Digital/Unified Telecommunications Services - District-Wide, Hosted VoIP Telephony Solution, beginning in the Erate funding year 16

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1 Digital/Unified Telecommunications Services - District-Wide, Hosted VoIP Telephony Solution, beginning in the Erate funding year 16 RFP Question and Answer Conference January 23, 2013, 2:00 p.m., CST PTS Administration Center Present: PTS Staff: Dan Scheetz, Terry Kohler, Russ Hilton, Kelli Boo. Howard Mandel, MobileTek Consulting; Atris Everson, NACR; Timothy Kerrick, Morse Communication; Travis Markbey and Brian Hubbard, ENA; Calvin Michael, Network Data Systems; Robert Tierney and Michael Sanchez, LANAIR A general statement regarding the inclusion of telephone switches in the bid proposal: As the request for proposal document clearly states, The successful bidder will provide an allinclusive, hosted, priority one e-ratable, telecommunication system that provides the totality of service necessary to send and receive all telecommunication to and from the district. Proposals should include all aspects of this communication process, including, but not limited to: backend equipment, handsets, software, hosted system centers, and all operational services necessary. Since the current PTS switch configuration does not have enough port capacity to support a VoIP deployment, bidders would be expected to bid them as part of their total, hosted solution. Bidders who utilize proprietary switches with their solutions should feel free to bid the proposal that way. Bidders should understand, however, that PTS currently utilizes Cisco switches in 100% of their other networked environments, so this brand, while not required, is certainly preferred. Bidders who choose not to include the procurement, installation, service, support and maintenance of necessary switches should make sure to stipulate that as a necessary obligation for PTS under section 5.1.d, Include a description of the District Supplied equipment, supplies, staff, and/or facilities, required by the bidder for the successful implementation of their proposed service offering If bidders so choose, they may submit both a pricing option that includes switches as part of the totaled leased/rented solution and an alternative pricing option that does not. Regardless of the procurement/ownership methods bid or accepted, it should be understood that switches deployed to serve the VoIP system will be POE, dedicated to that system and not utilized for any other PTS networking services. A dedicated VLAN segment has been set aside in the current network configuration and will be used to support the VoIP traffic across our current WAN connectivity system.

2 1. What is your E-rate percentage? Our current E-rate percentage is 72%. 2. Do you have headphones now? No, headsets/headphones are not currently being used. 3. Who is your current service provider? Frontier provides our current local/long distance service. 4. Is all current wiring CAT 5? It is a combination of CAT 5 and CAT 6, with the exceptions of a few runs where the CAT 5 was split to accommodate multiple analog devices that required only 2-wire, there are approximately devices wired in this manner. 5. How many voice PRI s we have? We have 2 PRI s. 6. How many soft phones and/or hot-desking options do you want? As this is new technology for us, we do not know how many users may ultimately want to go to a soft phone option. Please bid in bulk with multiple pricing increments (e.g., 1-100, , etc.) 7. Is PTS willing to be responsible to switch out handsets if spare handsets are made available? Yes, if spares are made available. 8. Can you clarify the phone patch cable lengths required per phone (phone to data port)? As per page 2 of the RFP, please bid 800 handsets as wall mounted (6 in.), and the remaining 250 units with desk phone, 3ft. and 10 ft. 9. Is E911 currently in place? No, it is currently just basic Who is responsible for additional costs to deploy E911? PTS will be responsible for any additional costs charged by the E911 center to initially deploy this functionality. 11. For the 80 dedicated analog (POTS) lines referred to in the RFP, do you want them included as a service in the proposal? No, PTS will be responsible for securing/procuring any remaining dedicated lines still necessary after VoIP deployment. 12. Will fax lines be included in the VoIP proposal or remain dedicated lines? Bidders should include approximately 50 connections that will be utilized for singlefunction fax machines and/or multi-functional copier/printer/fax machines. It is our intention to utilize VoIP connections wherever possible. 13. Can you please explain the difference between the two cost forms in the RFP? Form A should be used for all aspects of pricing that are priority-one e-rate eligible. Form B should be used for any parts of the proposal that do not qualify for priority-one

3 e-rate funding. There is no distinction in the RFP between priority-two eligibility and non-eligible. As stated in the RFP, The District expects that each prospective bidder will make themselves thoroughly familiar with all applicable rules and regulations regarding the E-rate program. 14. How would PTS define a soft phone? A softphone is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet using a general purpose computer, rather than using dedicated hardware. Often a softphone is designed to behave like a traditional telephone, sometimes appearing as an image of a phone, with a display panel and buttons with which the user can interact. A softphone is usually used with a headset connected to the sound card of the PC. 15. Is PTS interested in utilizing Android, ios or other mobile device platforms for soft phones, or just PC-based? PTS is most interested in PC-based soft phone applications, but bidders should include any additional options that they feel provide a total solution. Other platform software can be listed as optional in line item pricing. Current OS is Windows 7 Professional, latest SP, along with MS Exchange How many auto attendant levels are desired? Do teachers have access to from home or on their phones? 18. Who would be responsible for hardware issues that arise on devices with soft phone capabilities? Hardware issues would be the responsibility of the owning party. PTS would be responsible for hardware issues on hardware that is PTS-owned and serviced. 19. After initial deployment, who is responsible for phone infrastructure? All equipment included in the total hosted solution for VoIP would be the responsibility of the provider. Any equipment utilized in conjunction with VoIP that may owned by PTS will be the responsibility of PTS (or it s other service providers where applicable). 20. Should vendors bid UPS systems? Vendors should include all necessary equipment for a total, hosted solution. 21. Who will be responsible for adds, moves and changes to the phones? The provider will be responsible for all initial deployment, installation and configuration. After that, and for general day-to-day administrative operations, PTS would expect the provider to offer comprehensive training for a PTS employee(s) identified to serve as our local system administrator (again, for general day-today operational functionality only). 22. Are there wire drops longer than 100 meters? Yes, there are drops longer than 100 meters, most over by only a few meters, but some

