Set 2B Questions and Answers (89-100)
RFP No. 071I0200002
Addendum #4
Bidder Questions and Answers (Set 2b)
Set 2B Questions and Answers (89-100)
RFP Reference / Vendor Question / State of Michigan Response89 / Follow up to Clarification Question #3 / Question and clarification request to Addendum 1 answer 3. Please verify with current Provider/Subcontractor/Third Party Biller if there are any Prepay Collect/Deposit/Account Administration fees? / See Response to Question #30 provided in Addendum #3.
90 / Follow up to Clarification Question #19 / Question and clarification request to Addendum 1 answer 19. Would the State clarify the following:
a.Please clarify who currently owns all inmate phones, and any enclosures/pedestals.
b.Will the State allow the winning bidder to reuse or buy existing phone enclosures/Pedestals from current owner?
c.Will the State provide a detailed listing (inventory) of all Enclosures/Phone Backboards/Pedestals by correctional facility? / a. The contractor currently owns all inmate phones, and any enclosures/pedestals.
b. Per the RFP requirements all bidders shall provide new equipment as required in Section 1.011 and further describe in Section 1.022 Work and Deliverable of the RFP.
Additionally, Bidders may also offer alternate proposals which are at variance from the express specifications of the Request for Proposal, and the State reserves the right to consider and accept such proposal if, in the judgment of the Joint Evaluation Committee and ultimately the State Purchasing Director, the alternate proposal will produce deliverables and/or services equal to or better than those which would be supplied by following the express specifications of the quotation, and acceptance of the alternate proposal is deemed to serve the best interest of the State of Michigan. An alternate proposal must clearly describe all variances from the express specifications.
c. See Attached Updated Attachment A (version 10/30/09).
91 / RFP Pg 100,
Section 5.014 and
Exhibit 1, Item #2 / A) Question to RFP, Page 100, Spec. 5.014 Prior Experience. Please clarify that the specification requires bidders to supply 3 customer references from the “Prime” vendor not use any from a subcontractor.
B) Also please clarify Exhibit 1, item 2. Should this requirement also say 3 customers as a reference? / A) The Contractor shall provide 3 client references for the vendor. If the vendor is proposing to work with a subcontractor or subcontractors, they shall provide at least 1 reference for each subcontractor utilizing the table provided in 5.014.
B) Exhibit 1 Item 2 is stated as follow:
“The vendor must have at least one customer provided as a reference that is currently using an inmate phone service system provided by the vendor.”
The Minimum requirement is that at least 1 of the vendor’s client references provided in 5.014 of the RFP must be for a client that is currently using an inmate phone service they have provided. The State would strongly desire that all 3 client references are for inmate phone service references; however this is not a minimum mandatory.
92 / RFP Pg 25,
Requirement #58 / Question to RFP #58 - Page 25: The DOC shall have access to all call detail records from the workstation(s) or remote computers. The workstation(s) shall provide the capability to copy the Call Detail Records (CDR) onto a CD/DVD.
Question:Should this requirementrefer to recordings rather than to Call Detail Records? / This should refer to recordings. See revised language below.
The DOC shall have access to all call detail records from the workstation(s) or remote computers. The workstation(s) shall provide the capability to copy the Call Detail RecordsRecordings (CDR) onto a CD/DVD.
93 / RFP Pg 48,
2.006
Order of Precedence / Does the RFP Response get included as part of the contract? If yes, where in the order of precedence would it fall? / The RFP response of the winning vendor will be integrated with the RFP to create the final contract.
94 / RFP Pg 80,
2.243 Liquidated Damages / It is our interpretation that the term “Work” refers to implementation completion timeline. Please confirm that our interpretation is correct? / In 2.243 the liquidated damages that are identified in this section refer to the implementation completion timeline agreed to by the State and Contractor.
During contract negotiations, the State will work with the awarded vendor to determine liquidated damages for system downtime or equipment failures following successful implementation.
95 / Contractor Responsibilities – General
Item 15, page 15
“Use of existing or in-place conduit, raceways, cable ways, cable, inside wiring, telephone set mountings, switches, terminal boxes, and terminals within the correctional facility are at the risk of the Contractor. No exposed wiring will be permitted. Ownership of any wiring or conduit placed under this Contract by the successful Contractor becomes the DOC’s property upon termination and/or expiration of the Contract.”
Updates to Set 1a questions and answers, question 61:
Question: “Are the outside yard phone enclosures the property of the contractor or the property of the MDOC?”
