Section-I INTRODUCTION Section
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS DIGITAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRUNKING SERVICES January 30, 2015 Section-I INTRODUCTION This Request for Proposals (RFP) will serve as notice that Butte School District No. 1 Board of Trustees [subsequently referred to as “the District” or “the Board”] will seek and accept proposals for digital telecommunications trunking services specified in this document. Proposals shall be due February 26, 2015 by 4:00 P.M. MDT from qualified firms. Interested firms shall submit a response to this RFP per the requirements and directions provided herein. The contract will be awarded based on proposal’s ability to meet District’s goals, price, quality of service, based on an evaluation process outlined herein. The District expressly reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive any or all informalities, and to act in the best interests of the District. Vendors planning to submit a proposal must attend a mandatory vendor conference that will be held on February 16, 2015 at 1:00 P.M. MDT. The RFP may be obtained at the vendor conference or from the District Administration Building. Both will be held at: Butte Public Schools Curriculum Office 119 N. Montana Butte, MT 59701 Section-II 2.1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL PROCESS Request for Proposal Authorization This Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued in accordance with Section 18-4-304, Montana Codes Annotated (MCA) and administrative Rules of Montana 2.5.602 (ARM). The RFP process is a procurement option allowing the award to be based on states criteria and evaluation factors. The RFP states the relative importance of all evaluation factors. No other evaluation criteria, other than as outlined in the original Request for Proposal, will be used. Butte School District No. 1 Page 1 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 2.2 January 30, 2015 Incurred Costs The District is not liable for any costs incurred in developing and submitting this proposal, or subsequent participation in an interview, prior to the issuance of a fully executed contract to the successful firm. No rights or obligations shall inure to any party until a contract is awarded and signed by all concerned parties. 2.3 Proposal Submission/Responsive Proposal Firms submitting proposals shall respond to each item in Section 4 after having reviewed the preliminary material. Responses submitted according to specifications in Section 4 will be used to evaluate the proposal; the District shall not review extraneous material submitted. Proposals [5 copies] plus one electronic copy must be received by February 26, 2015 by 4:00 P.M. MDT. Proposals must be sealed and clearly labeled “Digital Telecommunications Trunking Services Proposal”. Proposals received after this date and time shall be considered non-responsive. Faxed proposals and/or electronic transmissions will not be accepted. Proposals shall be submitted to: Butte Public Schools Attention: JR Richardson, Director of Business of Affairs 111 N. Montana Butte, MT 59701 2.4 Receipt of Proposals and Public Inspection Upon receipt of the proposals, all information marked as trade secrets and company financial information will be removed from the proposals and provided only to the evaluation committee members or persons participating in the contracting process. (see § 2.8). All remaining proposal materials will be available for public inspection and copying. In addition, all meeting of the evaluation committee are open to the public for observation. 2.5 Initial Classification All proposals will be initially classified as being responsive or non-responsive, according to ARM 2.5.602. If a proposal is found to be non-responsive, it will not be considered further. 2.6 Late Proposals Regardless of cause, late proposals will not be accepted and will automatically be disqualified from further consideration. Late proposals will not be opened and may be returned at the expense of the vendor or destroyed, if requested. Butte School District No. 1 Page 2 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 2.7 January 30, 2015 Right to Accept or Reject The Board expressly reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to request additional proposals or information, or to waive any minor deficiency, technical variance or immaterial technicality at its sole discretion. Selection of the successful proposal shall not depend on price alone, but upon the ability of the firm to provide the service, equipment and supplies to meet the current and anticipated needs of the district, and upon any other factors the district may regard as essential. 2.8 2.8.1 Claims to Keep Information Confidential All information in response to this RFP will be available to the public except for: 1. Trade secrets meeting requirements of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Title 30, Chapter 14, Part 4, MCA; 2. Matters involving individual safety as determined by the District; 3. Financial information requested by the District to establish vendor responsibility unless prior written consent has been given by the vendor, as set out in Section 18-4-308, MCA; 4. Other constitutional protections. 2.8.2 In order for an offer or to request that material be kept confidential, the following conditions must be met: 1. Confidential information must be clearly marked and separated from the rest of the proposal. 2. The proposal may not contain confidential material in the cost or price. 