the health of the network for all customers. How will these events be considered as exclusions?As long as offeror follows the Change Management process and the maintenance is approved by the Commonwealth, then we would exclude general maintenance items.152Appendix M. Change Management Timeliness. SLA – 03. Are these times in business hours/day or calendar hours/days as Hours/Day of measurement conflict the reporting format that request business hours to complete?SLAs are calendar days/hours. In the Detail portion of the Reporting format, “Business days” should be “Calendar days.is a typo and should be deleted. Please see revised Appendix M – SLA Data Sheets.153Appendix M. Change Management Timeliness. SLA – 03. Can we assume that if the Commonwealth requests an interval longer than the time chart that change would be excluded from being considered outside of the approved timeframe allotted for the change?Yes.154Appendix M. Change Management Timeliness. SLA – 03. Are Commonwealth blackouts considered customer hold time?Yes.155Appendix M. Change Management Timeliness. SLA – 03. Are Offeror’s blackouts considered exclusion if advanced notice of that blackout is provided?Waiver would be considered and must be approved by the Commonwealth.156Appendix M. Change Management Timeliness. SLA - 03. Do both the Commonwealth and Offeror define what priority a particular change is placed in?Commonwealth will determine priority. 157Appendix M. Chronic Problems. SLA – 04. There may be situations where the 1st indication of a customer impact is from someone within the Commonwealth. That may launch the incident investigation where it is then identified that the issue has an enterprise impact. When does the clock start for this type of reactive alert?The 1st indication of the potential impact, regardless of who provides initial notification.158Appendix M. Chronic Problems. SLA – 04. There are events that may trigger a Configuration item (CI) as a potential chronic. Does this metric allow for the investigation of those items to determine if this CI is an actual chronic issue vs. false positive?The Chronic report should indicate whether or not the item is a false positive and should be investigated.? This SLA is only a KM, however, the expectation is that the vendor will investigate and report findings.? The vendor must also report the corrective actions completed or the corrective actions scheduled to correct the situation in a timely manner. ??The vendor is still responsible for other SLAs that this CI might be affecting159Appendix M. Chronic Problems. SLA – 04. Is customer hold time inclusive of customer site problems (i.e. power issues that generated a proactive ticket).Yes160Appendix M. Chronic Problems. SLA – 04. With proactive management, there are numerous events that can be non-service impacting that generate a ticket (threshold alarms, etc.) Would these tickets be excluded from the 60 day rolling period and only circuit/service impacting events would count against the >2 number.Yes. 161Appendix M. Incident Notification. SLA-05. What is the method of the alert to meet the requirement (email, phone call, etc.?)The Offeror should describe what methods of notification they can support. Final enterprise incident management and notification process will be determined and addressed during contract negotiation. 162Appendix M. Incident Notification. SLA-05. The diagrams and verbiage in the RFP state that the ESD from RFP#2 is required to provide notifications to the Commonwealth on Incident Notifications. Is the intention of this SLA for the Offeror of this RFP to alert the ESD in the required 30 minute timeframe? How will the Commonwealth monitor this metric if the communication alert from the Offeror of this RFP should be to the ESD?Yes. It is the intention of this SLA to alert ESD within 30 minutes. This will be monitored through the ESD Service Desk.163Appendix M. Availability (Voice Services) – Agency (per location); Time to Resolve – Agency. SLA - 09 and 10. Can the Commonwealth provide their definition of Gold, Silver and Bronze as it related to the minimum delivery requirements to how the service will be delivered to the location? As an example, typically availability targets (<5 mins or 99.999%) for Gold Level Service requires a configuration that has redundant diverse circuits with redundant CPE to ensure the highest levels of availability. Will the Commonwealth require agencies to orders services with the appropriate configurations for the tiers of services represented for this SLA?Yes. Offerors must identify the configuration requirements for each tiered service in their responses.164Appendix H. Compliance Matrix - Lot 1, D-G. H-2 E-1.4. Please describe the network access requested in this requirement.Question is unclear.165Appendix W. Milestone, Pg 5 AND Item G-1.3 on Pg 74. Defines transition milestones of 180 calendar days from Contract Effective Date for Unified Communications & VoIP and 120 calendar days from contract effective date for Traditional Voice Services. Item G-1.3 on page 74 of the RFP document states “The Offeror shall complete all transition activities no later than October 2019”. Is the intention that this requirement supersedes the standard Force Majeure language in the agreement that protects the Offeror from such circumstances?The question is unclear. 166Appendix O. In General, SLA METHODOLOGY -- 9. C. Service Level Obligations. The Commonwealth, must in its sole discretion, determines whether SLA relief should be granted and the period for such relief (if any) and its decision in this respect must not be subject to dispute resolution. Is the intention that this requirement supersedes the standard Force Majeure language in the agreement that protects the Offeror from such circumstances?The question is unclear. 