QUESTION AND ANSWER SET #4

Transcription

1 1 Catalog A Unsolicited SKU s During the process of finalizing the pricing for the final submission, it is anticipated that we may come across scenario s where we may need to add, delete, or change an Unsolicited Feature/SKU s - Can we add or change Unsolicited Feature/SKU s after our Draft Submission but before the Final Submission? Yes. Final is considered a separate submission from the draft. 2 Technical Requirements Section If yes, how do we make this change before the Final Submission? For Section (Redundancy) in the minimum requirements,(a) is the expectation that there be a secondary link from the department s site to the MPLS cloud? (b). Or is the minimum redundancy requirement from the MPLS cloud to the Hosted VoIP Data Center? a. No b. Redundancy is expected between all critical call control components within the MPLS cloud and from the MPLS clout to the hosted VoIP data center. Or is it both? Page 1 of 11

2 3 Cost Work Sheets for 1.2 and TAB a and 1.3 TAB a 4 SOW , table a, item number 3 No mechanism to charge for hard Moves and This will be corrected in a future addendum. Changes that require a premise visit to customer site. In the State s response to a previous question on this subject, we were advised that there was a place in the cost worksheets to provide a price for Moves and Changes for the Converged and Standalone VoIP services. As of the last addendum, the cost worksheet cells are still locked in the Change Charge Per Item column prohibiting bidders from entering a charge for hard Moves and Changes requiring a premise visit to the customer site. Will the State unlock the cells in order for bidders to enter a charge? 5 SOW The terms Local IntraLATA usage and Local Toll (calling) service appear to be used interchangeably for the same service. Is it correct to assume the names refer to the same service? Per AT&T California CPUC tariff, Zone 3 calling This will be addressed in a future addendum. is local usage within miles. This appears to be the same requirement as item 2 in the table IntraLATA Local Calling over 12 miles and up to 16 miles. Did the State intend to add item 3, since it is a duplicate of item 2? Yes Page 2 of 11

3 6 SOW The following language was added with Addendum 7: This will be clarified in a future Addendum. This Subcategory 1.6 IFB provides the State s solicitation for best value solutions for legacy services and statewide Dedicated Access Services. This IFB also describes the CALNET 3 technical requirements necessary to support the CALNET 3 program requirements. 7 IFB 4.4 of the General Instructions Dedicated Access Services are included in this IFB to ensure statewide converged to existing Customers and are not viewed as a legacy service. This added language is not clear. Can the State please (1) provide clarification on where in 1.6 Dedicated Access Services are defined and required, and (2) clarify the second paragraph in its entirety? Section 4.4 of the General Instructions states that The State will conduct negotiations under PCC 6611, after the determination of a Bidder s qualification for BAFO. Yes, the Q&A process defined in SCM 3, Section 2.C5.8 will be followed for this procurement. The State Contracting Manual (SCM) was revised effective April 2013 to clarify the process under PCC 6611 and specifically add a Question and Answer process. Section 2.C5.8 states: 2.C5.8 Question &Answer Process (rev 4/13) The DGS or the CTA, as applicable, may terminate negotiations and/or the solicitation at any time. PCC 6611(d) states that...an Page 3 of 11

4 unsuccessful bidder shall have no right to protest the results of the negotiating process. However, during the negotiation process, any bidder may raise questions regarding the procurement process prior to the conclusion of negotiations. The requester should provide as much information as possible so that the DGS can evaluate their issues. Questions must be mailed or delivered to: Deputy Director Procurement Division 707 Third Street, West Sacramento, CA Facsimile No.: (916) The DGS shall acknowledge the receipt of questions and shall provide a written response or explanation. The DGS shall inform all bidders of any actions that are taken in response to such objections or questions. At the Deputy Director s discretion, the issue may be provided to a designated procurement official for resolution or an ombudsman may be selected to work with the parties to address the issue. This Q & A is not a right to protest and the submission of questions does not automatically trigger a delay in the award of a contract. The disposition of the issues and response to the issues raised during this Q & A process is solely at the discretion of the DGS. Will the Q & A process defined in the SCM be included as part of this procurement? Page 4 of 11

5 8 SOW Business Requirements A.5 & A.8 The paragraph beginning with The Contractor shall integrate Affiliate s and ending with allowing only contracted items to be generated onto invoices. Invoicing for only contracted items is impossible, due to Third Party Billing as mandated by CPUC. The CPUC regulated policy is to pass these charges through to the invoice of the specific Billed Telephone Number (BTN). This requirement is further complicated by Mandatory products/services needing additional, associated service features to function as requested by the Customer but not listed as Mandatory by the State. While in many cases, it makes sense to list those additional pieces in the Unsolicited section this does not hold true in all cases. Solutions to meet the invoicing and reporting requirements as listed would not only be time consuming and costly and still not meet the requirement (due to CPUC regulations stated above), but most importantly not beneficial to the CALNET customers. We request the State strongly consider the impacts to Customers and allow for a Contract Indicator field (Y/N) within both the Invoice and FMR reports as a way to clearly identify contracted vs. non-contracted items. The State has taken into the consideration all factors and any changes to the requirements will reflect the State's minimum business needs. Page 5 of 11

6 9 SOW Business Requirements A.8.3 The new language added with Addendum 7 at the end of the first paragraph is unclear; it appears to require the contractor to summarize all charges and total them into the Total Tax column, however the Attachment 9 sample file total only the Taxes, Surcharges and Surcredits Charges for all Services, Taxes Fees, Surcharges and Surcredits shall be summarized and totaled in the Total Tax column. This will be addressed in a future addendum. 10 SOW Business Requirements Attachment 9 Please clarify this language. The Customer Codes used in this sample file do The CALNET 3 Customer List was updated on not match the Customer Codes initially defined in March 5th, 2013 as noted in the Addendum 3 Cover the CALNET 3 Customer List by the CALNET 3 Letter. CMO are the codes used in the Attachment 9 sample report a change in the pre-assigned Customer Codes? If no, please confirm the Customer Codes found in the CALNET 3 Customer List are accurate. If yes, please update the CALNET 3 Customer List accordingly. Page 6 of 11

