Phone System Replacement RFP Addendum 2 - Questions and Answers

Transcription

1 Phone System Replacement RFP Addendum 2 - Questions and Answers Vermont Electric Cooperative 11/5/2014 Q1: Does VEC plan to purchase the system outright or are you looking to lease it? A1: VEC is planning to purchase a new system, not lease. Q2: # of analog stations (fax, modem, etc.) at the Primary site, Secondary site (only 12 mentioned overall, please give us the split) A2: We need only 12 analog lines at the Primary site. Q3: Overflow to 3rd PRI (first two BOC telco feature/programming not PBX correct? A3: Yes, overflow to 3rd PRI will be provided by telco. Q4: RBS. routing based on DID? A4: Yes, but the phones connected over T1 RBS will use mostly internal or outbound calls, inbound calls might not be needed. Q5: Minimum number of programmable feature buttons for (1) standard phone (2) Receptionist phone (e.g. 6 button, 12 button, 24 button, etc) A5: Standard phone - 12 buttons and Receptionist phone - 24 buttons Q6: Video phone -SIP (with limited SIP feature list) OK? A6: Yes, please list limitations Q7: Do Conference phones require expandability (expansion microphones)? A7: Yes, optional microphone port would be helpful. Q8: UPS (battery backups) at each site existing? Provide in quote- and if so VA or by design (state run time). Include PoE draw or PBX only? A8: Local UPS will be provided at each location, including PoE. Q9: Item G16.what is ivue system? A9: ivue is the name of our CIS (Consumer Information System), CRM equivalent for electric utility. ivue vendor provides a separate application which requires TAPI Q10: Item G22 existing directory? Integration via LDAP, or just the ability to build Vermont Electric Cooperative 1

2 a company directory on the PBX? A10: Integration with LDAP would be the best, but if not available, then at least the option to load a text file with existing directory. Q11: How many users require VM to , or "all"? A11: Please provide cost of license per user. Q12: Total number of VM boxes required? A12: At least 78 as we use today. Q13: Item L14.. is this for Call Center agents only? A13: Dashboard shall show peak volume for Call Center agents and for other lines as well. Q14: U1-5 how many users require Presence? UM? Mobility? Video? Or list "per user" pricing for these options? A14: Pricing per user is preferable. Q15: U4. What is the brand of the existing Video Conferencing System? Level of "integration"..and what is expected? A15: Currently VEC is using Webex. Ability to participate during video conference with video phone is a minimum. Q16: Section 2.4. Discounts for multi-year. or One-Year quotes only required? A16: One year quote needs to be included, but multi-year discount can be added in comments. Q17. S6. Please define type of alert and vulnerability alert trigger list? A17: Vendor would send us when they learn about any CS vulnerability in their system. Q18: How is the overflow to the offsite Call Center handled..via Caller ID? How does it happen, why, and when? Is overflow re-routing triggered by the Telco, PBX, or Other? A18: Telco will overflow to offsite Call Center upon our request (not automatically) and based on DID blocks. Q19: Is Call Recording currently handled with a VEC owned appliance- continue as is? Or provide solution in our quote? A19: Yes, call recording is currently handled by VEC owned appliance. This can be kept or replaced, based on cost of voice recording included in new system. Please, provide solution in your quote. Q20: "Redirect to BOC on request initiated by Telco? A20: VEC would call Telco to request this redirection. Vermont Electric Cooperative 2

3 Q21: Screen Pops in Outlook? Other CRM? (please identify). For inbound? Outbound click to dial? A21: Only Outlook. Yes, click to dial would be interesting feature. Q22: Call Center skillsets based on Inbound CLID? Groups? Skills? A22: Call Center skillset is selected based on option chosen by caller. Q23: Fiber Optic link between Primary and Secondary PBX. existing-dark? Who owns the fiber? VEC provides routers and QoS for Fiber link? A23: This fiber is owned by electric utilities. From phone system point of view this fiber optic is represented by Ethernet port with 5MB QoS dedicated for voice services. Currently maximum bandwidth between districts is 50Mbs. Q24: Would it be possible to have an extension to 11/19 to respond to the RFP? A24: Unfortunately we can t extend deadline as posted in RFP. The deadline for submitting responses is 11/14/2014 5PM EST Q25: Are all 12 analog for faxes and modems? Are they connected to the PBX? A25: Yes, they are for faxes and modems and they are connected to the PBX. Q26: What is the make & model of the voice recording system? OS if applicable? A26: Acorn Q27: Would agents be on shifts? A27: Yes, but additional people may use the outage queue during big storms. Q28: What is the maximum amount of agents? A28: Currently we have 50 licenses for Nortel/Avaya BCM. Q29: What does VEC consider a skill set? A29: Call Center skillsets answer and distribute calls to agents as they become available. Skillsets hold calls for different call center departments, such as engineering and member support. Q30: Will agents have multiple skill sets? A30: Yes, this option of using multiple skill sets is used during outage restoration. Q31: Will agents need to login and out of individual queues? (e.g. based on hourly, daily or weekly needs) A31: Yes, agents need to login to their typical queues (departments). For supporting power restoration during a big storm more people use queue designated to reporting outages. Vermont Electric Cooperative 3

