/ RFP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Telephony and Contact Centre Solutions
South African National Parks
Request for Proposal (RFP)
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Telephony and Contact Centre Solutions
Ref: 4/11/1/2/02-13
/ RFP 4/11/1/2/02-13
VoIP Telephony and Contact Centre Solutions

Contents

1General Information

1.1Purpose of this Documents

1.2South African National Parks Profile

1.3Background

1.4Overview of Required Services

1.5Responses

1.6Evaluation Process

1.6.1Phase 1: Thresholds / Mandatory Criteria

1.6.2Phase 2: Functional requirements evaluation

1.6.3Phase 3: B-BBEE and Pricing

1.7Scoring Rules

1.7.1Broad Categories

2Functional Evaluation (Phase 2)

2.1Telephony

2.1.1Architecture

2.1.2Functionality (Annexure C)

2.1.3Service Levels (Annexure C)

2.1.4Warranties

2.1.5Resources and skills (Annexure G)

2.2Contact Centre

2.2.1Architecture

2.2.2Functionality (Annexure G)

2.2.3Service Levels (Annexure G)

2.2.4Warranties

2.2.5Resources and skills (Annexure G)

Annexure A: Abbreviations

Annexure B: Sites

Annexure F: Telephony - Track Record

Annexure J: Contact Centre - Track Record

1

/ RFP 4/11/1/2/02-13
VoIP Telephony and Contact Centre Solutions

1GeneralInformation

1.1Purpose of this Documents

a)South African National Parks (SANParks) invites prospective service providers to submit their Request for Proposal(RFP) documents to be considered as potential solution provider(s)and maintenance of the proposed solution(s) for SANParks.

b)Based on the information contained in the responses to thisRFP, an Evaluation Committee will short-list a number of Respondents.

c)The successful Respondents will be invited to demonstrate their solutions.

d)SANParks will ultimately enter into negotiations with the preferred Respondent(s)for purposes of concluding a binding Contract(s) with supporting Service Level Agreements.

e)SANParks reserves the right to adjudicate this Bid to one or more service providers.

1.2South African National Parks Profile

a)South African National Parks is a statutory body established in terms of the now repealed National Parks Act No. 57 of 1976 and continuing to exist in terms of section 54(1) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003 (as amended).

b)SANParks manages a system of national parks that are geographically dispersed throughout South Africa.

c)Currently all Information and Communication Technology Services (ICT) are outsourced and the core infrastructure support is being managed by an ICT partner on behalf of SANParks in terms of an outsource agreement.

d)The Wide Area Network of SANParks is rented from Telkom on their VPNS / MPLS and VSAT technology and a single domain exists for SANParks.

1.3Background

a)SANParks currently utilises a mixture of traditional analogue and digital telephony and associated PBX systems at all of its sites.

b)All telephone lines are rented from Telkom under various contractual terms.

c)Very small sites may only have a single or multiple set of analogue lines whereas larger sites may have BRI or PRI lines.

d)The current PBX systems have been sourced from various service providers although Telkom PBX systems are dominant in quantity.

e)At our Head Office (Pretoria) and at the Skukuza (KNP Head Quarters) digital PBX systems are in use.

f)Some of our branches, notably the Garden Route National Parks and its related sites, have a VoIP solution in place based on Telkom’s VPN Lite ADSL technology, but the internal telephone networks are conventional digital phones with a separate telephony (non-IP) network.

g)Our Head Office also makes use of a call centre solution that is integrated into the PBX system.

1.4Overview of Required Services

  1. Telephony

a)SANParks is busy with a convergence strategy whereby Voice, Video, Cellular and Data should merge into a single infrastructure platform to the extent that it is economically feasible for a particular site. Thus it is recognised that not all sites will have sufficient telephony users to warrant a VoIP solution. Also some sites are dependent on VSAT technology for their Voice Services due to the remoteness of the site and hence an integrated VoIP solution may also not be feasible.

b)In this journey to convergence, SANParks wishes to leverage on VoIP technology, not only between sites, but also i.r.o Local Area Networks (LAN) where existing LANs at the sites should also be used for voice and video.