7 Bundle cabling with Tel Sets and stand alone Tiered pricing a. Item 7 - Standalone VoIP Equipment Rack & a Item 1 - Station Cabling - Horizontal Copper Cat 3 - Item 2- Station Cabling - Horizontal Copper Cat 5e - Item 3 - Station Cabling - Horizontal Copper Cat 6 - Item 4 Station Cabling - Horizontal Optical Fiber - IEEE 802.3Z - Item 5 - Station Cabling - Horizontal Copper - Identify, Test and Label Do or can we offer overtime and Sunday and Holiday pricing same as per change customer revised IFB sections that address D-marc extensions? Bidders may offer any unsolicited items although it is at the discretion of the State whether they will be included in the final Contract. Page 7 of 11

8 12 SOW Business A Addendum 7 removed the requirement to include This will be addressed in a future addendum. Requirements Reference material (including document name, location, page and paragraph) in addition to response Description. However this requirement is still present for A Please clarify if the State requires Reference information for this question only or should this be removed? 13 Subcategory 1.5 Catalog A Table Table is mislabeled as Please This will be addressed in a future addendum. confirm and/or correct that table should be labeled Subcategory The State revised the authorization codes The State has taken into the consideration all requirements to allow vendors to add a cost for factors and any changes to the requirements will some of these features. In a like direction and to reflect the State's minimum business needs. help reduce the overall cost for standard long distance services we d like the State to consider adding both universal range privileges and account codes to table a Long Distance Domestic Calling features as chargeable items. This will allow for State customers not interested in using all the Long Distance Calling Features to save on their long distance costs. Versus paying for a feature they will not use in their standard long distance rates. Will the State consider this change? 15 Subcategory 1.5 Table a Please clarify the feature name and feature The State cannot find discrepancies for items # 4 description of items #4 and #5. The feature and #5 as identified. Please reword and resubmit name and feature description do not match and your question. might need to be adjusted by the State. Page 8 of 11

9 16 Subcategory 1.2 Table a Please clarify Item #4 SIP calling plan C if the The per concurrent call charge is for the service State is asking for all On-Net and Off-Net SIP described in the feature description. Off-Net calls long distance calls to be free OR is the State are those that are not On-Net. looking for a zero charge for On-Net calls and an all inclusive flat rate for Off-Net Long Distance calls? Off-net defined as long distance calls that pass through the vendors public gateways and are routed to other providers. 17 Subcategory 1.2 Cost Worksheet Tab a For all the SIP calling plan options, the unit of The unit of measure is per concurrent call. measure is listed as a single concurrent call. It is our understanding that all SIP calling plans are based on a per Seat rate and not a per call rate. Please clarify? 18 Subcategory 1.2 Table Under Item #18, the State has requested dial up This requirement is for the capability. There is no capability to support backup MPLS traffic in the requirement to price the service. case the primary MPLS service fails. Will the State consider changing this requirement to an option? There are other redundancy options available to the State that will allow for higher secondary MPLS bandwidth and provide a smooth exchange between primary and secondary services. MPLS dial backup services are very expensive and will add a premium to the base MPLS rates all CALNET3 users will have to pay. Will the State consider this change? 19 Subcategory 1.2 Table Under Item #22 the State asks for The MPLS This will be addressed in a future addendum. WAN VPN service shall support access speeds from 56 Kbps to 10 Gbps but the State removed the requirements for 56k from the tables that follow in that section. Please clarify? Page 9 of 11

10 20 Subcategory 1.2 Table Under Item #28 the State asks for The MPLS The State has determined its needs and will not service shall include inside wiring/demarcation change this requirement. extension up to 300 feet in Customer provided conduit. This will increase the cost of the equipment packages for all CALNET3 customers and should be offered as an optional feature as not all MPLS installations will require demarcation extensions but a flat rate will be added to the equipment packages. Will the State consider moving this requirement to the enhancement table for this section? 21 Subcategory For Geographic Availability the State is asking The State has determined its needs and will not for SIP Trunking at all locations where the change this requirement. Contractor is required to provide MPLS service. SIP Trunking is based on local rate center availability and not MPLS availability. For example many vendors can provide MPLS services to any location within the State of California. Yet not all local rate centers within the State of California are open to SIP services. In addition, in section Table a the State calls out 486 serving rate centers for the Converged VoIP requirements. These same rate centers are used for SIP termination and should be reflected as such within the SIP requirements. Can the State please clarify? 22 Subcategories 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.6 Various Last mile wire line backup services are difficult to Yes, as long as the solution proposed is not a provide due to the high costs for infrastructure. standalone service and is clearly defined as a Can unsolicited wireless solutions be offered to backup solution for the specific services identified provide backup to insure continued operation if within each category or subcategory. a primary service fails? Page 10 of 11

11 23 Subcategory Regarding the requirement for drawings Is the requirement to show our Core offering plus added features (such as SRST, Voic , Audio Conferencing) on the same drawing? OR Is the requirement to show our Core offering on one drawing and -- our added features (such as SRST, Voic , Audio Conferencing) on a separate drawing? If not specifically identified in the requirements, it is the Bidder s option to present the drawings in any manner that provides clear representation of their core offerings. Page 11 of 11