4 Q32: Will real time reports be needed? A32: Yes, real time reports are needed. Currently we use Nortel/Avaya application for monitoring agents on BCM 450. This application shows basic information such as who is logged in, status (ready, not ready), calls duration, number of calls received during the current hour or day. Q33: What is the use case for the video telephones, versus desk top PCs or tablets? A33: Users or offices that use video conferencing more often, every day for example. Q34: Does the video need to integrate with other video conferencing systems? A34: This functionality is not required, but integration with at least Webex is desired. Q35: Is it used internally (extension to extension) only? A35: No, we will use internally and externally. Q36: What is the current video solution (make, model, software version)? A36: Webex Q37: Can the receptionist console be a software client on a PC? A37: No. Q38: Substations How do the analog phones connect back to the Nortel today? A38: Right now they are connected through fiber equipment and SIP gateway. Q39: Do you wish to support 12 faxes and modems as analog stations on your PBX? A39: Yes, but only at the primary location. Q40: What is ivue? Is that an NISC Back-office Operating system? A40: ivue is a suite of applications provided by NISC (National Information Solutions Cooperative) and includes CIS (Consumer Information System), OMS (Outage Management System), IVR, GIS. Q41: What versions of Exchange and Outlook are you running today? A41: MS Exchange 2010 and MS Outlook 2010 Q42: Call Recording Do you record internal and external calls? A42: Yes. Q43: What type of Tablets and Smart Phones do you use? A43: iphones and ipads. Q44: Can a replacement IVR be proposed? A44: No. Existing IVR is connected to our main application (ivue) and replacing it would be very complicated. But the new phone system may include functionality sometimes provided by IVR such as outbound calls with recorded message. Vermont Electric Cooperative 4

5 Q45: Does this RFP specify a premise-based solution, or will VEC entertain hosted PBX? A45: This RFP specifies an on-premises solution. Q46: If hosted, is VEC free from contract term liability on the 3 PRIs which would then become obsolete? A46: Yes. Q47: Do you envision 50 agents logged in simultaneously, or on shifts? Can you estimate a maximum number of simultaneous agents signed in? A47: We should probably not exceed 30 agents logged in simultaneously during outage restoration. Q48: What does the RBS T-1 connect to? A gateway? A48: Yes, currently RBS T1 is connected to SIP gateway and then to BCM 450. We would like to connect RBS T1 from fiber equipment directly to T1 interface on PBX. Q49: Does VEC need 25 softphone licenses for both PC and Mobile devices, or a total of 25? A49: Please provide cost for a total of 25 licenses. We may change/add licenses in the future. Q50: Does VEC use VMWare, and is there interest in running the UC system in a VM environment? A50: Yes, VEC is currently using VMWare and we may use it for some UC system. Q51: How are the HO, BOC and 3 districts connected? Please include the type and bandwidth between locations. A51: Please see Q/A23. Q52: Please detail the number and type of phones at each location. For example, 10 digital, 12 VoIP and 3 analogs at District 1. A52: Analog lines connected to PBX are only in Primary location where also 80% of other phones are located. Secondary location 10% and other 10% is spread over two districts. Q53: How many total auto-attendants do you have in the phone system today? A53: One Q54: Deployment questions: 1. Who is responsible for rack/stack/placement of servers and phones? 2. Do you have Cat5/Cat6 or better cabling for the phones? A54: 1. VEC 2. We have Cat5 at minimum, so new locations have Cat6. Vermont Electric Cooperative 5

6 Q55: For ivue self service IVR, do these calls ever need to go to the contact center agents? A55: Yes, calls are transferred to other queue if caller phone number is not in the database or the member needs additional assistance. Q56: for your contact center agent calls, do customers currently enter in any information during the call flow? (dtmf or speech?) A56: Yes, customers use dtmf and possibly speech in the future. Q57: What kind of ivue integration are you currently doing today with the contact center agent calls? (can you share a screenshot?) A57: Currently ivue is not integrated with our phone system, but it can be integrated by using TAPI. Q58: How many total auto-attendants do you have in the phone system today? A58: Currently we use one, but we may need more in the future. Q59: How many different dialed numbers reach the contact center agents? Do each of these dialed numbers require their own greeting and menu tree? A59: Two 800 numbers and one main (802) number. No, they use the same greetings and menu tree. Q60: How many different greetings and menu trees are needed to reach the contact center agents? A60: Currently we use just one for contact center agents. Vermont Electric Cooperative 6