Response: “The enclosures are the property of the contractor. “
Based on Item 15, page 15 of the RFP, use of existing telephone set mountings is acceptable. Also, the DOC indicated on the response to question 61 of Set 1a questions and answers, the pedestal enclosures are the property of the existing contractor.
Based on observations made during the site visits to 4 prisons, the ratio of pedestal mounted phones to wall mounted phones runs about 5 to 1. However, there is no data to validate that ratio is consistent throughout the Michigan Prison Systems. Inmate Phone Pedestals for outside mounted phones will cost more than the actual phone and it would create an unreasonable and potentially misleading cost variance between bidders if the state cannot provide more specific details of the volume of existing pedestals. The incumbent provider will also be at an unfair advantage because they will be able to more accurately reflect the cost of replacement by having this information system-wide for all Michigan prisons.
A)Can the state provide more detailed information – by site of the number of phones that are wall mounted vs. the number of phones mounted on pedestals?
Typical ITS transition plans that require replacement of phones and associated mounting equipment such as pedestals involve 1 of 2 scenarios:
- The new vendor replaces all calling equipment (phones, pedestals etc.) while the existing call processing equipment from the incumbent vendor remains in place. Once the calling equipment has been replaced the new vendor installs the call processing equipment and cuts over the phones that have already been replaced; or
- The new vendor replaces all call processing equipment and leaves the existing calling equipment (phones, pedestals, etc.) in place during the system call processing cutover. Then once the call processing equipment is cutover the new vendor can coordinate with the existing vendor to have all the equipment removed and replaced by the new vendor.
Since most DOCs require new equipment the pedestals to be removed by the existing vendor will have little salvage value and thus the removal costs will outweigh any potential resale value of the used pedestals. Coordination could be potentially difficult if the incumbent provider looses the bid and would thus have little incentive to coordinate timely removal of their equipment.
B)Based on the above information, would the DOC consider allowing the winning bidder to pursue the purchase and use of the existing outside phone pedestals at each of the sites?
C)If the state agrees to reuse of the existing pedestals, in interest of level competition would the DOC consider having the incumbent establish a pre-bid submission price that is published and available (but not mandatory) to all bidders for the purchase of the existing pedestals? / A) See Response to Question #90c.
B) See Response to Question #90b.
C) See Response to Question #90b.
A pre-bid submission price in not available for the existing pedestals?
96 / Set 1a, question 61
Updates to Set 1a questions and answers, question 61, response: The Muskegon Correctional Facility will not be closed by 12-31-09 and bidders shall include this location within their proposal.
Would the Michigan DOC provide the estimated timeline for closing the Muskegon Correctional Facility and the DOC site or sites to where the inmates will be transferred? / The requested information is not available at this time.
97 / Contractor Responsibilities – Initial and Ongoing Installations
Page 15. Spec 16.
“If any cabling work is required as part of any installation, all new cables shall be used and marked clearly and legibly at both ends, and must meet all applicable EIA/TIA wiring standards for commercial buildings. All new cabling required by the Contractor shall be installed by the Contractor at no cost to the DOC.”
Updates to Set 1a questions and answers, question 21,
Question: New wiring and Cable required by winning bidders. Is MDOC aware of any site requiring new Cabling/wiring for any reason? Any new Correctional facilities planned during the length of this contract?
Response: There are currently no sites that require new wiring and no new facilities are currently planned.
UPDATED Attachment A – Facility Information See Attachment A, Column: Number of phones required for this contract.
The State has identified the need for 415 additional phones and is making the infrastructure costs the responsibility of the new bidder. Some sites are increasing phone counts by more than 50% over existing counts. Such dramatic increases in phone counts would suggest the addition of new wings or cell blocks, or the adding of phones to cell blocks that don’t currently have service. The variations of geophysical and architecture implications could be unlimited and without additional details from the state, bidders will not be able to adequately estimate the capital expenditures necessary to address the potential infrastructure expansions. This also creates an unfair advantage to the incumbent, since they will be the only bidder with the ability to obtain accurate information.
A)For any prison that has an increase in phone count, can the state provide details on the desired location of the new phones, the geophysical implications between the existing call processing platform and of the existing infrastructure in terms of available wiring, conduit, etc.?
B)If the state cannot provide sufficient details to prepare new construction budgets, would the state consider allowing additional extensive but directed site visits at prisons where phones are being added so that contractors can prepare more accurate estimates of construction costs associated with the additional phones?, and thereby level the competitive playing field. / A) For instances where the State requires additional phones at a specified facility(s), the State will work with the awarded Contractor to select phone locations.