167Appendix O. In General, SLA METHODOLOGY -- 9. C. Service Level Obligations. Will the Commonwealth negotiate terms and conditions of the SLA definitions or penalties during the contract phase?Yes168Appendix O. In General - SLA METHODOLOGY. Can the Commonwealth provide examples of scenarios where temporary SLA relief would likely be deemed acceptable? What is the criteria the Commonwealth would use in determining whether temporary relief should be granted? How will the date which any temporary SLA relief ends be determined?Relief is granted through a contract waiver request. Follows same process as Contract Change and up to the Commonwealths discretion169Appendix W. Will the Offeror's transition and the liquidated damages be dependent on the other RFPs?No.170Appendix W. How does the Commonwealth foresee third parties/agencies/other contractors impacting the Milestone Due Dates?? If a third party or Commonwealth agency/contractor impacts the transition plan, how will Appendix W be modified?At the Commonwealths sole discretion the milestone due dates may be adjusted.171Appendix H-3. Item D-2.9, Pg 77 - Lot 2. “The Offeror shall provide point-to-point, two wire and four wire services.” Please define the 2-wire and 4-wire services being requested. There is no line item to price these services in the Cost Matrix. Will this be negotiated after award?Two wire services are required for the use of door alarms and radio towers. Four wire circuits are required for the use of connecting a PSP station to a remote radio tower. Please see updated Appendix F - Cost Submittal which reflects these line items.172Appendix F & H. Cost Submittal/Compliance Matrix - Compliance Matrix Lot 2. Appendix F - Lot 2, Row 13 requests pricing for Conferencing - AND -- Appendix H-3, D-255 states “The Offeror shall provide a voice conferencing solution that can be utilized independent of any unified communication for 250 attendees or more. What unit of measure is being requested for the quantities of 18,000, 9,000 and 1,000? How do these items relate?The quantities refer to an example number of users for each tier for evaluation purposes. The 250 is the capacity of each conference session.173Appendix F. Cost Submittal. After initial contract award, what is the intent of the Commonwealth to handle environment changes and/or required expansion (e.g. additional services)?This will be handled by the Contract Change Control process to add additional service(s) with associated cost to the contract.174What if anything must be submitted via the PA Supplier portal () as the solicitation website () states "Responses to this bid will only be accepted electronically. You must go to to complete this bid"?Offerors must submit the material required in Part I-12 of the RFP to the Issuing Office in hard copy format.175Is it acceptable to purchase any missing insurance coverage or to increase our coverage $ amounts to those specified within this RFP after contract award?The selected Offeror must have the required insurance coverage at the time of contract award.176In the spirit of this paragraph "Industry leading voice and unified communications services will be required from contract signature and must continue through the duration of the full contract period, which has the potential of being ten (10) years. Therefore, it is crucial for the selected Offeror to stay abreast of, and deliver, advances in security practices, networking technologies, and voice and unified communications services.", Would the Commonwealth be willing to provide the Datacenter footprint required to support a Supplier's Premise Hosted Skype for Business Solution until Supplier can migrate CoPA into Microsoft's Cloud PBX once it is in the best interest of CoPA to leverage MS VoIP services natively?No.177Is it acceptable for Supplier to provide Centrex "like" services that meet the requirements specified in the RFP using a premise gateway and analog phones?The commonwealth will entertain any proposed solutions that meet or exceeds the requirements within this RFP.178Is it the CoPA's intent for the Lot-2 provider chosen to provide break fix maintenance and MAC work on existing legacy/incumbent PBX systems?No179Is the MAC work and support services in Lot-2 limited to the Voice Services being provided and not for the attached systems?Yes180The RFP states that all offeror's? or Supplier's of services will need to adhere to all ITP's as such, is it required that hosting providers have Fedramp and/or SSAE-16 SOC2/Type II certifications for services, products and their datacenter?The following certifications have been identified but should not be limited to:Required:Data in cloud environment needs to be FEDRAMP certifiedSOC2Preferred:SAS70SAE16SOC3Data in cloud environment needs to be ISO 2700 series compliant181Meeting CJIS requirements is a self-assured process without any formalized testing or certification requirements, and as such is the Commonwealth willing to accept any offeror’s self-assurance of compliance or will the Commonwealth require any third party verification of CJIS stipulated practices or measures being in place? Offerors should review CJIS requirements and determine if their proposed solution is compliant. The Commonwealth will make the final determination on whether CJIS requirements have been met.182The RFP States that there is only 10 adoption of the existing VoIP system, it states that there are 45,000 VoIP system users that will, and 28,000 PBX Users that may be transitioned.? We need actual numbers to meet requirements of D-1. 9 What is the total potential number of users?? What is expected year 1?? 