c)This concept should also be extended through the use of existing Wireless Access Points (WAP) and SIP to allow voice calls over the LAN and PBX whilst using a SIP enabled cellular phone that is in range of SANParks WAPs. Thus the cellular phone becomes an extension on the local PBX.

d)When the cellular phone moves outside the range of a SANParks WAP, the call should also be able to continue using the data capacity inherent to the cellular networks or public WAPs to continue or start a new call using data, provided sufficient bandwidth is available. At all times voice quality should be ensured comparable with Analogue technology, thus Quality of Service is a prerequisite for the proposed Solutions. Calls that “break up” as typically experienced on Cellular networks due to contention should be mitigated with software that can be loaded on the devices (Apps for Smartphones).

e)The usual reporting, cost allocations, number identification, etc. associated with PBX environments apply and is detailed in the functional requirements.

  1. Contact Centre

a)SANParks operates a single call centre at its Head Office in Pretoria for purposes of enquiries, reservations, amendments to reservations, cancellations and Wild Card (SANParks internal loyalty program) sales and enquiries. The requirements are to enhance the call centre to that of a contact centre where not only traditional telephone calls are handled and managed according to contact centre principles, but contact via various Instant Messaging platforms, Web based calls (e.g. Skype), e-mail, faxing, etc. are also catered for and managed.

b)Although the contact centre is predominantly on the floor at our Head Office, we also have contracted agents that work from home and other centres that should share the same facilities no matter their connection either to SANParks through VPNS, ADSL, Diginet, Metro Ethernet, VSAT, or related technology. We also operate smaller contact centres at some of our branches and would like to extend the central facility to those centres as well.

c)Voice recording and management should form part of the solution.

d)The proposed system should be able to integrate with any IP enabled PBX solution whether on-premise or publically hosted.

e)Integration into popular CRM solutions whether on-premise or publically hosted is also required.

f)The usual requirements for the management of contact centres will apply as presented in the functional requirements.

  1. On Premise (Operational Rental) vs. Publically Hosted Solutions

a)SANParks is interested in exploring both types of models for the PBX as well as Contact Centre Solutions.

b)If you therefore have both options (on-premise and publically hosted) available you are required to respond to this RFPon both options clearly stating the different pricing models.

  1. General

a)SANParks is not keen to own any PBX or Contact Centre equipment, and potentially even the hand/headsets as well as the switchboard units should be offered as rental options.

b)SANParks may also request the successful respondent to install and manage the Internet connectivity component of the proposed solutions.

c)At critical sites, alternative connectivity through existing Telkom Analogue / Digital services must also be catered for in the proposed solutions in case Internet connectivity is interrupted.

d)Only one network point is available per user, hand/headsets should thus have built-in switching capability so that the UTP LAN cable must run to the phone and then to the user’s computer in order to enable the user to continue using the phone even if there is no computer or when the computer is switched off.

e)Do not assume that all switches have POE capability, thus instruments should have their own power supply unit.

f)This RFP must be costed on the information as provided, bearing in mind that ultimately the roll-out will be phased dependent on when each ear-marked site’s current PBX and Telephony agreements mature.

g)This tender will be awarded for a 5 year term.

1.5Responses

a)You may choose to respond to only the Telephony (2.1) or the Contact Centre (2.2) portion of this RFP or both;
and with options for on-premise and / or publically hosted solutions on both above portions of the bid.

b)Complete your responses on the attached Annexures (Excel) to ease and speed up the Evaluation Process.

  1. SBD 1B (This document for Annexures B, F and J)
  2. SBD 1C Telephony Annexures C-E (On Excel with Sheets for each Annexure)
  3. SBD 1D Contact Centre Annexures G-I (On Excel with Sheets for each Annexure)
  4. SBD 1E Annexure K – Commercial and Financial Criteria (On Excel) – Supported by latest Audited Annual Financial Statements
  5. SBD 3.1B Pricing Detail Sheet for Telephony (On Excel, note that there are 2 sheets, On Premise and Hosted. Totals are at the top to transfer to SBD 3.1A)
  6. SBD 3.1C Pricing Detail Sheet for Contact Centre (On Excel, note that there are 2 sheets, On Premise and Hosted. Totals are at the top to transfer to SBD 3.1A)
  7. SBD 1A, 2, 3.1A, 4, 6.1 and 8 to be printed and completed by Hand and signed

c)Attacha CD / DVD with the above documents in their native format (Word / Excel) so that we can copy and paste to our scoring sheets – Do not attach scanned copies of the printed version.

