Questions & Answers
RFP#14-9575-3CS
Voice Over IP (VOIP) Telephone System
COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA
May 28, 2014
Q1.Would Henrico consider a hosted solution for this requirement? We believe it would be a great fit for this type of requirement and help meet all your needs in a very cost effective way. Please let me know as this will impact our design approach.After further analysis the County has determined that it is not in the best interest of the County to pursue a hosted VoIP solution.
Q2.What is the budget / value on the above project bidding on May 30?The County does have funds available for the full project implementation.
Q3.Will the County accept Cisco powered Hosted VoIP Solution for “COUNTY OF HENRICO” RFP # 14-9575-3CS, titled “VOICE OVER IP (VOIP) TELEPHONE SYSTEM”?After further analysis the County has determined that it is not in the best interest of the County to pursue a hosted VoIP solution.
Q4. Can you please provide a network diagram of the existing LAN/WAN?Provided. – The network diagram depicts/lists all of the WAN facing routers and switches. The Offeror can assume that all LAN network equipment is either a Cisco WS-3750X switch stack or a Cisco WS-C3560CG model switch. The Successful Offeror will be provided all County network documentation at time of award.
Q5.Sec. III, B, 2 - What are the sizes of the SIP trunks being procured and where will they terminate? Will it only be the three primary campuses?The County will provide adequately sized SIP Trunks for this project. The termination points will be at the Western Government Center (WGC) and the Woodman Road Campus (WRC).
Q6.Since Sec. III, B, 8.e specifies that phones need to support POE, can we assume the County has POE LAN switches in place?Yes
Q7.Sec. III, B, 8.a.i.c - High Level end points, how many lines do you want these phones to support? The RFP just says several lines, can you be more specific?Most County handsets will not require more than 2 lines. While there are a few that would need more, those numbers will be exceedingly small.
Q8.Sec. III, B, 8.D - Can you clarify what is required for switch ports on the handsets? Is it Gig E or 10/100? This section mentions both. Please keep in mind that many phones that fit the Basic hand set description in Sec. 8.a.i.a will not have Gig E switch ports on them, just 10/100 ports.The three primary locations (WGC, Woodman, and EGC) all require gigabit switch ports on the handsets. Attachment H has been updated to reflect switch port speeds required at each location.
Q9.Sec. III, B, 16, TDDY Support. Does this requirement refer to a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD)? If so, does the new PBX need to provide an interface to these devices? Is so, how many and what type of interface is required?The County will not require TDD/TDDY support.
Q10.Att. H - Ten of the eleven Library sites are listed as having no PBX and one shows as having a Cisco CM. None of the sites have a have phone quantity listed. How should we interpret this? Are theLibrary’s outside the scope of the RFP meaning no phones are to be provided to them? The Library system is in scope and the phone counts are as follows:Dumbarton 20, Fairfield 15, Gayton 17, GlenAllen 24, Headquarters 60, North Park 20, Sandston 8, Tuckahoe 45, Twin Hickory 40, Varina 6
Q11.Att. H - What does the term TLS stand for in the Datacolumn?Transparent LAN Service (Verizon provided) a/k/a Switched Ethernet Service “SES”.
Q12.Att. H - When Fiber is noted in theDatacolumn, does that mean the site has a direct fiber connection back to the County data center(s)?Yes
Q13.Att. H - When a Department has ‘Comcast’ listed for Data, does this mean that the site only has Internet connectivity and/or VPN connectivity to one of the three campuses?The sites are connected via a DMVPN (Dynamic Multipoint VPN) tunnel over various “business-class” Internet services, 4G wireless, or microwave links. The reference to “Comcast” or whichever ISP is simply naming the service provider on which the DMVPN tunnel is riding.
Q14.How many DID numbers are you using?3,752
Q15.Will you consider a hosted VoIP PBX solution?After further analysis the County hasdetermined that it is not in the best interest of the County to pursue a hosted VoIP solution.
Q16.Looking at theobjectives the County has outlined that they would like to achieve through the installation of a new phone system, would the County entertain a hosted service as a possible solution?After further analysis the County has determined that it is not in the best interest of the County to pursue a hosted VoIP solution.
Q17.On Attachment H, there are no phone counts for any of the libraries. Can those counts be provided?Dumbarton 20, Fairfield 15, Gayton 17, GlenAllen 24, Headquarters 60, North Park 20, Sandston 8, Tuckahoe 45, Twin Hickory 40, Varina 6
Q18.The RFP mentions the need for limited call center functionality, how many call centers are currently installed in The County? If you could break that down by locations as well as the number of: agents, managers and supervisors per location that would be appreciated.All Call centers are currently running on the Main Gov. Switch, 10 call centers, 80 agents, 16 sup.
Q19.How much is currently being spent each month (or per year)by The County for telecommunications services? $866,611 per year
Q20.How much is currently being spent each month (or per year) by The County forthe on-site maintenance and support contract? $325,000 per year
Q21.Section III.B.13. Conference Calling- Is there a minimum number of conferences required or are there a minimum number of ports necessary?No
Q22.Attachment H - Local Survivability- Should vendors assume Local Survivability is required per site?Attachment H has been updated with this information.
