Request for Proposal Establishing A Call Center

Transcription

1 Request for Proposal Establishing A Call Center Date of issue Submission of Question Deadline Submission Deadline: Submission Place: Next to Power Station 5 (Burj Barq 5) Chaman, behind Salam University, Traffic Square, Kolola Pushta, Kabul, Afghanistan. Office: Cell phone: [email protected] Integrity Watch Afghanistan House 61, QommandanGada Street, Opposite Municipality Blocks, KololaPushta, Kabul, Afghanistan +93 (0) [email protected]

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. About Integrity Watch Afghanistan Background of Harakat Toward Transparency Objective of Consultancy Service Tender Guidelines 2.1. Instruction to interested applicants Definition of Terms used in the Document Proposal to be submitted Contract Funded by Donor Service Title Examination of the Document Responsibility for Cost Confidentiality Language of Proposal Proposal Submission Requirements Packaging Authorized Signature Offeror Qualifications Prime Contractor Responsibility Award Conflict of interest and exclusion. 3. Award Criteria Key Competencies Selection Criteria 7 6. Annex 1 Terms of Reference Deliverables Reporting Requirements Timeline Financial and Technical Proposal.12 Page 2 of 13

3 1. Introduction 1.1. About Integrity Watch Afghanistan Integrity Watch is an Afghan civil society organization committed to increase transparency, accountability, and integrity in Afghanistan. The mission of Integrity Watch is to put corruption under the spotlight through community monitoring, research, and advocacy. We mobilize and train communities to monitor infrastructure projects, public services, courts, and extractives industries. We develop community monitoring tools, provide policyoriented research, facilitate policy dialogue, and advocate for integrity, transparency, and accountability in Afghanistan. Integrity Watch was created in October 2005 and established itself as an independent civil society organization in It has approximately 90 staff members and 700 volunteers. The head office of Integrity Watch is in Kabul with provincial programmatic outreach in Badakhshan, Balkh, Bamyan, Herat, Kabul, Kapisa, Logar, Nangarhar, Parwan, Panjshir,Samangan,andWardak. Integrity Watch has four program pillars including Community Based Monitoring, Public Service Monitoring, Extractive Industries Monitoring, and Community Trial Monitoring. Integrity Watch has two cross-cutting units: Research Unit and Advocacy and Communication Unit Background of Harakat Toward Transparency Under Advocacy and Communication Unit, Integrity Watch is going to implement a project Harakat Integrity Initiative with the financial support of Harakat and in cooperation with the Ministry of Irshad, Hajj and Awqaf (MoHRA). The overall aim of the project is to reduce corruption through public awareness. The objective of this project is to increase awareness, promote integrity and mobilize public opinion to encourage collective action against corruption. Integrity Watch Afghanistan has intended to establish a call center of a moderate level. The call center should be used for collecting information about corrupt practices that take places in various areas of Afghanistan. The call center should not be that sophisticated that can jeopardize its sustainability in terms of expenses in future. It should be designed in a way that should not be very costly and can sustain for a long future even in the situation of financial crisis. But this never means to compromise the quality of the product Objectives of Consultancy Service Establishing a sustainable and effective call centre 2. Tender Guidelines 2.1. Instructions to interested Offerors Definition of Terms Used in the Document Page 3 of 13

4 Applicant: Donor: Grant: Project: Offerors: The entity that needs technical assistance for the purpose of implementing the project, hereafter Integrity Watch Afghanistan is called the applicant in this RFP. Harakat-Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility Organization (Harakat-AICFO), hereafter Harakat- Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility Organization called the Donor in this RFP. The total amount of money provided by Harakat-AICFO for the purpose of implementing the project Harakat Integrity Initiative Project The entities are interested to provide the technical assistance for the Applicant and participate in the bidding process of the project Proposal to be submitted Technical proposals are solicited from interested and qualified firms. The administrative and technical requirement as detailed throughout the Request for proposal (RFP) will apply. Financial proposal shall be submitted along with technical proposals but separately sealed. Upon detailed evaluation of the proposals, one firm will be selected for contract negotiation Contract funded by Donor The contract will be funded by Harakat in accordance with the terms and conditions of its operations Service Title The Consultancy is called Establishing a Call Center Facility Examination of the Document Offerors should carefully examine this RFP. It will be assumed that Offerors have done such inspection and that through examination, inquiries and investigations they have become familiarized with local conditions and nature of problems to be solved during the execution of the Consultancy. Offerors shall address all items as specified in this RFP. Failure to adhere to this format may disqualify an Offeror from further consideration. Submission of a proposal shall constitute evidence that the Offeror has made all the above examinations and investigations, and is free of any uncertainty with respect to conditions that would affect the execution and completion of the Consultancy Responsibility for Cost Offerors shall be fully responsible for all costs incurred in the development and submission of theproposal or any cost incurred by Offeror prior to issuance of an agreement or contract. Integrity Watchassumes no contractual obligation as a result of the issuance of the proposal request, the preparation orsubmission of a proposal by an Offeror, the evaluation of proposals, or final selection Confidentiality Page 4 of 13