45,000+This is dependent on the Offeror’s transition plan.183From “E-1.1 The Offeror shall provide the ability to route calls from the Offeror’s Auto Attendant platform to any local, long distance, or toll free number”.? Must this be a dynamic number, that may be entered by the calling party which could lead to toll fraud or more likely an administered number/destination for which the CoPA has the responsibility to manage for which any toll charges are the still the responsibility of the CoPA?These numbers are not intended to be dynamic. These are to be administrated numbers such as an auto attendant programmed option from a menu. 184May we assume that SIP resources for all locations will ingress/egress through the two requested geographically diverse demarcation points, and that from that point packet will traverse the CopaNET or other data networks provisioned within RFP 2?Please refer to RFP Section D. Architecture and Integration (D-1.8) The Offeror’s Lot 1 solution will connect to the Commonwealth’s enterprise data network via the two geographically diverse demarcation points. All locations are connected to the Commonwealth’s enterprise data network. 185Is COPA looking for a Skype for Business solution that also replaces traditional voice services?For some, but not all users, full dialing capability through Skype may replace traditional voice services. 186Is there an existing Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft?? If so, how many licenses and what type (i.e. E5) have been purchasedYes. Currently, there are approximately 73,000 licenses, type E3 along with approximately 16,700 Kiosk. 187What is the migration time frame of the approximately 28,000 legacy voice users, to the UC solution?There is no definitive timeline. 188How often does COPA do conference calls over 1000 users?At this time, it is limited in scope. We have performed less than 10 in 2016.189What are the total number audio conferencing minutes used today?or estimated in year 1?This information is not available to the commonwealth.190Can you please provide a use case example for the following feature in Appendix H.2-Compliance Matrix-Lot 1 D-G: The Offeror shall provide automatic dialing of a pre-determined number as a feature when a designated phone goes “off hook”Hallway phone line dials 911 when taken off hook. 191Please identify the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s published IT Conferencing Standard under which MS Skype for Business is formally named as the sole brand standard for Conferencing for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [The last published standard, COPA Real Time Web Conferencing IT Standard (STD – APP004B (2006, revised 2010), does not contain any reference to Microsoft Skype for Business as compliant with current policy standards. The last published IT desktop application standard, ITP-APP036, identifies?Microsoft Office (Word, PPT, EXCEL) under the standard, but contains no designation of Microsoft Skype for Business as a Conferencing Standard.]The ITPs are in the process of being updated. 192Please identify the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s published IT Unified Communications Standard under which MS Skype for Business is formally named as the sole brand standard for Unified Communications and collateral voice technologies for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Please clarify the key functional/business requirements of that policy that drive the Microsoft SfB integration requirements in this bid.The ITPs are in the process of being updated. 193Alternatively, in the absence of a published UC brand standard, please remove the brand-specific reference, i.e., “.. provide a fully managed, vendor hosted, VoIP solution that includes an integrated [MS Skype for Business] UC platform.”Offeror are to propose a solution using Microsoft SfB.194Appendix H.2 Compliance Matrix (Tab D, Architecture & Integration = D-1.1). The solution shall provide full integration and federation with the Commonwealth O365 environment. The requirement enforces Microsoft proprietary control over the proposed solution as updates to code can be used to render competitor solutions incompatible.? Please define the specific required elements of “federation” sought from the desired solutionThe Offeror’s solution should provide a consistent user experience for independent SfB environments provided by vendor and/or existing Commonwealth O365 environment.195Appendix H.2 Compliance Matrix (Tab E, Features & Functions, Line E-1.44). The Offeror shall provide options for line referrals.? At a minimum, the options should include six (6) and twelve (12) months. Please provide detailed clarification as to the term “Line referrals”Automated message that directs callers to a new number. For example, “I’m sorry this number is no longer in service, please hang up and dial…”196Appendix H.2 Compliance Matrix (Tab E, Features & Functions, Line E-1.47). The Offeror acknowledges that it is providing a Microsoft Skype for Business (MS SfB) unified communications platform that integrates with its proposed VOIP solution. This requirement constitutes a named–brand restriction, limiting respondents to only a Microsoft Unified Communications platform.?Given the limiting effect of this requirement on open market competition, please provide the Commonwealth’s formal Unified Communications Standard policy document under which Microsoft was determined to be the sole brand solution for Unified Communications. Alternatively, in the absence of a published UC brand standard, please remove the brand-specific reference.Refer to the Commonwealth’s ITPs mentioned in Part VI, Section 10 of the RFP. Offerors are to propose a solution using Microsoft SfB. 197Appendix H.2 Compliance Matrix (Tab E, Features & Functions, Line E-1.47). The Offeror acknowledges that it is providing a Microsoft Skype for Business (MS SfB) unified communications platform that integrates with its proposed VOIP solution. Appendix H.2 Compliance Matrix (Tab E, Features & Functions, Line E-1.48)The Offeror’s UC solution shall support Skype for Business Mobility.The Commonwealth is looking for an offeror to provide a Hosted VoIP solution that integrates with Skype for Business Platform (RFP Page 66) that is also hosted by the Offeror. Please clarify if Skype for Business is being hosted in the cloud today via Microsoft for the Commonwealth? Also, based on the above, it appears that the offeror is required to host Skype for Business in the Offeror’s cloud, NOT Microsoft. However, further down on RFP, page 66, the following statement is provided which appears that Skype for Business is still hosted via Microsoft: (29.) The Offeror shall describe how it proposes to connect to MS SfB.Please clarify.The Offeror is to provide a solution that is directly connected to the commonwealth’s Microsoft Office 365 and Skype for Business or provide an Offeror hosted solution that is federated with our existing Skype for Business environment. 