3. An affidavit from the firm’s legal counsel attesting to and explaining the validity of the trade secret claim as set out in Title 30, Chapter 14, Part 4, MCA, must be attached to each proposal containing trade secrets. Counsel must use the State of Montana “Affidavit for Trade Secret Confidentiality” in requesting the trade secret claim. The affidavit form is available at the State Procurement Bureau. 4. Vendors must be prepared to pay all legal costs and fees associated with defending a claim for confidentiality in the event of a “right to know” (open records) request from another party. 2.8.3 2.9 Documents not meeting all requirements of (§ 2.8.1) and (§ 2.8.2) will be available for public inspection, including copyrighted material. Questions about this RFP All questions from interested firms must be submitted in writing at least five (5) working days prior to proposal due date. If the response to a question shall materially impact the intent of the RFP, the District Butte School District No. 1 Page 3 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 shall respond in writing to the inquiries and provide all vendors of record with the question and the responses two (2) working days prior to the closing date for the proposal. Questions should be directed to Jim O’Neill, Curriculum Director: (406) 533-2548 Curriculum Main; (406) 533-2525 Business fax; 2.10 Proposal Schedule Event Vendor Conference Proposals Due Date Contract Award 2.11 Date/Time February 16, 2015, 1:00 P.M. February 26, 2015, 4:00 P.M. MDT March 3, 2015 Vendor Conference The pre-proposal conference will be held on the time, date and location shown on the Schedule of Events. The purpose of this conference is to provide interested vendors an opportunity to ask questions arising from their review of the system specifications. Attendance at this conference is mandatory for a proposal to be considered responsive. 2.12 Evaluation Process Butte School District Personnel will review and evaluate proposals based on the stated criteria. Discussions may be conducted with responsible vendors for the purpose of clarification to assure understanding of responsiveness to requirements. Vendor will be provided fair and equal treatment with respect to opportunity for discussion. The evaluation committee shall present their recommendation to the Butte School District Board of Trustees for approval. 2.13 Award and Written Consent Award will be based on responses to the District goals and evaluation. A written formal contract between the successful firm and the District will be negotiated and executed. The laws of the State of Montana shall govern in connection with the formation, performance and legal enforcement of any resulting contract. If any discrepancy arises between the vendor’s form contract and the proposal, the terms in the proposal shall prevail. Failure of the vendor to accept obligations in a purchase agreement, purchase order, delivery order, or similar acquisition instrument may result in cancellation of the award. The parties agree that any litigation concerning this proposal or subsequent contract must be brought forth in the court of the place of business of the District and each party shall pay its own costs and attorney fees. If a negotiated agreement cannot be met within 10 calendar days, the District reserves the right to reject the proposal and to enter into negotiations with other responsive firms. Butte School District No. 1 Page 4 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 2.14 January 30, 2015 Contract Duration The District is interested in entering a contract with the successful offerer for an initial contract period of three (3) years. At the expiration of the initial contract, the District may desire to extend the term of the contract on an annual basis. The total term of the initial contracts and any contract extensions, shall not exceed five (5) years. 2.15 Workers’ Compensation/Independent Contractors Exemption The successful vendor is required to supply the School District Business Office with proof of Workers’ Compensation Insurance or Independent Contractors Exemption covering the contractor while performing work for the District. (Ref: Section 39-71-120/401-405, MCA). The proof of insurance/exemption must be valid for the entire contract period and must be received by the District within ten (10) working days of the issuance of a Notice of Award. Coverage may be provided through a private carrier or through the State Compensation Insurance fund (406-444-6500). An exemption can be obtained through the Department of Labor, Employment Relations Division (406-444-7734). 2.16 Insurance Requirements The successful vendor is required to procure and maintain for the duration of the contract, at its cost and expense, primary insurance coverage against claims for injuries to persons or damages to property including contractual liability which may arise from or in connection with work performed by, or under general supervision of, the contractor, its agents, representatives, employees, and subcontractors under the agreement. This insurance shall cover claims as may be caused by any act, omission, or negligence of the contractor or its officers, agents, representatives, assigns, or servants. The successful vendor must provide a certificate for Commercial General Liability, to include bodily injury, personal injury, property damage and automobile liability insurance, with limits of not less than $500,000.00 combined single limit per claim and $1,000,000.00 aggregate single limit per year. This certificate MUST name Butte School District No. 1 as an additional insured under the vendor’s policy. A certificate of Insurance indicating compliance with the required coverage, shall be provided within ten (10) working days of Notice of Award. The Offeror shall keep himself informed of, and shall comply with, all applicable laws, ordinances, rules, regulations and