d)Note that the Excel documents have space for comments as well as cross reference to your own documents should the space be not sufficient. Use it and cross reference accurately to assist the Evaluation Team.

e)On the detail pricing sheets try and lump costs together. Should you need to add something that is not listed, space is made at the bottom of each section (5 lines) to add items that will be included in the totals. Prices are assumed to be VAT inclusive.

f)Please assist the Evaluation Team and improve your own chances by responding strictly according to this document and provided Annexures.

g)The Evaluation Team will not search submissions for answers / responses.

h)Provide all the information requested.

i)Failure to do so may eliminate your response.

1.6Evaluation Process

The Evaluation Process that will be followed is summarised as follows:

  • Phase 1 – Evaluate minimum criteria and discard any responses that do not meet minimum requirements or any general SCM regulations
  • Phase 2 – RFP Evaluation Panel to perform a functional requirements evaluation of the responses. A threshold of 70% for evaluation of Functional Requirements is applicable before your response can proceed to Phase 3
  • Phase 3 – Evaluate and confirm B-BBEE and Commercial aspects of successful RFP(s) that passed Phase 2

The following schedule highlights the important dates throughout the process:

1. / RFPissued / 20 May 2013
2. / Information Session / 6 June 2013
3. / RFP submission closure date / 26June 2013 @ 11:00sharp

1.6.1Phase 1: Thresholds / Mandatory Criteria

Note that if any Respondent, director or major shareholder associated with your RFP appears on the database of Tender Defaulters or Restricted Bidders of National Treasury, such RFP will be automatically disqualified.

Only Respondents who can provide acceptable documentary proof that complies with the following mandatory criteria will be considered for the next phase of evaluation. The Respondent must:

a)Be a South African Entity

b)Provide an original valid tax clearance certificate issued by the South African Revenue Service bound into the file marked as MASTER submission

c)Proposed Equipment must be ICASA approved – certification to be provided

d)Be able to provide and maintain the proposed solution at all the sites of SANParks within reasonable SLAs – Annexure B

1.6.2Phase 2: Functional requirements evaluation

a)A Functional Evaluation Panel will evaluate your responses as submitted as part of the RFP.

b)To ensure that the Panel can evaluate your response, it is in your best interest to follow the RFP document in terms of numbering and to respond to each of the evaluation criteria in full.We have provided MS Excel documents to facilitate the responses.

c)Annexures have been made available in this document to for you to complete and thereby assist the Evaluation Panel in scoring consistently and fair.

d)The Panel members WILL not search for information hidden in the response as this will be extremely time consuming.

1.6.3Phase 3: B-BBEE and Pricing

a)The 90/10 principle will be applied during evaluation as detailed in the attached SBD6.1 form.

b)Pricing to be provided on the attachedSBD 3.3 form.

1.7Scoring Rules

Each specific criteria area will be scored out of 5, using the following guidelines:

Score / Description
5 / Exceeds the acceptable / requested standards
4 / Fully meets the acceptable / requested standards
3 / Materially(nearly always) meets acceptable / requested standards
2 / Does not meet acceptable / requested standards
1 / Standards not proven
0 / No evidence

In the case of “Yes / No”responses, scoring will be applied according to the following guidelines:

Score / Description
5 / Yes, and in addition we can do the following
4 / Yes
3 / Yes, but some aspects not
1 / No, but we can do this
0 / No

1.7.1Broad Categories

Responses to this RFPwill be evaluated by an Evaluation Panel against the under mentioned broad categories. The following weightings will be allocated to these categories:

Category / Weighting
Functionality and Service Levels / 70%
Certification and standards / 5%
Resources and skills / 5%
Proven Track record in providing the services / 10%
Commercial and Financial soundness / 10%
Total / 100%

The different categories of criteria aim to evaluate inter alia the following specific aspects:

(The first Annexure reference in the table below is for Telephony responses and the second is for Contact Centre. Annexure K is applicable to both.)