Q23.Attachment H - It is noted that the “Phone Counts” are listed per site. Will there be a list of local Trunking needed at remote facilities, as well as paging needs?See Attachment H for an updated list of site needs. There are no paging components to this RFP.
Q24.Should bidders include a complete Data Assessment or will Henrico County guarantee full Quality of Service on the network?Henrico County is expecting that the Successful Offeror will provide direction, best practices, and assistance with any QoS configurations needed. QoS is not currently configured on any portion of the County LAN/WAN.
In regards to a Data Assessment, Henrico County recently completed a VoIP proof-of- concept utilizing Cisco VoIP phones connected and configured to the County Libraries’ Cisco Call Manager. The proof-of-concept consisted of 3 VoIP phones being deployed to four DMVPN WAN sites (2 – Fire Stations; 2 – Rec & Parks locations) and multiple LAN locations. QoS was implemented to these WAN locations for the purpose of the PoC. The PoC was deemed to be successful in its limited scope. The scope of the PoC was to determine of calls were able to be made/received and also to rate call/voice quality. All participants in the PoC were happy with the call quality.
Q25.Will Henrico County provide POE or POE+ Data Switches certified at Gig-Efor the entire Campus? (If yes, please explain the anticipated manufacturer and model). Henrico County utilizes Cisco WS-C3750X model switches for the vast majority its access-layer. All of these switches are 10/100/1000 and fully support PoE. There are a limited number of locations that utilize the Cisco WS- C3650CG model switches for its access-layer. This model switch is also 10/100/1000 and full PoE. These switches are currently in place.
Q26.Should the vendors provide POE or POE Data Switching supporting Gig-E? See Q25.
Q27.Should pricing include labor for removal of current switching equipment?An optional line item may be included if an Offeror wishes to offer this ability.
Q28.How important is local account management and engineering support for the county? And what is considered local? (Richmond metro, Virginia, VA/DC/MD/NC). The County understands that account managers and engineering support personnel may not be housed locally, however, the County does expect that technical support be able to report on-site within a negotiated time frame unlikely to exceed 2 hours.
Q29.Who is the manufacturer of the county network PoE switching infrastructure? See Q25.
Q30.Attachment H has several locations that say “No PBX”, but there is also a note that there are DID lines there. Are there phones in those locations that will need to be included in the Voice solution? If so, how many? Dumbarton 20, Fairfield 15, Gayton 17, Glen Allen 24, Headquarters 60, North Park 20, Sandston 8, Tuckahoe 45, Twin Hickory 40, Varina 6
Q31.Attachment H has one location that says “Cisco CM”, but there is also a note that there are 2 x PRI lines there. Are there phones in that location that will need to be included in the Voice solution? If so, how many? Phones counts for various Library locations are: Dumbarton 20, Fairfield 15, Gayton 17, Glen Allen 24, Headquarters 60, North Park 20, Sandston 8, Tuckahoe 45, Twin Hickory 40, Varina 6
Q32.General - Can we have information on the current switching infrastructure, such as manufacturer and model? Should offer presume infrastructure readiness to support a modern VoIP system? For example can we presume the presence of QoS and multicast- enabled LAN and WAN?See Q25 for switching manufacturer and model information. Regarding the presence of QoS and multicast, the County currently does not have QoS deployed and multicast is deployed in a limited capacity where needed. All of the County network switching is capable of supporting QoS and multicast. Configuration guidance, best practices, and assistance are desired where applicable for the QoS and multicast functionality.
Q33.Section II – Background / Subsection D - Will the selected vendor have access to technical personnel during implementation should it be necessary to integrate with the legacy systems during implementation?Current County resources responsible for the existing telephone system will be available to the Successful Offeror.
Q34.Section III – Scope of Services /Subsection A – General Requirements – Item 6 , Is it the county’s intention to implement SIP trunking in totality upon cutover to have a transition period from legacy PRI to SIP? The County believes there will be a transition period requiring PRIs and SIP to be in place at the same time.Item (9), Does every user require this fax capability?No
Q35.Subsection B – Desired Telephone Features - Paragraph 2, Item 1 --- System Architecture, Is it acceptable to the county that the overview include a topological representation of the system or other graphical content to illustrate the solution?Yes
Paragraph 2, item 8(g), Does the County require conference room devices (phones?)Please provide options for conference room phones.
Paragraph 2, item 10, How many users would need more advanced ACD features than described above?The County has not determined a specific number of users related to ACD.
Paragraph 2, item 11, Does the County wish to retain the ability to transmit from a hardcopy document? Yes, in limited situations.
Q36.Subsection C – Advanced Contact and Call Center Functionality
Paragraph 1, Advanced contact center feature would be a concurrent user-based licensed feature. How many users would need advanced contact feature functionality?The County currently CCMS 6.0 with around 100 agents, supporting 10 different skillsets, that has statistical data base for historical reports and skillset base routing. We would like to double the agents we currently have.