orders of the City, County, State, Federal or public bodies having jurisdiction affecting the work. The Offeror shall provide all necessary safeguards for safety and protection, as set forth by the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Offeror shall pay for all applicable taxes, royalties and license fees. The Offeror shall defend all suits or claims for infringement of any patent rights and save Butte School District No. 1 harmless from loss when a particular process, design or the product of a manufacturer or manufacturers is specified by the Offeror. Butte School District No. 1 Page 5 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 Any mediation, arbitration, or litigation arising from this RFP or Agreement shall be heard or filed in the Second Judicial District in and for Butte School District No. 1, interpreted according to the laws of the Sate of Montana and each party shall pay its own legal fees and costs. The contractor is required to comply with all applicable Federal, State, and local government regulations and fair labor standards. 2.17 Hold Harmless/Indemnification The contractor agrees to protect, defend, and save the District, its elected officials and appointed officials, agents, and employers, while acting within the scope of their duties as such, harmless from and against all claims, demands, causes of action of any kind or character, including the cost of defense there of, arising in favor of the contractor’s , employers or third parties on account of bodily or personal injuries, death, or damage to property arising out of services performed or omissions of services or in any way resulting from the acts or omissions of the contractor and/or agents, employers, representatives, assigns, subcontractors, except the sole negligence of the District under this agreement. 2.18 Federal E-Rate Program Vendor must be qualified to participate in the Federal E-Rate funding program. Vendor shall include their Service Provider Identification Number [SPIN] within the letter of transmittal. Information about the program may be obtained from the Schools and Libraries Corporation at their web site (www.slcfund.org). 2.19 Intellectual Property All patents and other legal rights in or to inventions arising out of activities funded in whole or in part by the contract must be available to the District for royalty-free and non-exclusive licensing. The contractor shall notify the District in writing of any invention conceived or reduced to practice in the course of performance of the contract. The District shall have royalty-free, non-exclusive and irrevocable right to produce, publish or otherwise use and authorize others to use, copyrightable property created under the contract. 2.20 Shipping Supplies shall be shipped prepaid, F.O.B. Destination, unless contract specifies otherwise. 2.21 Payment Terms All payment terms will be computed from the date of delivery of supplies or services OR receipt of a properly executed invoice, whichever is later. Unless otherwise noted, the District is allowed 30 days to pay such vendors. Butte School District No. 1 Page 6 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 2.22 January 30, 2015 Registration with the Secretary of State Any business intending to transact business in Montana must register with the Secretary of State, businesses that are incorporated in another state or country, but which are conducting activity in Montana, must determine whether they are transacting business in Montana in accordance with Sections 35-1-1026 and 35-8-1001, MCA. Such businesses may want to obtain the guidance of their attorney or accountant to determine whether their activity is considered transacting business. If businesses determine that they are transacting business in Montana, they must register with the Secretary of State and obtain a certificate of authority to demonstrate that they are in good standing in Montana. To obtain registration materials, call the Office of the Secretary of State at (406) 444-3665, or visit their website http://www.state.mt.us/sos. 2.23 Contractor Representative Contractor shall designate a person to act as the contractor’s representative with respect to the services to be performed under this. 2.24 Vendor Qualifications Butte School District No. 1 may make such investigations as deemed necessary to determine the ability if the vendor to perform the work. Butte School District No. 1 reserves the right to reject any RFP if the evidence submitted by, or investigation of, such vendor fails to satisfy Butte School District No. 1 that vendor is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the contract. In evaluating the capabilities of a Offeror to perform the work contemplated herein, the following criteria should be met. (Note: Each item should be thoroughly addressed by the Offeror. Taking exception to any requirements listed in this Section (§ 2.18) may disqualify the RFP). The Offeror must: 1. Supply evidence that they have successfully installed and satisfactorily maintained three (3) similar type services for twelve (12) consecutive months preceding the issuance of this RFP. Provide references including customer name, address, telephone number, contact person(s), type of service and the installation date for each service. 