5 Integrity Watch will use its best efforts to preserve the confidentiality of any business proprietary orconfidential information submitted by the Offerors, which is clearly designated as such by the Offeror Language of Proposal All proposal documents shall be prepared and submitted in English language Proposal Submission Requirements The Cover Letter in the proposal must be addressed to: Abdul Qahir Tahiryan Logistics and Procurement Officer Integrity Watch Afghanistan Address: Next to Power Station 5, ( Burj Barq Panjam) (SarakChaman), behind Salam University, Chaar Raahi Tarafeek, Kolola Pushta, Kabul Afghanistan, Proposal must be received at the above address no later than 4:00 P.M. on May 27, Proposals must be sent to [email protected] Packaging Each proposal (Financial and Technical)) must be sealed to ensure confidentiality of the information. The proposals should be individually wrapped and sealed, and labelled for the content including Original or Copy number x ; the original and two copies should be collectively wrapped and sealed, and clearly marked for content. Integrity Watch Afghanistan will not be responsible for premature opening of proposals not properly labelled Authorized Signature The proposal must contain the signature of a duly authorized officer or agent of the Offeror empowered with the right to bind the Offeror Offeror Qualifications Offeror shall submit evidence of relevant past experience and proof of similar delivered advisory and technical assistance services as required in Section Prime Contractor Responsibility Award Offerors do not have the option of subcontracting all or parts of the services they propose. Page 5 of 13

6 An award resulting from this RFP shall be made to the best qualified Offeror based on both quality and cost, taking into consideration the evaluation factors set forth herein; however, the right is reserved to reject any and all proposals received and, in all cases, Integrity Watch will be the judge as to whether a proposal has or has not satisfactorily met the requirements of this RFP Conflict of Interest Applicants must disclose in their completed proposals any circumstances, including personal financial and business activities that will, or might, give rise to a real, potential or perceived conflict of interest as a result of taking part in this procurement exercise or, if awarded, a contract for the Services. This also applies to any sub-contractors proposed by applicants as part of their completed proposal or at any subsequent stage of this procurement exercise. Where applicants identify any potential conflicts in their completed proposal, they should state how they intend to avoid such conflicts. Integrity Watch reserves the right to reject any application to pre-qualify or any subsequent tender for Services which, in Integrity Watch opinion, gives rise, or could potentially give rise to, a conflict of interest. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that no conflicts of interest exist as between, advisors appointed by the applicant and those appointed by Integrity Watch Afghanistan or the applicant and Integrity Watch or any advisor to Integrity Watch. Applicants shall advise Integrity Watch as soon as they are aware of any circumstances that could give rise to a conflict and shall propose measures that may be taken to eliminate such conflict. Conflicts include potential, actual and perceived conflicts. Failure to comply with this conflict of interest obligation could lead to the disqualification of the applicant in question from this procurement process. 1. Award Criteria Individual proposals will be initially evaluated by a Selection Committee from Integrity Watch Afghanistan which will come up with technically qualified firms. Qualified firms will be those firms whose technical proposals have met the minimum technical requirements and deemed capable of conducting the assignment. Companies whose bids meet the minimum technical requirements shall proceed to financial evaluation where their financial proposal will be opened and the companies will be ranked based on costs quoted. Integrity Watch will proceed to negotiate a contract with the least priced technically qualified firm. If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated with the first least priced, technically qualified company, negotiation will be formally terminated. Negotiations shall then be undertaken with the second priced qualified Offeror and so forth. In the mean time the short listed companies will be requested to present a Power Point presentation for answering the questions and proving more technical detail on the service. Page 6 of 13

7 2. Key Competencies Agency must have experience in undertaking similar assignments. The experience must be clearly demonstrated in the proposal and evidence attached. Agency should provide documents in the form of work order, completion certificates of completed assignments and any other documents to validate the experiences claimed. Agency should demonstrate its capability in similar assignments relating to consumer protection. Agency must demonstrate organizational capacity, such as financial and project management systems, to manage the assessment in a timely and per the expected quality. Provision of URL of any piece of completed work will fortify the experience claims. 3. Selection Criteria The selection of the Contractor will be based on, but not limited to, the following criteria: Criteria Relevant experience of the Offeror in establishing various kind of call centres nationwide and internationally Realistic work methodology and work plan with feasible and realistic timeframes to conduct the assessment. Max. Points Institutional capability of the Offeror to satisfactorily manage the Service 20 Proposal quality and level of details around the methodology, work plan, timeline, and eligibility details on the overall suitability of the Offeror for the assessment. 30 CVs of all staff proposed for this assignment should be included in the proposal. Page 7 of 13