198Appendix H.2 Compliance Matrix (Tab E, Features & Functions, Line E-1.57)The Offeror shall provide a conferencing solution (voice/video/ collaboration) that integrates with the proposed UC (Skype for Business) and VoIP services.This requirement constitutes a named–brand restriction, limiting respondents to only a Microsoft Unified Communications platform. Given the limiting effect of this requirement on open market competition, please provide the Commonwealth’s formal Unified Communications Standard policy document under which Microsoft was determined to be the sole brand solution for Unified Communications. Alternatively, in the absence of a published UC brand standard, please remove the brand-specific reference, i.e., “.. that integrates with the proposed UC [Skype for Business] and VoIP Solution.”Offerors are to propose a solution using Microsoft SfB. 199Appendix H.2 Compliance Matrix (Tab E Features & Functions, Line E-1.74)The Offeror shall provide multiple non-proprietary softphone solutions desktop and mobile phone compatibility.? Solutions shall be compatible with Skype for Business.This “non-proprietary” hardware requirement directly conflicts with RFP requirements for equipment to run Microsoft operating systems (proprietary software). Please clarify which is the governing provision – open, non-proprietary, or proprietary MS O/S.There is no requirement for hardware to run Microsoft operating systems. 200Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Desk Phones, Line 9)Open SIP standard non-proprietary equipment. Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Desk Phones, Line 11)Skype for Business/O365 certified for on premise or cloud solutionThese two requirements are in conflict with each other (one requiring non-proprietary equipment, the other requiring the equipment to run proprietary software). Furthermore, the requirement for the equipment to be Microsoft certified allows only 15 phones to be proposed and eliminates industry leading solutions. Please clarify.Skype for Business/O365 certified for on premise or cloud solution is “Nice to Have”. See Addendum for the updated Appendix S that modifies the requirement to a “Nice to Have”.201Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Desk Phones, Line 15).Skype for Business like user interface. Please provide more detail describing the underlying functional requirements you are requiring, e.g., lines, speed dial, abbreviated dials, etc.It’s the commonwealth’s desire to give the end users a consistent user experience. A Skype for Business like interface should mimic features and functions that are familiar to Skype users.See Addendum for the updated Appendix S that modifies the requirement to a “Nice to Have”.202Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Desk Phones, Line 31). Ability for users to sign in to any phone using SfB credentials will all features "following". Other industry solutions offer “follow me” features, e.g., user profiles, lines, speed/abbreviated dials. Please provide additional details on the required features to “follow me” and eliminate the specific reference to “SFB”The Commonwealth’s Unified Communication tool has been defined as Skype for Business.203Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Desk Phones, Line 38). Ability to access Skype for Business directory. Skype for Business directory is an active directory. Functional equivalency can be offered for an active directory without reference to the proprietary MS SFB. Please remove the Skype for Business directory reference. Alternatively, please provide detail describing the key functional requirements, e.g., active directory, etc.)The Commonwealth’s Unified Communication tool has been defined as Skype for Business.204Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Desk Phones, Line 39). Inbound caller ID synced with Skype Directory for internal calls. Skype for Business directory is an active directory. Functional equivalency can be offered for an active directory without reference to the proprietary MS SFB. Please remove the Skype for Business directory reference.The Commonwealth’s Unified Communication tool has been defined as Skype for Business.205Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Desk Phones, Line 41). Skype for Business favorites automatically sync between phone and SfB client. Equivalent functionality can be achieved by multiple solutions in the marketplace, without the brand-specific reference to SFB. Please eliminate reference to MS SFBThe Commonwealth’s Unified Communication tool has been defined as Skype for Business.206Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Conference Phones, Line 10).Skype for Business/O365 certified for on prem or cloud solution. Please refer to question 4 previously (refer to question 197)This question is unclear.207Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Conference Phones, Line 12). Skype for Business/ O365 certified for on prem or cloud solution. Please refer to question 4 previously (refer to question 197)This question is unclear.208Appendix S Hardware Matrix (Lot 1- Soft Phones, Line 10). Skype for Business/O365 compatible. Please refer to question 4 previously (refer