2. Supply evidence that the offeror has been doing business for thirty-six (36) consecutive months preceding the issuance of this RFP. (If not 36 consecutive months, indicate how long your firm has been in the digital telecommunication trunking services business.) Butte School District No. 1 Page 7 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services Section-III 3.1 January 30, 2015 DISTRICT TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATIONS & GOALS Current District Operations The District operates a modern high-speed network for both its wide-area network and local-area networks. Over these networks voice services are delivered through a modern voice over the IP protocol enterprise class telephone system made by Mitel which currently connects to the public switched telephone network via a single integrated services digital network primary rate interface trunking facility with twenty-three two-way channels. The wide-area network connects to a data center through which 100Mbps of Internet bandwidth is secured via two (2) tier-1 carriers using BGP/4 routing. The following subsections and paragraphs describe further the details associated with each of these operational areas of the District’s technology infrastructure. 3.1.1 Wide/Local-Area Networks The District is comprised of thirteen (13) buildings each of which is connected to the hybrid community fiber optic network. Each building is connected to a data center with two (2) pair of 1Gbps connections with diverse paths for an aggregate throughput of 2Gbps of connectivity per building. At the data center, each pair (2) is terminated onto a set of Cisco 4500-X switches with the appropriate optronics to support the connection speeds required. Each of the Cisco 4500-X switches is then connected via 10Gbps to a pair of Ethernet blades in the data center’s core network hardware, a Cisco Nexus 7010 switch, for an aggregate bandwith into the data center network core of 40Gbps. Within each school building, each pair of fiber are terminated into a Cisco 3400 switch which is uplinked to the building’s Cisco ISR Gen 2 router. The building’s ISR Gen 2 router contains a switch module that acts as the uplink to all of the other intermediate distribution frame (IDF) data closet access layer switch stacks throughout the building. The IDF switch stacks implement 1Gbps connections with full power over Ethernet (PoE). The Mitel enterprise phone system voice terminals are connected to these access layer switch stacks. The wide/local-area networks implement quality of service (QOS) end-to-end from the data center core Nexus 7010, all the way to the access layer switch stacks in the building. This is accomplished by using differentiated services protocols to prioritize voice traffic over other data transport on the network. 3.1.2 Data Center Services The data center to which each District building is fiber connected via two (2) pair maintains a network core consisting of a Cisco Nexus 7010 switch, two (2) Cisco 5585-X ASA firewalls, two (2) Cisco 3750-X switches, and two (2) Cisco ASR 1004 routers, each of which is connected to a 1Gbps optical circuit to a Tier-1 Internet service provider (ISP) - in particular, CenturLink and Zayo. Butte School District No. 1 Page 8 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 The District purchases collocation services (1/2 of a full equipment enclosure) in which it has placed its own Cisco ASA firewall as well as two (2) Cisco wireless LAN controllers (WLCs). There are two (2) 10Gbps uplinks from the WLCs into the Nexus 7010 and two (2) 1Gbps uplinks from the District’s ASA to the core Cisco 3750-X switches (for external access to the Internet through the data center core network hardware). The District’s connection into the Nexus 7010 and 3750-X allows the District to leverage data center services. The Offeror is encouraged to leverage the network services, and telecommunications services of the data center for any proposed solution as the data center represents the nexus of the District network. 3.1.3 VoIP Enabled Phone System The District purchased a Mitel enterprise VoIP system which places a Mitel 3300 controller in each of its thirteen (13) buildings. These controllers are clustered together an provide a uniform management, call routing, and fault-tolerance control plane for the District. The District internally manages day-to-day operations of the telephone system along with routine modifications to the system via its web-based administration pages. This administration is performed by a single person at the Administration building, Tawni Emett. When additional administration and/or configuration tasks are required, the District leverages S&K-Global Solutions who is the vendor who designed, installed and maintains the voice solution. S&K Global Solutions may be contacted via: Dave Mortensen Project Manager for District Voice Solution [email protected] (406) 824-0450 Current connectivity to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is via a single ISDN PRI located at the Butte High-School building. All twenty-three (23) two-way channels are active and there are presently approximately 150 DIDs defined in the system. An exact DID list can be obtained from Dave Mortensen at the contact information shown above. Any Billing Telephone Numbers (BTNs) of the current carrier for review of the District’s customer service record (CSR) can be obtained by contacting: Tawni Emett Telehone System Administrator [email protected] (406) 533-2548 Any request for a letter of authorization/agency (LOA) so prospective Offerors may be granted access to review the District CSR at the current carrier can be obtained by contacting the following individual after the mandatory vendor conference: Jim O’Neill Curriculum/Technology Director [email protected] (406) 533-2548 Butte School District No. 1 Page 9 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 3.2 January 30, 2015 Service Availability Date Butte School District No. 1 desires the establishment of the requested digital telecommunications trunking services be operational for use by July 1, 2015. Indicate your ability to comply with this schedule including the time necessary for equipment acquisitions and installation. 