Q37.Subsection G – Installation
Paragraph 1, item 3, Will the county, or current contractor, be provide any configuration needed on the legacy system in order to accommodate interfacing the new system with the old.If necessary configuration is available on the legacy system, the County will do this.
Q38.Section VI –General Contract Terms and Conditions / Subsection A – Annual Appropriations
Also reference Attachment G – Pricing Summary. Is the Annual Appropriations in reference to the annual maintenance or to the project as a whole?The project as a whole and any on-going maintenance necessary to maintain the system.
Q39.What are the phone counts at each of Libraries?Dumbarton 20, Fairfield 15, Gayton 17, Glen Allen 24, Headquarters 60, North Park 20, Sandston 8, Tuckahoe 45, Twin Hickory 40, Varina 6
Q40.What Version is the CUCM? CUCM System Version: 8.5.1.16900-6
Q41.Is the CUCM platform Virtualized?No
Q42.If yes what Platform is being used?See Q42. Not Applicable.
Q43.What sites are the 3 Main Campuses?
- Western Government Center (WGC) - 4301 E. Parham Road, Henrico, VA 23228
- Woodman Road Campus (WRC) - 10301 Woodman Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060
- Eastern Government Center (EGC) -3820 Nine Mile Road, Henrico, VA 23223
Q44.How are the remote sites connected to the Main Campuses i.e. MPLS, VPN Site to Site Tunnels? Remote sites are connected to the Main Campuses in 2 ways, either Verizon TLS or DMVPN tunnels. The Verizon TLS WAN sites are not tunneled. They are logical extensions of the campus LAN. All other sites are connected via a DMVPN (Dynamic Multipoint VPN) tunnel over various “business-class” Internet services, 4G wireless, or microwave links. The reference to “Comcast” or whichever ISP is simply naming the service provider on which the DMVPN tunnel is riding.
Q45.Understand that SIP Trunks will be provided separately. Should the new Voice Solution also provide for current PRIs? PRIs will be removed as soon as the VoIP solution is proven to be functional.
Q46.Do all sites listed in Attachment H support PoE (802.1af)?See Q25.
Q47.What is the estimated number of Call centers, Agents, Supervisors?We currently have 100 agents and will likely increase that amount to as many as 200.
Q48.Estimated Number of Android devices?49
Q49.Estimated Number of Apple IOS devices?156
Q50.Section III.B.21. Is this requirement for a Hard Point device?The County is open to both hard and soft endpoints.
Q51.Does the County use IM today? No
If so what is the IM Client?N/A
Q52.Can the County provide an estimate of the number of hours that manpower would be available on a weekly basis to support system installation? Especially for phone unpacking and placement. A relatively simple task with a high volume of hours. Potentially large cost savings for the County.The County will provide 160 to 320 hours per week to acceptable tasks such as those mentioned.
Q53.Can we request an extension of the due date for this RFP Response to be equal to or greater than 30 days from the point in time that Answers are provided to the Questions?The due date has been changed to 2:00 p.m., June 20, 2014 per Addendum 1.
Q54.Can Henrico County please confirm that Payment Terms may be proposed by the Bidder for this first round Response?Offerors can proposed payment solutions as part of their proposal submission. The County typically will not pay any costs of mobilization, pre-pay for equipment, software, training or services until such is received. Payment will be made after receipt of invoice and within 30 days.
Q55.Can Henrico County please confirm that they will provide a complete network diagram with ALL Routers / Switches described per location associated with this RFP?See Q4.
Q56.Can Henrico County please confirm that you take responsibility for the Quality of Service (QOS) on your Wide Area Network (WAN)?See Q24.
Q57.Can Henrico County please confirm that your Team will perform Set and Test of every handset, given that the successful bidder provides written instructions, and method to deploy, and a help desk for the County personnel providing the end point implementation?Yes
Q58.Can Henrico County please provide an updated Attachment “H” so that we can gain the additional knowledge of what sites will be survivable, which sites require their own trunking ( at a minimum this should equal the number of sites that are survivable)?And the number of SIP Trunks at each site so that Survivability is possible.Attachment H has been updated to reflect survivability.
Q59.How many voice mail boxes are required? How many of them should be voice mail only, vs. voice mail with a user?The County has 2,852 voice mail boxes. There is no breakdown available for voice mail only versus user voice mail.
Q60.Please confirm your VMWare release level in production today, and if you have future releases already planned? Currently running VMWare 5.1; plan to move to 5.5 on roadmap for next 3 months
Q61.Please confirm where the two Data Centers will be and that they should be Geo-Separated and Virtualized in a VMWare environment? There is only one (1) Data Center in the County and it is located at the Western Government Center.
Q62.It was stated during the pre-bid conference that the County would not accept a bid utilizing any using pricing from a Cooperative or Joint Purchase Agreement Contract. Is this correct and why?Yes. The County is seeking competition through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process in lieu of use of available cooperative contracts.
Q63.Has the County of Henrico had a Network Assessment completed to confirm a VOIP solution will work with no blockage or degradation to voice traffic? See Q24.