Request for Information, Quote and Proposal: Voice-over-IP Phone System
March 30, 2016
Part 1: Instruction
Synopsis
The School District of Holmen (“District”) is accepting proposals for the replacement or upgrade of its phone system to an Internet Protocol (IP) based solution. Central and critical components of the present Mitel telephone system have gone out of production and support, specifically the SX2000 peripheral nodes residing in most of the District’s facilities.
The District partnered with the Stillwater, Minnesota-based consulting group Elert & Associates to review configuration of the District’s present system and evaluate the communication needs of end users. This process included the facilitation of focus groups and staff interviews. The District is using data garnered in this study and a resulting report as it independently moves forward in requesting and selecting a solution.
The District has 9 (nine) physical facilities, each connected to its Wide Area Network (WAN) at gigabit symmetrical speeds. The successful vendor will install a phone system across all 9 (nine) facilities initially containing a total of 555 (five hundred and fifty five) active VoIP stations (phones).
The District intends to cut over all of its sites to a new solution through the execution of a single project no later than the end of July 2016.
Decision Criteria
District reserves the right to choose a bid based on criteria beyond cost. The District’s evaluation criteria will include, though may not be limited to the requirements and desired functionality discussed throughout this document.
District seeks a system which is easy to manage and contains hardware which is widely supported by multiple providers in the region. Preference may also be given to vendors who have the most highly-skilled staff and are able to demonstrate the strongest team available for on-going support.
A successful proposal for services may include additional information concerning the skills of staff installing the system and providing ongoing support. This could include, but may not be limited to the following: Resumés, certifications, work experience, and projects managed.
The successful vendor is also encouraged to provide product descriptions and brochures for the proposed system, including server hardware, software, telephone sets, and related equipment.
Proposal Due Date and Delivery Instructions
All proposals must be received at the District office no later than 12:00 noon on Friday, April 22, 2016.
It is mandatory that interested vendors submit two (2) signed copies of the proposal to:
School District of Holmen
Attn: Phone RFP Response / Greg Krueger
1019 McHugh Road
Holmen, WI 54636
Proposals must be in a sealed envelope and clearly marked “Phone RFP Response” as noted in the “Attn” line of the above address.
Hand-delivered proposals may be dropped with the front desk receptionist during District Office business hours at the address above.
Regardless of the means used for delivery, proposals received at the District Office after the due date/time stated above will not be accepted.
Bid Opening
A public opening of bids will be held at the District Office (1019 McHugh Rd.) at 1:00 pm on Friday, April 22.
Vendor Interviews
Vendor interviews may take place in the two weeks following the due date, if deemed necessary by the District. District reserves the right to selectively interview vendors based on the information and costs contained in their response to this RFP.
Document Interpretation
Portions of this document make statements pertaining to desired functionality, specifications and existing infrastructure. Vendors requiring any clarification, or wishing to test their equipment with the District’s network or server equipment may email Greg Krueger at or call 608-526-1323.
Interpretation of this document, including but not limited to discrepancies, omissions, ambiguities or conflicts must be brought to the District’s attention no later than 5:00pm on Monday, April 18.
Public Posting of Clarifications and Addenda
Answers to questions asked by vendors will be posted publically online at www.holmen.k12.wi.us/voip Any addenda to the RFP will also be posted at this address.
Right to Modify
The District reserves the right to increase or decrease quantities or modify conditions and specifications.
Proof of ownership, warranty and equipment condition
For all equipment, proof and documentation of an active manufacturer’s warranty accessible to the District is required. This must be provided upon delivery. All equipment purchased by the District as part of this project must be in new condition.
Confidentiality
No submitted proposals, quotes or information received by the District will be considered “confidential” or “proprietary.”
Subcontractors
The use of subcontractors is permitted. If a vendor wishes to exercise this option, the intent to subcontract must be stated in the proposal. In stating the intent to subcontract, the vendor must indicate which portions of the project will or may be subcontracted, and to which firm(s) or individual(s).
The selected vendor assumes responsibility for all services offered in the bid, whether or not a subcontractor is utilized to provide them. The District considers the successful vendor a single point of contact for the project.
Proposal Preparation Costs
All costs incurred in the preparation and submission of this proposal, including but not limited to presentations to the customer and associated travel costs shall be borne by the participating vendor.
Contract
The proposals submitted should include a contract for the proposed equipment and services.
Existing and Future Offerings
Only existing telephone systems will be considered. Systems under development, in planning or beta testing will not be considered. Vendors may include additional information about future developments or plans as a separate attachment. Any discussion or implied usage of future release products or features must be clearly stated as an option.
Buyback of Existing System
The District is investigating several options for the sale of existing phone equipment. The vendor should not assume receipt of the existing system when preparing their response.
If interested, the vendor may offer buyback of existing equipment as an itemized option on the quote, allowing the District to accept or reject the buyback offer without implications on other parts of the proposal.
Proposal Validity Length
Proposals must be valid for at least 90 days from the bid due date.
Site Visits
Vendors interested in submitting a proposal may visit the District to examine equipment or infrastructure. An appointment can be arranged by contacting Greg Krueger at . Requests to schedule a site visit must be received no later than 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13. A site visit is not required for a vendor to submit a proposal.