The “Current # of Phones at Facilities” identified in Attachment A (Version 10/30/2009), reflects current figures. Vendors shall provide pricing and equipment that provides system capacity capable of 20% expansion at each facility. This is an estimate only and individual facilities may require more than 20%, others less. The “# of Phones Required for this Contract” are estimates as of today, and are broken down by facility.
The information provided within Attachment A –(version 10/30/2009) is the most accurate data available at this time, however due to budget constraints within MDOC, additional moves are likely, which could result in shifting needs.
The Contractor shall also be prepared for and required to install equipment at any new facilities, new site locations, or expanded facilities at current sites.
B) The State is unable to accommodate the request for additional site visits.
98 / Updates to Set 1a questions and answers, question 55,
Question 55, Response:
“Ultra Tech Mini Print 225 is the current model. The Contractor shall provide the State with a solution that provides effective TDD use throughout the facilities indicated in Attachment A.”
A) Is there and expectation that the winning bidder will be responsible for providing the printer paper for the TDD phones?
B) TDD phones require a 110v power source to operate. Are the 24 TDD phones, listed on Attachment A, presently in service at the 6 DOC sites? If not, will the Michigan DOC provide the necessary electrical wiring and power to the designated TDD phone location? / A) No. The State is not requiring any printing from the TDD Devices.
B) See revised Attachment A (version 10/30/09) for current counts of TDD’s by facility and required TDD’s for contract. That are Additional TDD’s required through this contract.
The MDOC will ensure the necessary electrical wiring and power for the TDD phones are provided.
99 / Addendum #1 Bidders Q&A Answer #1 and RFP reference General.
In the answer to question number 1 the state provided traffic counts by facility. There were numerous facilities with traffic counts that are not listed on Table A.
The facilities shown below have traffic counts provided but did not have phone counts supplied in Updated Attachment A.
BOYER ROAD CORRECTIONAL FACILITY – Combined with
Carson City
CAMP BRANCH - CLOSED
CAMP CUSINO - CLOSED
CAMP KITWEN - CLOSED
CAMP LEHMAN - CLOSED
CAMP OTTAWA - CLOSED
CAMP WHITE LAKE - CLOSED
CHIPPEWA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY - Combined with
Straits
COOPER STREET CORRECTIONAL FACILITY - In Operation and listed in Attachment A.
DEERFIELD CORRECTIONAL FACILITY - CLOSED
PARR HIGHWAY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY- Combined with
Gus Harrison
SCOTT CORRECTIONAL FACILITY - CLOSED
STANDISH CORRECTIONAL FACILITY - CLOSED
A)Are these sites still functioning prison locations?
B)Can the State provide Table A information for these locations?
C)If these locations are considered subsets of larger locations can the State identify which main facility these locations belong to and provide a break out by location?
D)If these locations are considered subsets of larger locations can the State provide details as to whether each of the following locations has separate telecommunications trunk facilities or if these locations work off a common platform in a larger location and if so which one? / A) See SOM responses provided at left in red text.
B) Attachment A (version 10/30/09) information has been provided for all facilities that will require telephones under the new contract.
C) These are not considered subsets of larger locations.
D) These are not considered subsets of larger locations, and they are not separate telecommunications trunk facilities
100 / State of Michigan clarification to prior responses provided for Questions and Answers #7, 37, 65, 78, 82 on cellular phone detection within the facilities.
The State has reviewed the above mentioned clarification questions related to cell phone detection within a correctional facility and has determined that due to a lack of available details on this requirement the State has modified this to be optional, although strongly preferred. Bidders are still instructed to propose various methods for cell phone detection, and to clearly describe them in the bidder response box provided for Item 10. Bidders providing pricing information/costs for various detection methods should include it in the Optional Pricing Exhibit 6P, and it shall not be included in Exhibit 5P as previously required.
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Posted 10/30/2009
RFP No. 071I0200002
Addendum #4
Bidder Questions and Answers (Set 2b)
UPDATED Attachment A Facility Information (Version – 10/30/2009)
See Next Page
Please Note:
- Items in Green Font are updates to Attachment A.
- Any phone that is not on a pedestal or enclosure needs a backboard. Some are wood, some steel. There are 1475 back boards now and we anticipate adding 170 to that for total of 1645.
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Posted 10/30/2009