3.3 Installation The vendor shall utilize trained, experienced and properly credentialed personnel to install and test the services. Industry accepted standards shall be followed. The resulting service shall be neat in appearance, durable and fully documented. 3.3.1 Additional Installation Requirements • Vendor shall be responsible for providing and installing additional licensing to existing District VoIP Enabled Phone Systems. • All work and materials must comply with applicable State and Federal Laws, municipal ordinances and regulations. If code violations occur, the vendor shall correct the deficiencies or situations at no cost to the District. 3.4 Testing All services shall be tested and accompanied by documents explaining exactly what tests were conducted, what tests were demonstrated, and what results were achieved; and signed statements indicating that the tests have been satisfactorily accomplished. 3.4.1 Additional Testing Requirements 1. A field test plan shall be submitted by the vendor for the District’s approval that will demonstrate that the service is properly installed and that it is working according to design. This testing will include the standards required for VoIP services between sites as approved by the District’s current phone system vendor. 2. The vendor shall perform these tests when the service has been installed and adjusted for optimum performance. Satisfactory test results are a prerequisite to acceptance of the service. 3. The vendor will provide the District with a written Test Notification. The Test Notification shall describe the proposed test(s) to be demonstrated and the service to be tested. Butte School District No. 1 Page 10 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 3.5 January 30, 2015 Documentation The vendor shall provide for the District a copy of the system drawings necessary for the proper utilization of the services. These shall include but not limited to: 1. System Drawing including appropriate IP addressed for critical components and troubleshooting. 2. Operating procedures and methods including diagnostic and test procedures 3.6 Project Goals and Objectives • Propose the most Cost-Effective digital telecommunications trunking solution for the District. – Can include ISDN Primary Rate Interface facilities and services; – Can include Session Initiation Protocol (v.2) based services and licensing; • Where possible, and especially if SIP trunking is being proposed, address issues of fault tolerance within the system. • Take into account the District’s current fiber-based wide-area network to design and propose the most efficient traffic across the District’s networks. • Port all existing District advertised Direct Inward Dialed telephone numbers as well as those telephone numbers used as “main lines” or otherwise so advertised. • Provide a solution to meet the District’s needs to maintain plain old telephone service analog lines as indicated. • Provide single point of contact for reporting trouble related to proposed trunking services. • Propose a cost-effective solution that takes into account the reduced need in trunking services during the summer break from the school year. Section-IV PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION A complete proposal will include the following sections listed below: 1. Letter of Transmittal - not to exceed one (1) page 2. Technical Proposal - not to exceed fifteen (15) pages 3. Price Proposal - not to exceed four (4) pages 4. Service, Maintenance, and Technical Support - not to exceed four (4) pages 5. Implementation Schedule - not to exceed four (4) pages 6. References - not to exceed one (1) page Butte School District No. 1 Page 11 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 4.1 4.1.1 January 30, 2015 Requirements Letter of Transmittal [max 1-pg] • Written on official vendor letterhead • Signed by representative authorized to represent vendor • Includes the following company contact information: – Name – Mailing Address – Phone Number – Fax Number – Email Address – Web Page • E-Rate Service Provider Identification Number [SPIN] 4.1.2 Technical Proposal [max 15-pgs] In order for any phone system to receive and place calls to individuals not part of the enterprise telephony solution one or more gateways to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) must be a system component of the solution. There are many different ways for these gateways to connect to the PSTN depending on the features required and the associated costs. This RFP will only consider the following telecommunications trunking facilities: • ISDN PRI (switch type N2) • SIP Trunks (v.2) • Analog POTS (FXO) ISDN Primary Rate Interface Trunking The integrated services digital network primary rate interface (ISDN PRI) trunking model is built on top of the channelize T1 digital carrier facility. The ISDN PRI circuit consumes one of the 24 available channels (or trunks) of the CT1 and uses this channel for supervisory signalling. All call set-up, supervisory, and tear-down signalling is passed between the PSTN ISDN PRI and the telephony solution over this special D-channel. In addition, automatic number identification (ANI) and calling line identification presentation (CLIP) information is also exchanged over this special D-channel. This logical use of the CT1 channels allows for a more flexible use of the voice channels in the ISDN PRI circuit. As previously described, the District presently has a single ISDN PRI will all 23 two-way channels active and connected to the Mitel system at the Butte High School. If this form of trunking is proposed, please Butte School District No. 1 Page 12 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 