to question 197).This question is unclear.209III-5. Personnel, A. Offeror PersonnelKey staff should have at least three (3) years of detailed experience working with the Offeror’s proposed solution. Exceptions may be made for new and emerging technologies. Prior references are required for the proposed solution which evidence a minimum of 3 years of working with the proposed solution which is a minimum bar given that these technologies are not “emerging technologies” and have been well established in the market place – some for more than 10 years. However, the Commonwealth has indicated it can consider a waiver of this requirement. The 3 year minimum threshold is appropriate given the size and complexity of the Commonwealth’s business enterprise. It is particularly critical for the public safety mission that the solution not be unproven. Anything less than that would allow unproven entrants into the marketplace which could pose significant downtown and risk to the business of the Commonwealth. Allowing a solution with less than 3 years track record may allow the Commonwealth the Commonwealth to be the “test case” for new and unproven technologies. We respectfully recommend that a minimum of 3 years of proven track record be required, without waiver.No question asked. 210General. Are there any requirements for the unified communications solution to integrate into standards-based video for state-owned standards-based video endpoints, external (B2B) organizations with standards-based video or to web-based conferencing solutions that provide for standards-based video?While it is not a requirement, the commonwealth will welcome Offeror’s proposals. 211Appendix Q. In reviewing Appendix Q (VoIP Service Locations), additional information is required to adequately determine whether or not VoIP services can be provided and how much each location will cost. Could you please provide the following information for both tabs in Appendix Q:Data Information:?Information such as T1, T3, Broadband etc. and what speed is provided along with any QoS in place today from the Service Provider.? Does the Data Transport connect back to Harrisburg, PA or is it for Internet Only?Is there a Router in place today? If so please identify the Make, Model of this router and the interfaces installed.? If the router is due for a refresh soon, please identify the new router’s make, model and the interfaces that will be installed.Voice Information:Information such as Analog, T1 (CAS or PRI), Number of Circuits, DID blocks for each location.Number of Users/Handsets at the locationNumber of Conference Phones at the locationIs overhead paging required at the location? Is there a system in place today and if so what is the current system (Valcom, Bogen, etc.). Please describe the type of interface that can be used to integrate into the current system (Analog, IP, etc.)Is Voice Survivability a requirement at the location?Are Analog Fax lines a requirement at the location? If so how many are needed?Is there a front desk attendant(s) at the location? If so, please describe how they perform their duties. Do they use a PC based Attendant console, Phone with expansion module (how many buttons), etc. Please describe the features that the front desk personnel use (Forward, Transfer, Conference, Night Bells, Voicemail, Busy Lamp Fields, etc.)Please identify the sites that have the Alarm and Monitoring Analog requirements and how many analog circuits are there today.Please describe your recording requirements in more detail. Does every call have to be recorded or is it a subset of calls? How long is your retention requirement for the recordings? Please identify in Appendix Q the number of users per site that will require the ability to record their calls.Data Information:a., b., c. – The Offeror’s proposed solution should include information on specific network requirements for their VoIP services to connect to the Commonwealth enterprise network and Agency locations.Voice Information:a. through h. – Site specifics will be provided upon contract award. i. – The commonwealth requires a minimum of 30 days with an option to export to commonwealth storage.212Lot 3 of RFP #3, Page 87. A-3.1. The Offeror shall provide a voice conferencing solution that integrates with a user’s currently deployed Office365.? This service will provide the PSTN conferencing capability that integrates with O365 and Skype for Business.This question is unclear. 213Lot 3 of RFP #3, Page 87. A-3.2. The Offeror shall provide PSTN conferencing that will enable users access to voice conferences via PSTN Dial In.This question is unclear.214Attachment 2 “SAMPLE BUSINESS ASSOCIATE AGREEMENT” – Business Associate Agreements as provided by Agencies may differ: After contract award (and for the purposes of HIPAA, PHI and PCI controls), will the Offerors be contracting for Transition Services and Managed Services with the Commonwealth via a centralized authorized entity such as DGS or the Office of Administration – The Issuing Office. Alternatively, will the Supplier be contracting directly with individual Agencies of the Commonwealth? The selected offeror will contract with the Office of Administration.215Part III-8 Lot 1 - UC and VoIP Services. Are all 45,000 current VoIP users utilizing a common single call control / call processing platform from a single vendor or does the current VoIP environment consist of multiple different call control / call processing platform(s) from multiple vendors? Can the Commonwealth share the types of existing VoIP platforms and names of manufacturers that are currently in use? Is it the intent of the Commonwealth to replace the existing call control / call processing platform?The current IP solution is provided by a vendor. The current solution is Unify supplied OpenScape V7 IP/PBX. Through this RFP, it is the intent of the commonwealth to replace the existing system. 