Functionality and SLAs
(Annexure C+G) / The Respondent must be able to deliver the minimum required functionality to SANParks and support it at all the sites at requested SLAs or better
Certification and Standards
(Annexure D+H) / The Respondent must list the certifications or acknowledgements from vendors that would be relevant in delivering the solutions and service to SANParks.
Resources and Skills
(Annexure E+I) / Please list the number of resources according to appropriate skills with average years of experience
Track record
(Annexure F+J) / Respondents must indicate their proven track record by referring to applicable other service agreements in place including contacts for reference purposes
Commercial and Financial
(Annexure K) / The Financial status and Financial trends of the business of the Respondent must be provided

2Functional Evaluation (Phase 2)

2.1Telephony

2.1.1Architecture

Please provide a short description of the Communications Architecture required for your solution assuming three sites using Telephony and VOIP. Please support the description with simple illustration.

a)Describe this for both scenarios:

  1. On-Premise solution
  2. Public Hosted (Cloud) Solution

b)Please provide information on the following:

  1. Minimum hardware Requirements
  2. PBX
  3. Management software
  4. Call recording
  5. User PCs if integrated with PC and no desk phone
  6. Server Maintenance Requirements
  7. Licensing model
  8. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
  9. Different modules available
  10. The different PBX systems your solution can integrate with

2.1.2Functionality (Annexure C)

Please indicate your Solution’s ability to deliver on the following functionality:

a)Run on existing SANParks Local Area Networks

b)SIP calls

c)Instruments:

  1. Allow for wireless enabled telephone instruments
  2. Instruments must have built in switch to drive computer equipment as well
  3. Instruments must have own Power Supply as PoE is not readily available at all sites
  4. Hands Free operation
  5. Muting
  6. Ring and volume level setting by user
  7. User selection of Ring Tone
  8. At least 2 simultaneous calls per user
  9. On Hold facility
  10. Short keys for system functionality
  11. Full digital telephony, digitising voice signals in the handset for high quality reproduction
  12. Display for number dialled, time of call, calling party identification and other details

d)Attendant Instruments

  1. Handset or Headset operation
  2. Consoles shall have an alpha-numeric display and/or icon-driven user interface (please indicate), indicating the following:
  3. Indication of queued incoming calls
  4. Calls returned to attendant
  5. Fault code
  6. Exchange line seized
  7. Number of extension calling
  8. Number keyed by operator
  9. Adaptable for attendants that are visually handicapped
  10. Keyboard and mouse operation
  11. The Console shall offer a minimum of four floating loops for universal console answering i.e. the Operator can hold up to four calls which he / she can subsequently dispose of

e)Allow for user to move instrument to any other network point and retain same extension number

  1. On LAN
  2. On WAN

f)Allow user to log into any instrument and receive and make calls as if this is the user’s normal extension at his / her desk

g)Allow Boss / Secretary function where call is normally answered by Secretary and then easily transferred to Boss

h)Transfer of calls to any extension on the LAN or WAN

i)Follow me functionality:

  1. Any other extension
  2. To Cell Phone using SIP whilst in area covered by WAP
  3. To Cell Phone over Cellular network
  4. To any other phone (VOIP) or Analogue

j)Out of Office settings with

  1. Call forwarding
  2. Call diversion
  3. Message taking

k)Allow for groups and group answering

l)Teleconferencing internally and externally

m)Set call limits on:

  1. Overall Call duration and costs
  2. Private Call limits

n)Block certain lines for external calling either

  1. In general
  2. Outside area code
  3. National / International

o)Easy maintenance of phone book i.r.o.

  1. Own extensions (National)
  2. External numbers that is regularly used
  3. Mark numbers as private or business
  4. Integrate with Active Directory where applicable and use and maintain AD telephone and e-mail records

p)Reporting:

  1. User based reports mailed to user or accessible via web portal and applicable security
  2. Usage reports per User / Section / Department / Division / Park / Camp per Structure from Human Resource system and / or AD
  3. Easy exportable costs in a format suitable for integration into MS Dynamics GP v 2010
  4. Private Calls into Sales Module
  5. Cost allocations into General Ledger
  6. Cost allocations into Project Accounting Module as Miscellaneous Expense

q)Easy maintenance of extensions / users per site by appointed Telephony manager