explain how the proposed solution removes the single point of failure of the current District single PRI located at the Butte High School. The Offeror must work with the District’s telephone system provider to understand the impact the proposed trunking solution will have on any required additional hardware (add-on cards) as well as required additional licensing. These additional costs must be added to the Offeror’s pricing proposal using the cost analysis tables shown herein. The proposal should include a breakdown of the number of facilities, channels, TNs, DIDs, and other services required (as shown below) to meet or exceed the current solutions documented herein. Please provide a complete turnkey trunking solution. Session Initiation Protocol Trunking The session initiation protocol (SIP) is an application layer protocol widely used to control voice communications sessions over the Internet Protocol (IP). The protocol is used to create, modify, and terminate two-party and multi-party voice sessions in an enterprise network. SIP is not a new protocol, its origin dates back to the mid-1990s, but its application and wide spread adoption to bring voice communications to network infrastructures as a trunking application is relatively new. In modern telephony solutions the SIP protocol is used in two distinct roles: first, it is used as the underlying application layer protocol that allows telephony system devices to communicate with one another through managing the voice streams between these devices; second, it is used in a trunking role to manage voice streams and call control (session) “signalling” between the telephony solution PSTN gateways and the PSTN carriers connected through these gateways. If SIP trunking is proposed, please make sure the proposal includes any required session border gateway devices (and associated licenses) to address and implement session traversal utilities for NAT (STUN). Further, please address the solution’s implementation related to fault tolerance and removing single points of failure for trunking services. If additional IP-based networks are required over which SIP and RTSP traffic flows must be carried, please make sure to describe, in detail, the purpose, location, facilities and any associated hardware required for these additional networks. The Offeror must work with the District’s telephone system provider to understand the impact the proposed trunking solution will have on any required additional hardware (add-on cards) as well as required additional licensing. These additional costs must be added to the Offeror’s pricing proposal using the cost analysis tables shown herein. The proposal should include a breakdown of the number of facilities, channels, TNs, DIDs, and other services required (as shown below) to meet or exceed the current solutions documented herein. Please provide a complete turnkey trunking solution. Analog Facility (FXO/1FB) Trunking Analog facilities are single looped circuits from the central office or end office to the customer premise. Call set-up and tear-down signalling is implemented either as group-start or loop-start signalling each of which has to do with a transition of the circuit span power being modified for a recognized amount of time. Caller ID information is provided to the customer premise equipment as tonal information above the 3kHZ frequency range between the first and second ring. One Butte School District No. 1 Page 13 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 consequence of this is that if the call is answered before the second ring, it is possible incomplete or no caller id information is transferred to the customer premise equipment. The Offeror must work with the District’s telephone system provider to understand the impact the proposed trunking solution will have on any required additional hardware (add-on cards) as well as required additional licensing. These additional costs must be added to the Offeror’s pricing proposal using the cost analysis tables shown herein. The District requires a small number of analog POTS lines which provide PSTN access to alarm systems. The following table summarizes the required analog POTS lines: Location No of POTS TNs Kennedy Elementary 1 782-6215 East Middle School West Elementary Administration Bldg Emerson Elementary 4 723-0052 723-0222 782-1293 782-4053 Butte High School 4 723-0184 782-1905 782-7985 782-2189 Hillcrest Elementary 1 494-7751 Margaret Leary Elementary 1 494-1216 Transportation 1 782-6423 Warehouse 1 782-6126 Webster Complex 1 782-6149 Whittier Elementary 1 782-6255 The proposal should include a breakdown of the number of facilities, TNs, and other services required (as shown below) to meet or exceed the current solutions documented herein. Please provide a complete turnkey trunking solution. Long Distance Services The Offerer must address any long distance service costs associated with the proposed trunking services if applicable. If long distance services are proposed, please include the following: • Long Distance service must utilize the proposed trunking services. • Offeror must provide billing detail information in electronic form such as a web-based billing system or CD-ROM or application software in addition to traditional paper billing. • Offeror must discuss their toll fraud detection capabilities for international, toll free,Âăoutbound and calling card services. Butte School District No. 1 Page 14 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 • Offeror must provide Rates for: – International Calls – Intrastate Calls – Interstate Calls • All other pricing and rates, including: – any fixed monthly charges – exclusions • Any Specific Legal Terms and Conditions Call Distribution and