8 4. Annex1. Terms of Reference The main objective of establishing a call centre to receive calls from various people and from various areas of the country, to find out corrupt practices in those areas, finding reasonable ways to mitigate and eradicate them and to propose them to the relevant authorities. The system should have database where all the cases reported can be easily stored. But no one except authorized people of integrity watch should have access to these reports. An advanced security system should be developed for protecting documents from being disclosed. Specification Call Center Approach This approach make the use of latest available technology in form of setting up a call center with operators ready to pick up calls from people who want to report a case of corruption. A proper call center requires the use of advance technology paired with a dedicated database to record and manage data input and easy convert it to comprehensive graphs and statistics. This method has been widely used throughout the world for many different purposes. The interior ministry of Afghanistan adapted this technology and set up an emergency call center and named it 119. This method is simple to use for the target audience where a short code is provided and access to operators is ready in hand when the number is dialed. Operators in the call center pick up calls and either enter data manually or can record conversation to be analyzed and transcript later. This system can be tailored to a small audience or have a nationwide reach. Many different call centers operate in Afghanistan and have had successful results in providing statistics and data at a click of a button. This system is highly customizable for different input and output results. Though a little heavy on technology this system is ideal for our intended purpose. Caller can call on their own discretion and maintaining privacy is an easier talk to manage. System Requirements I. Vendor will be responsible for establishment of the call centre and providing equipment and software including, but not limited to, data storage, equipment, software, and all servers and telephone related lines and cable. II. The Vendor is responsible for the purchase and installation of the cable/wire at the Call Center facility at the IWA Kabul office, and the following: a. Port system (Expandable to all telecom providers); b. Desk & Chair for Staff; c. New Desktop computers with internet access and networked; internet will be provided by IWA d. A telephone line for each operator; Page 8 of 13

9 e. Soft Phone (displaying Caller Line Identification) + Headset connected f. Receiving calls from the short three digit number; g. Providing opportunity for SMS to this number to be displayed in the IWA- Report a bribe website considering the confidentiality of the caller h. Phone Sets (6 Sets) i. Desktop Computers (6) j. Headphone and Mics (6) k. High Capacity Servers (2) l. Networking Equipment (Switches, Cabling, Routers, etc) m. ACs for Server Room (1) n. UPS for Servers (1 /48 Hour backup) o. Stabilizer (1/ 20 Kilowatt) p. ACs for Call Center q. Tables and chairs r. Stationary s. Printer (networkable) Database Development Development of a custom pre-feed database with drop downs and auto fill options that can help in speeding up the data entry process. 1. Active integration with Integrity Watch Website, with user management system with predefined synch options 2. Able to record and save attachments with data and caller name/id, the identity of the caller should be secure and only authorized people should have access 3. Able to generate statistical reports in multiple languages 4. Able to show demographic based graphs in real time 5. Able to convert data to word or excel based reports 6. Show quantitative graphs and output qualitative reports for analysis Training; Providing training for the 9 IWA staff employed in the call center Providing basic training for the one technician employed by IWA to maintain the system. Setting up a three digit number Set-up of a three digit number on Network switches; Toll Free number to be XXX; Paperwork for authorization/negotiation with other telecom providers specially with ATRA department of Ministry of Telecommunication for cross network use for the call centre to be conducted and Finalized by contractor and shall be finalized before official opening. Testing with other Non-Home Networks to ensure forwarding to Home Page 9 of 13

10 Network. (Home network tests that short code works on Non-Network switch and forwards to Home Network); Provide computer software to allow recording of all conversations; The company should give options on reducing disturbing calls/callers (i.e., block and/or filter caller/phone number; Same number should not be able to call more than twice a day; Calls should be automatically dropped after 5 minutes; Call centre requirements For all Home Network mobile received (in-coming) at Call Centre; For all Non-Home Network (i.e. non-network mobile and landline) received (in-coming) at Home Network Call Centre; For all out-going to Home Network mobile numbers; For all out-going from Home network to non-networks mobile and landline numbers; Opportunity to show how many phone calls received from each province During a day, week, and month. Call Capabilities For all inbound calls to be answered with an automated voice (attendant) installed on Home Network switches for the three digit number; For all in-bound calls received ability to prompt callers to select preferred language (Pashto or Dari); Prompt the caller to select various touch-tones to guide the caller to an area of interest; Respond in language of choice; for caller to be directed to appropriate operator (Dari or Pashto speaking); For all inbound calls to be received 24 hrs/7 days a week with special automated messages indicating operating time of Call Centre during off hours and during waits, but still the ability to access all other automated messages (i.e., information); For quantity and frequency of outbound calls to increase, decrease, and change messaging regularly; For all inbound and outbound calls to have on demand information available; For outbound calls/messages to be provided across different telecom providers; 5. Maintenance After the completion of the project, we require the company to provide maintenance for the system for at least 12 months. Page 10 of 13