216Part I-3 Overview of Project. Are the Commonwealth’s Call Centers, Contact Center Agents and Supervisors utilizing the existing VoIP call control / call processing platform(s)?Yes.217Part III-1 Technical submittal Requirements. Do the Auto Attendants for Lot 1 and Lot 2 require IVR-like speech-recognition / text to speech capabilities?While this is not a requirement, the commonwealth will welcome Offeror’s proposed solutions. 218Part III-8 – Wi-Fi Handsets. Will the Commonwealth be responsible for the configuration, operation, management of all Wi-Fi network infrastructure (WAPs, WLAN Controllers, licensing etc.) that will be required at the Commonwealth sites to support Wi-Fi handsets?Yes, the commonwealth will be responsible for Wi-Fi infrastructure.219Part III-8 – Leveraging existing Enterprise Licensing Agreements. Can the Commonwealth share the scope, volume and terms of their current Enterprise License Agreements (ELAs) with existing IT, UC, VoIP manufacturer solution providers that are / or maybe relevant to the initiatives for new hosted UC/VoIP solutions supporting state agencies, business partners and citizens throughout the Commonwealth?The information will be shared with the successful Offeror.220Part III-8 – SIP Trunks. Do the existing VoIP call control / call processing platform(s) utilize centralized SIP trunks for PSTN connectivity?Yes.221Part III-8 – FAX. Does the Commonwealth and agencies have standards for FAX in VoIP environments – run t.38 FAX, retain FAX machines on dedicated 1MB POTs lines or to utilize FAX servers wherever possible?The commonwealth currently utilizes standard POTS lines for fax services, or a commonwealth maintained fax server. 222Part III-8 – Analog Devices. Should the offeror include SIP based Analog VoIP Gateway hardware for supporting analog FXS end devices (e.g. analog phones, overhead paging systems) in the site models and in cost models? The commonwealth will entertain any proposed solutions that meet or exceeds the requirements within this RFP.223Hardware Matrix (Appendix S) and Cost Submittal (Appendix F). Please clarify the intent and requirements for Desk phones / Conference Phones in Lot 2 for traditional voice PBX/ Key systems. Is the offeror expected to specify and price up to six proposed devices as non-proprietary SIP handsets in Lot 2 that may be compatible with all existing but presumably traditional TDM based PBX/Key systems that are listed in Appendix R – Compatible Hardware? The table included in Part III-1 “Requirements” references trunk lines for Lot 2 but does not reference endpoints - handsets, etc. - for Lot 2. Please clarify.No, agencies will procure hardware related to PBX/Key systems via an existing Commonwealth contract.224Cost Submittal (Appendix F). Does the reference to Gold, Silver and Bronze (Base) in the Cost Submittal spreadsheet (Appendix F) have the same meaning as the criteria for Gold, Silver and Bronze definitions associated with SLA -09 Availability and SLA-10 Time to Resolve as described in Appendix M (SLA Data Sheets)? Or does the reference to Gold, Silver and Bronze (Base) in the Cost Submittal spreadsheet (Appendix F) refer to something else?They have the same meaning.225SLA Data Sheets (Appendix M). For “Metric Inclusion” section of SLA - 09 Availability (Voice Services) - Agency (per location should “Bronze < 2.5 outage/degraded hours (240 min) in a calendar month” actually state “Bronze < 2.5 outage/degraded hours (150 min) in a calendar month”?Yes. Please see revised Appendix M – SLA Data Sheets226Skype for Business. Are there any regulatory/legal/company requirements around:Content sent in an IM (i.e. limiting attachments? Personal information?How long data needs to be retained (conversations)Will persistent chat be utilized?? Will it have retention requirements?Is there a need for data encryption?Requirements around nationality of support staff?No. Yes, in compliance with agency specific retention guidelines. Persistent chat is not utilized at this time, but will be entertained in the future. Yes, per IRS Publication 1075. Service desk shall be located within the United States.227Skype for Business. Are all users of the system US based?Yes.228Skype for Business. Is there a current identity management tool in place to manage account (AD) creation?Yes.229Skype for Business. Does the Commonwealth have E5 licensing in their enterprise agreement?? How many seats?No. 230Skype for Business. What will drive users to subscribe to the SfB UC platform?? Will locations/sites have the ability to move or not move to the new platform?Following transition Skype for Business, it will be the single unified communication and collaboration tool for commonwealth use. While agencies will not be required to leverage these tools, this will be the sole offering. All existing IPT/ UC subscribers will be required to transition to the selected offerors solution. 231Skype for Business. For unified messaging, are the users requiring UM on O365 Exchange?Yes232Skype for BusinessWhat is the current UC platform? Is there a road map for migration off the current solution?Will there need to be a period of co-existence between current and new UC solution?The current UC platform is Unify OpenScape V7. The migration off this platform will be solely dependent upon the award of this RFP. Yes, but interoperability between solutions is not required. 233Skype for Business. Has O365 been evaluated and or eliminated as an option for Enterprise Voice?The commonwealth has been a user of Skype for Business, in varying degrees, for several years. It has not been eliminated. 