Routing Call distribution and routing is used by the District to leverage the geographically dispersed workforce and move calls coming into a single dialed telephony number to call taker agents all across the District. This way to accommodate staffing changes in availability, the District can be flexible about who can act as an agent in one or more of these call distribution groups. The District has historically relied on a number of different call distribution components as well as modification of the phone system dial plan to route the calls to the correct groups of call takers during the correct time of day. The VoIP system must contain sufficient call distribution features and allow for sophisticated modification of the system’s dial plan to implement varied and diverse call routing and distribution. Enhanced 9-1-1 Capabilities The Offeror must provide ’Nomadic’ e911 service on all of DIDs no matter the digital trunking service proposed. Describe the process for setting ANY physical address in the United States as your address to be transmitted on 911 calls for DIDs provided/ported as proposed. Accurate addresses associated with the DIDs/TNs means calls to 911 will route to the closest PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) to the District’s registered e911 address. That address will also appear on the emergency services operator’s screen when a 911 call is placed from a District phone set. The proposed solution should allow an address to be updated at anytime via a method detailed in the proposed solution. Most DIDs/TNs will have a single address defined upon registration of the number and never modify it, but the ability to change the address associated with each e911 DID is a requirement of the proposed solution. System Programming to Implement the Following: The dial-plan governs the internal routing of calls between devices (both physical and logical) within the phone system. It is also responsible for collecting digits either from the PSTN or the end-user and mapping these collected digits to the correct routing destination(s). The dial-plan of the selected solution must be extremely flexible, allowing the District’s designated telephony administrators the ability to manage how their calls are routed between the different logical and physical devices. The different features associated with the dial-plan and different call routing abilities are described in the subsequent sections. Butte School District No. 1 Page 15 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 Direct Inward Dialing to Extension Mapping The District uses direct inward dialing (DID) numbers to ease routing of outside callers to internal calling destinations. The ability to map DID numbers to specific extensions within the phone system, especially when the extension number is not the same as the DID number, is essential and currently in use on the existing District telephony solution. Correct DID mapping to extension should take place no matter the source trunk of the DID. So, if the District has established geographically diverse PSTN trunking within its organization, then when a DID is presented to the telephony solution from any trunk, the system needs to route the DID to the same destination extension irrespective of the trunk source location. The selected solution will have the ability to map DID numbers to any system extension and allow telephony administrators to manage this mapping. Modifying this mapping should not interrupt the operation of the phone system. Exceptions to these capabilities should be noted. Diversity Outbound Routing In order to maintain a highly available and reliable telephony solution, the District may elect to have PSTN trunking provided at multiple geographically diverse locations throughout its organization. Outbound calling toward the PSTN should be able to be routed to any of these geographically diverse trunk locations within the District. Further, the telephony administrators should be able to change the way in which the telephony solution dial-plan routes these calls to the different trunking locations based on the needs of the organization at any time. The selected solution will have the ability to allow telephony administrators to route outbound calls to disparate trunking locations within the telephony solution as needed and without unreasonable restriction. Please explain how diversity outbound routing is supported within the proposed solution. Calling Party Identification The District is comprised of many different organizational units under its organizational umbrella. Each of these organizational units may, from time to time, wish to present a unique identifying telephone number associated with the unit. Further, certain devices, such as fax machines, call taker pilot numbers, main organizational unit numbers, and the like, require unique unchanging telephone numbers for the purposes of being able to receive calls at a fixed known telephone number. The selected telephony solution will have the ability to present to any trunk connected to the telephone system any properly formatted telephone number and associate that telephone number with any extension of a logical or physical device of the phone system. The presentation of the telephony number to the PSTN trunk must comply with all standard CLIP standards. Please describe how the proposed system meets this requirement. 