11 6. Deliverables No S Description 1 System Requirements 1 I.Vendor will be responsible for establishment of the call centre and providing equipment and software including, but not limited to, data storage, equipment, software, and all servers and telephone related lines and cable. II.The Vendor is responsible for the purchase and installation of the cable/wire at the Call Centre facility at the IWA Kabul office, and the following: a.port system (Expandable to all telecom providers); b.desk & Chair for Staff; c.new Desktop computers with internet access and networked; internet will be provided by IWA d.a telephone line for each operator; e.soft Phone (displaying Caller Line Identification) + Headset connected f.receiving calls from the short three digit number; g.providing opportunity for SMS to this number to be displayed in the IWA- Report a bribe website considering the confidentiality of the caller h.phone Sets (6 Sets) i.desktop Computers (6) j.headphone and Mics (6) k.high Capacity Servers (2) l.networking Equipment (Switches, Cabling, Routers, etc) m.acs for Server Room (1) n.ups for Servers (1 /48 Hour backup) o.stabilizer (1/ 20 Kilowatt) p.acs for Call Center q.tables and chairs r.stationary s.printer (networkable) 2 Training; 1 Providing training for the 9 IWA staff employed in the call center Providing basic training for the one technician employed by IWA to maintain the system. No. of deliverables Page 11 of 13

12 3 Database Development 1 Development of a custom pre-feed database with drop downs and auto fill options that can help in speeding up the data entry process. 1.Active integration with Integrity Watch Website, with user management system with pre-defined synch options 2.Able to record and save attachments with data and caller name/id, the identity of the caller should be secure and only authorized people should have access 3.Able to generate statistical reports in multiple languages 4.Able to show demographic based graphs in real time 5.Able to convert data to word or excel based reports 6.Show quantitative graphs and output qualitative reports for analysis 4 Setting up a three digit number 1 Set-up of a three digit number on Network switches; Toll Free number to be XXX; Paperwork for authorization/negotiation with other telecom providers specially with ATRA department of Ministry of Telecommunication for cross network use for the call centre to be conducted and Finalized by contractor and shall be finalized before official opening. Testing with other Non-Home Networks to ensure forwarding to Home Network. (Home network tests that short code works on Non-Network switch and forwards to Home Network); Provide computer software to allow recording of all conversations; The company should give options on reducing disturbing calls/callers (i.e., block and/or filter caller/phone number; Same number should not be able to call more than twice a day; Calls should be automatically dropped after 5 minutes; 5 Call centre requirements 1 For all Home Network mobile received (in-coming) at Call Centre; For all Non-Home Network (i.e. non-network mobile and landline) Received (in-coming) at Home Network Call Centre; For all out-going to Home Network mobile numbers; For all out-going from Home network to non-networks mobile and landline numbers; Opportunity to show how many phone calls received from each province During a day, week, and month months maintenance of the system will be provided by vendor 1 Page 12 of 13

13 6 Call Capabilities For all inbound calls to be answered with an automated voice (attendant) installed on Home Network switches for the three digit number; For all in-bound calls received ability to prompt callers to select preferred language (Pashto or Dari); Prompt the caller to select various touch-tones to guide the caller to an area of interest; Respond in language of choice; for caller to be directed to appropriate operator (Dari or Pashto speaking); For all inbound calls to be received 24 hrs/7 days a week with special automated messages indicating operating time of Call Centre during off hours and during waits, but still the ability to access all other automated messages (i.e., information); For quantity and frequency of outbound calls to increase, decrease, and change messaging regularly; For all inbound and outbound calls to have on dem information available; For outbound calls/messages to be provided across different telecom providers; 7. Reporting Requirements The Offeror must update the Harakat Integrity Initiative Project team about the progress initially on weekly basis. But the applicant can at any time request for the progress report. This can be orally and by Methodology In light of the description above, it is required that the Offeror explains their methodology considering the objectives, specific tasks and deliverables of project. The Offeror must clearly elucidate the technologies that will be used during this project 9. Timeline Offeror must provide a detailed timeline for the assignment. Integrity Watch prefers the assignment to be completed within 1 to 2 weeks from the date of award of the contract. However, the Offeror can propose a different timeline, considering the scope of work required for the service. 10. Financial and Technical Proposal The Offeror must, in response to this RFP, provide Integrity Watch with a separate financial and a technical offer, before 04:00 PM, May 27, Tax will be deducted by Integrity Watch Afghanistan and will be paid to the government. Page 13 of 13