234RFP ReferenceAppendix R - Compatible Hardware Requirements (noted as Payphone Locations in the Instructions tab)RequirementCompatible Hardware Reqs TabQuestionLines 24 and 25 for PennDOT show "Spreadsheet Attached". Is there PennDOT inventory that should be included in Appendix R to determine compatibility?Appendix R instructions tab had the incorrect label. It should read - Appendix R - Compatible Hardware Requirements. Payphone locations can be found in Appendix V - Pay Phone Locations235RFP ReferenceLot 1, Tab 2RequirementLot 1 SoftphonesQuestion"Wireless and Wired Headset Softphones" are listed on Tab 4 -Lot 1 Softphones. Should there be a separate Tab for Lot 1 for Headsets, like there is for Lot 2?See updated Appendix S – Hardware Matrix. Renamed Lot 1 Softphone tab to Lot 1 - Headsets236RFP ReferenceLot 2, Tab 3RequirementLot 2 HeadsetsQuestionThe Lot 2 Headset tab lists Wireless and Wired Headset Softphones. Does this need to be updated to remove the reference to "softphones"?See updated Appendix S – Hardware Matrix. Renamed reference to softphones for Lot 2.237Please provide definition of Open SIP standard, non-proprietary desk phone? The feature set listed as required does not match the defined Open SIP standard, non-proprietary label.Open SIP standard and non-proprietary are defined as the commonwealth being able to use that device on any IPT platform. The required features of a device does not determine the connection to the IPT solution. 238Appendix F references Toll Services, SIP Trunks and DID block costing in Lot 1. Does a vendor need to provide this costing along with the desk telephones and hardware to be accepted as a viable vendor?The Lot 1 Offeror must provide all of the referenced services.239Page 71 of 181 F-1.12 – What constitutes a classroom instruction failure?If, through reported issues from a specific site that has been trained, the commonwealth deems that site has not received the agreed upon training, this would constitute a classroom instruction failure. As an example, if part of the training includes accessing voicemail and changing a greeting, but it become apparent that the users at a site do not know how to perform this, it would be determined a training failure. Also, if a trainer is unable to answer questions surrounding features and functions of the agreed training, that would also be cause for a repeat in training at no cost to the commonwealth. 240Can the Commonwealth provide further clarification on Part II, II-4 C: With respect to the Small Diverse Business and Small Business participation criterion for the RFP, will the evaluation be based on the Offeror’s entire proposal or on a per Lot basis?The evaluation will be based on the Offeror’s proposal on a per Lot basis.241Relative to the article that appeared in PennLive today, link below, is there any impact to the UC&VS RFP and related RFPs? Give the budget shortfall, transition costs could be too expensive to proceed as the RFPs are currently scoped. What are the impacts?With the new RFP’s agencies will be “Rightsizing” to align with business requirements and the need to support and enable innovation efforts to offset transition costs. 242We have examined the Commonwealth’s IT standards and find no existing Commonwealth standard identifying Microsoft Skype for Business as a sole brand standard for Executive Branch agencies. In addition to the general reference to IT Standards, could you please provide the specific standard policy number and URL location underlying the Microsoft Skype for Business standard?The ITPs are in the process of being updated. (Note: Answers to questions 191 and 192 have been updated.)243When was the market analysis and competitive process undertaken to establish a sole brand preference for Unified Communications/Microsoft Skype for Business?The Commonwealth made the determination to use Skype for Business prior to the release of this RFP. The Commonwealth currently has approximately 30,000 active users and intends to expand its feature set and standardize across the Commonwealth. 244At that time, were all industry-leading solutions evaluated as part of a cross-brand comparison in each category identified as the Microsoft Skype for Business in this RFP?Other industry-leading solutions were considered.245For example, Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications lists 4 industry-leading solutions in its top quadrant. (See Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, Analyst(s): Bern Elliot, Megan Marek Fernandez, Steve Blood, published: 13 July 2016). The Unified Communications analysis specifically assessed functionality requested by the RFP, i.e., Conferencing (Audio, Visual, Web), Telephony and VoIP, and additionally factors into the rankings ease of integration of the UC functionality in each area into a complete solution presented via a consistent interface. Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing (See Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing Analyst(s): Adam Preset, Mike Fasciani, Whit Andrews published: 10 November 2016) lists 5 industry solutions in its top quadrant. Were these evaluated, and if so, where was the competitive analysis documented?Other industry-leading solutions were considered.246QA Response #230 establishes Microsoft as the solely compliant solution offering for Executive Agencies going forward, and limits compliant bid responses to only those offering and integrating Microsoft Skype for Business. However, neither the Commonwealth’s published Conferencing nor Desktop Publishing standards identify Microsoft Skype for Business as a sole brand standard for conferencing, voice or collaboration. Instead, current Commonwealth IT standards/policies identify multiple, non-Microsoft 3rd party brand solutions that are compliant with current standards. Can you please clarify how standards-compliant brand solutions are not responsive to the solicitation? How can a bidder meet the requirement to be compliant with current IT standards with a MS Skype solution?The ITPs are in the process of being updated. 