4.1.3 Price Proposal [max 4-pgs] The Offeror shall provide a clear and concise statement of all costs for services, equipment, installation, maintenance/repair and additional items offered within the proposal. Costs shall be identified as one-time costs or as recurring costs on a monthly and annual basis. These offers shall be based on a three (3) year agreement with an option to extend for an additional contract periods. The District shall base its analysis on a three (3) year agreement cost. Offerors should include the cost analysis tables in their pricing proposals. Butte School District No. 1 Page 16 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 Trunking Cost Analysis Table Building Location Butte High School ISDN Unit Cost Trunk Facility SIP Qty Unit Cost FXO Qty Unit Cost Line Total Qty NRC MRC ARC 17 - 1179 14148 550 1 - - 37 10 23 - - - - - 230 2760 120 2 - - - - - 240 2880 Add-On Boards - - - - - - - - - License - - - - - - - - - SBC Hardware - - - - - - - - - SBC Licensing - - - - - - - - - Long Distance Intrastate - - - - - - - - - Long Distance Interstate - - - - - - - - - Long Distance International - - - - - - - - - Long Distance Other - - - - - - - - - Installation - - - - - - 1200 - - 1200 1649 19788 Trunks/Channels DIDs/TNs Totals: Notes: 1. There should be a Trunking Cost Analysis Table for each District building that is part of the solution; make sure to include the Data Center as well if that building is part of the proposed solution. Indicate in the [Building Location] table field the District location. 2. If more than one Trunking Cost Analysis Table is included in the cost proposal, please consecutively number the tables. 3. NRC - Non-Recurring Costs - should total these costs for the row indicated. 4. MRC - Monthly Recurring Costs - should total these costs for the row indicated. 5. ARC - Annual Recurring Costs - should total these costs for the row indicated. 6. If there is no value for a field, please indicated with either a ‘0’ or a ‘-’ as shown. 7. If there are costs that do not fit into the categories shown in the first column of the table, please include these in a separate table, but please also include the Trunking Cost Analysis Table filled out as completely as possible. Butte School District No. 1 Page 17 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services 4.1.4 January 30, 2015 Service, Maintenance, and Technical Support [max 4-pgs] Describe warranty for all hardware and software components of the proposed solution. All equipment to be installed must be new and covered by a vendor warranty or original manufacturer warranty. Describe experience and qualifications of vendor’s maintenance and engineering force. Describe physical location of service and support personnel. Please discuss guaranteed response times. Identify redundancy plan that will allow the District to maintain critical voice services while repairs are being completed. 4.1.5 Implementation Schedule [max 4-pgs] Outline a proposed project implementation schedule with detailed expected events for implementation. The proposed project timeline should include pre-planning activities such as data collection, site visits, and site preparation; project management activities including regular update meetings with District staff; system programming activities such as programming trunking services and call distribution; system delivery and installation and configuration; system commissioning and testing to make sure the system programming is operational and test call flows operated as designed; system implementation; end-user and administrative training; system cut-over including porting of numbers to new system and/or trunking facility and testing of all system DIDs, both contiguous and non-contiguous. The entire system needs to be operational and cut-over by the target date of August 7, 2015 before fall classes begin. All work will be made during normal business hours. If work is anticipated outside of normal business hours, please state these exceptions and provide rationale as to the exception. The ideal format for the implementation schedule would be a Microsoft Project Gantt chart showing milestones and dependencies and any critical paths through the project. 4.1.6 References [max 1-pg] Please provide at least three (3) references of installations of similar size and scope to the District. The purpose of contacting references is to verify the reliability of the services installed, relationships with vendor and technicians, and to discuss service features. Each reference should include the following: • Contact Name • Business Name • Address, Phone, Fax, and Email of the Business and Contact • Approximate number of system users Butte School District No. 1 Page 18 of 19 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Telecommunications Trunking Services January 30, 2015 • Number of facilities and buildings • Brief description of project • Date of Contract Award • Date of Completion 4.2 Evaluation The District will establish an evaluation committee comprised of District personnel as well as an outside consultant. The evaluation committee will use a scoring rubric to score each responsive proposal individually. These scores will then be compared one against another, along with the pricing of each responsive proposal. The evaluation committee will then collectively rank the responsive proposals based on their cost proposals as well as their rubric score. The evaluation committee will then make its recommendation to the District Board for award. The evaluation committee may, at its discretion, communicate with Offerors in the event questions arise while reviewing some aspect of a responsive proposal. Such communication may take the form of an email, written letter or other correspondence, or a request may be made of the Offeror to appear before the evaluation committee to address concerns and answer questions. Offerors may request a copy of the scoring rubric anytime following the mandatory vendor conference. Butte School District No. 1 Page 19 of 19
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