4 may be as long as 500 meters. There may be as few as 5% of drops over, but no more than 10% over. 23. Are your CAT 5 cables certified? No, we have had no official certification done on the CAT 5. All CAT 6 in the PHS new addition is certified at 10 Mg. 24. What is the break out for analog and digital sets? The analog/digital breakdown for the current system appears in the RFP. Bidders should provide solutions that include digital units as a preference. 25. If we choose to reuse analog equipment is that permissible? Bid specs state the equipment should be new and in current production, configurable out of the box. 26. Do all the rooms currently have a data connection in them? Yes, all rooms have one phone connection and at least one other data port currently being used by other networked equipment (usually a PC desktop workstation). 27. To clarify, you mentioned the data to the IDF will be the responsibility of the provider so you are looking for two separate IP networks? We are not looking for two separate IP networks. We are expecting to use the current IP network and WAN connectivity. We will expect to use new switches dedicated to VoIP devices and a segmented VLAN to provide for the phone traffic and QOS. 28. What are the models of your current Cisco switches? 2950, 3560, and 3560G. 29. Should we provide a gig to the desktop? You should provide the speed that is required for optimum performance of your system. 30. Does the voice need to be security encrypted? No. 31. Please clarify your request for centralization and redundancy in section 2.1 of the RFP. Vendors should indicate the level of resiliency of the IP solution. 32. Can you provide a telephone extension directory for each location and extension number for each DID? We will provide those specs to the successful bidder. 33. Do you wish to keep your current DID s? Yes, it is very much our preference to maintain our current numbering scheme for the locations we have. 34. How many DID s do you have? We currently have approximately 1,000. Please refer to the Attachment A in the RFP. 35. Are there any private extensions in use or are they all DID? We do utilize what we call phantom extensions that allow for personal voice

5 mailboxes that do not have an outside line attached to them. Approximately 25-50, district-wide. 36. Do you use auto-attendants? Yes, most of our buildings have at least one number that answers to an auto attendant. Please include that feature set as outlined in the RFP. 37. Do you use a night message, a day message, a holiday message? Yes, as stated in the feature set, we want to utilize multiple greetings based on date/time. 38. Are their third party interactions needed with the system? Yes, we currently have Telecore paging/intercom systems at four of our locations that interface with our current phone system through a standard analog port. 39. Do you utilize hunt groups? Yes, please allow for all functionality as it is stated in the feature sets in the RFP. 40. Is there any type of reporting for those hunt groups? No, the current system does not provide for such. 41. Do you need a password system for long distance calling? Yes, we would want password functionality for each possible user in our system (approximately 1,000). 42. Should the wall mounts be basic or locking? Can we utilize the current wallmount? Wall mounts can be basic models. Providers can use or wall mounts if they are compatible with their equipment. Bidders should line-item the wall mounts in cost matrix. 43. Do you need audit/reporting for long distance calling? Yes, we would want audit reports for all calling if possible, long distance at a minimum. 44. Do you allow classrooms to ring through during the day? Our classroom phones are currently set to go straight to voic during school hours, with an option to override that to ring in when necessary. This is functionality we would still require in a VoIP environment. 45. Will the provider be able to monitor the system through the current IP network? Yes, a method for system monitoring will be provided. 46. Are you looking for both premise-based and hosted responses? No, our RFP clearly indicates we are interested in a total solution that is hosted by the provider. 47. What do you mean by hands-free announce feature? Station-to-station intercom paging through the speakerphone functionality. 48. Do you wish to re-use your current phones? It is not our preference to do so. Our preference is for new equipment as outlined in section 2.0 of the RRP.

6 49. Can PTS provide bidders with a MS Word version of the RFP? Yes, it will be posted to the website. 50. Would you consider an extension to the filing deadline for this RFP? No, the E-rate contract deadlines require us to maintain the current timeline. 51. Do you need 20 conference phones? Please refer to section 2.0 of the RFP. 52. Do the conference phones need extended mics? Please refer to section 2.0 of the RFP. 53. What is your preference for quality of cable? Our preference is fiber. 54. Is it your intention to leave the phones in their current locations? 55. Who is going to go and certify each port? The vendor should be prepared to certify the ports where VoIP devices will be deployed. Please indicate clearly in your proposal as to what responsibilities the vendor requires of PTS to complete installation. 56. Does PTS have funding allotted specifically for this project outside of current priorityone e-rate funding? 57. Is your current WAN QOS-enabled? 58. Have you had a recent VoIP analysis? No. 59. Please explain service growth clause. PTS may need to upgrade or increase the quantity/quality of service during the terms of the contract. Vendors should include a statement in the SLA to accommodate such portability and/or upgrade possibilities. 60. Is the 10 page limit specific to section 5.1 of the RFP? 61. Does the WAN utilize a single IP subnet? No. The WAN utilizes multiple VLAN s, one which will be dedicated to VoIP, passing through via Layer 2 trunking. 62. How is the uptime going to be measured? The uptime should be measured using VoIP industry standard methods. 63. The features checklist does not fully align with the features requested in section 2.1 of the RFP. The features checklist is just outlining the handset and voic components of the

7 system. Other general features should be detailed in the narrative section of your proposal.