247We have received multiple requests to partner with prime contractors interested in the RFP for Unified Communications & Voice Services for the State of PA. We would like to confirm with you that it is acceptable for our company to be listed as the subcontracting payphone provider on multiple RFP responses submitted by prime contractors.Yes, please reference Section I-24.248Given the response to this question (#215) by COPA stating “Through this RFP, it is the intent of the commonwealth to replace the existing system”. Is this a statement made by COPA to replace the current system due to CoPA’s dissatisfaction with it’s performance or ability to meet the States needs, or how the current system and service will be delivered off premise going forward?The contract end date is coming to an end. Through this RFP, it is the intent of the commonwealth to replace the existing service.249We would like to request an extension to this RFP submittal date for 30 days. Is March 23th acceptable? Any additional time would be appreciated. No, the Commonwealth will not extend the due date of the RFP.250Under Lot 1 SIP Trunking is listed as an Other Service. This functionality can only be provided by vendors that comply with FCC regulations as telecommunications service providers (TSP). Most Unified Communications deployment and implementation vendors are separate entities than a traditional voice vendor, typically providing all managed services around voice implementation as well as support, design and deployment services. With that said only vendors with compliance with the FCC can provide telecommunication invoices based on regulations within the US. Would it be acceptable to provide a single invoice for the SIP Trunking service from a telco vendor and a single invoice for the remainder of the Lot 1 services? This would then meet the needs for providing SIP Trunking from an FCC regulated vendor as well as benefiting from the implementation and management services from a Unified Communications expert.A single invoice is required for all services under LOT 1.251If a Skype CloudPBX Microsoft Gold Partner with a wealth of knowledge and experience dealing with properly planning, testing and implementing a robust and efficient Unified Communications solution can’t provide a single invoice that includes SIP Trunking would they be automatically excluded from the RFP process?A single invoice is required for all services under a specific LOT.252Would it be acceptable to provide one invoice for both Lot 1 and Lot 3 excluding SIP Trunking? Therefore 1 invoice would be provided for all VoIP managed services, support, maintenance, design, and deployment of the entire solution and 1 invoice for SIP Trunking from a telecommunications provider.One invoice would be considered if one offeror would be selected for multiple LOTS per RFP. SIP Trunking cannot be excluded from a LOT.253In review of the most recent RFP’s that have been issued by the Commonwealth, specifically RFP Number 6100039274, Unify would like to provide the Commonwealth with some clarifications. As stated in the recent Questions and Answers documentation for RFP #3, you state “The solution is Unify supplied OpenScape V9 IP/PBX”, however, you are currently running V7R1 of the OpenScape product line, Verizon and Unify are working on necessary requirements to complete the upgrade to current, which is V9.We also point out that the Unify phones you utilize daily are not ‘proprietary’ phones limited to use by the Unify OpenScape Voice as sighted on page 56, first bullet, however are ‘standard’ and ‘Compliant’ to IETF RFC 3261 as well as other RFCs for standards based SIP communications. Any use of 3rd party phones (non-Unify yet SIP compliant) could be supported given appropriate testing that would need to be completed and then compared to desired features available, required and supported by those 3rd party manufacturers. The previous answers to Questions (35, 215, and 232) have been revised to reflect the current version as OpenScape V7R1.The RFP section sited has been updated to remove the implication that current desk phones are proprietary. Noted.254Given that IT policy standards directly governing this procurement are pending at this time, would the Commonwealth consider extending the due date for proposals until a reasonable period of time after they are formally published?No, the Commonwealth will not extend the due date of the RFP.255With respect to the pending standards, would the Commonwealth consider identifying more than one solution option for COPA agencies in order to leverage current investments that have been made in those solutions within the current installed base? The Offeror should respond to the RFP requirements.256With respect to the pending standards and for consistency with prior Commonwealth solicitations, would the Commonwealth consider identifying multiple acceptable solution options ranked as the ‘best-in-class’ leaders by independent industry analysts (e.g., Gartner’s most recent Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications or equivalent)?The Offeror should respond to the RFP requirements.257Appendix W, Milestone M-15, lists a 180 calendar day milestone for “Services and deliverables as described in LOT 1 Unified Communications & VoIP Services and Support transitioned and accepted on or before Milestone Due date, and Services implemented, tested, and operational”. The bid conference slide 6 shows a 25 month transition to occur through Oct 2019. Please clarify what specifically is required to meet the 180 calendar day milestone? Is the requirement of the milestone to install and test the VOIP/UC infrastructure needed to support LOT 1 and not the completion of the end user transition of 45,000 VOIP endpoints?The Milestone M-15 180 day milestone is to have the service installed, tested, and ready to deploy. All identified end users are then to be transitioned prior to October 2019 per the proposed and Commonwealth agreed to Transition Plan. ................
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