Expected dates of install
A cut-over to the new system will be expected between mid June and late July of 2016. Project planning meetings will be required in the weeks approaching cut-over.
Travel and variable expenses
Vendor’s bid must reflect inclusion of mileage, lodging and all related expenses for vendor’s staff traveling to Holmen, Wisconsin throughout the planning and execution of this project. Separate bills for these items will not be accepted.
General Terms, Conditions & Legal
District is a public entity and as such is exempt from all federal and state sales taxes.
Vendor must deliver a solution which meets the specifications and requirements outlined in this document. District reserves the right to award work in total or in part according to best interests of District.
District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals in whole or in part, to waive technicalities or to accept any proposals most advantageous to District.
District solicits the best possible value on all of our "Requests for Proposals". Because we are a public school district, we are able to purchase directly from many state and federal government contracts. In the event that all proposals received are in excess of any existing state or federal contract that is available to the District, we may, at our discretion, reject all proposals and purchase directly from the vendor awarded the state or federal government contract. In cases where multiple vendors have been awarded, a contract, District reserves the right to choose the vendor that District sees as the most beneficial.
The District will not be liable for any cost incurred by the respondents in preparing responses to this RFP or negotiations associated with award of a proposal.
Part 2: Environment Description
Physical Locations
The District’s physical locations are as follows. The number in parentheses after each site name indicates the number of phones which the District intends to place at the given site.
● District Office (29)● High School (125)
● Middle School (109)
● Viking Elementary (77)
● Evergreen Elementary (54) / ● Prairie View Elementary (72)
● Sand Lake Elementary (70)
● Transportation, Maintenance and Technology Building (12)
● Family Learning Center (7)
All locations will remain a part of the District’s telephone system established by the successful vendor. All inter-building and intra-building calls placed in a proposed system must be handled entirely by the District’s existing data network with no involvement of the telco or PSTN.
Present System
The present phone system is based on Mitel hardware. District has a Mitel telephone and voicemail system. The system consists of two primary MXe 3300 controllers, one stationed at Prairie View School, the other at Holmen Middle School. SX2000 peripheral nodes reside at the following sites, with all phones at these sites physically connected to the node.
● District Office● High School
● Middle School
● Viking Elementary / ● Evergreen Elementary
● Sand Lake Elementary
● Family Learning Center
Leased dark fiber connects the Middle School, which serves as the head end of the present phone system, to the SX2000 nodes throughout the District. This fiber is owned by the local cable provider, and the District is under an agreement that the dark fiber presently in use for the phone system will become property of the cable company once a replacement phone system is installed
Prairie View School is the only facility with VoIP phones at present. This location houses:
● 70 Mitel model 5312 phones
● 6 of Mitel model 5340
● 9 of Mitel model 5330
Present system contains a virtualized NuPoint voicemail system. NuPoint is a virtual machine within the District’s VMWare environment.
Wireless (Wi-Fi) Infrastructure
The District has a Cisco controller-based Wi-Fi system. A Cisco model AIR-CT5760 is the present controller of the system. Wi-Fi access points are predominantly model AIR-CAP2702I-A-K9 throughout the District’s buildings.
Virtual Server Infrastructure
The District’s VMWare environment consists of four physical hosts. Each is a HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8. There are two physical processors, each with 8 cores. With hyperthreading this amounts to 32 logical processors in each host. Each host has approximately 100 gigs of RAM. Collectively, approximately 125 gigs of RAM are free in the environment. Each host hovers between approximately 5 and 15 percent CPU utilization during a school day.
An iSCSI Storage Area Network is attached to the VMWare environment. This SAN, made by NetApp, will have at minimum one terabyte of space available for storage of virtual machine(s) pertaining to the installation of additional virtual machines at the time of this project.
Core and edge switches
The District’s network is based on a Cisco 4500x core switch. Edge devices are a mix of Cisco 3750x, 2960s and 2960x. Every closet has sufficient available PoE ports to power the requested count of phones. No additional switches will be purchased as part of this project.
Network cabling
The District desires to use existing network wiring. It can be assumed that UTP wiring of at least Cat5e standard is in place to all desired phone locations. The District will use existing patch cables to connect phones and computers at desks.
Built-in switching
Nearly all VoIP phones installed as part of this project will have a PC or network device attached. Most phones will go in areas with a PC and a single network jack present. In this light, the proposed phone’s built-in ethernet switches are of utmost importance, and the District requests gigabit built-in switches on phones for all classrooms and offices.
Part 3: Desired features, specifications and performance outcomes
Scope of Work
The District wishes to replace all components and equipment proprietary to the existing phone system, unless exceptions are otherwise noted in this document. Work completed by the District and work completed by Vendor shall be as follows:
Completed by District:
● Removal of all existing phone system components
● Development and documentation of users’ names along with corresponding extension numbers and room locations. The District will provide this information to the successful vendor in a digital format for import into the new system
● Placement of all new phones once they arrive at the District, including documentation of MAC addresses and physical location
● Connecting of ethernet cables to phones and attached devices at desks throughout District
● Recording and programming of auto-attendants after training is provided by successful vendor
● Training of end users (see Training heading below for details on initial train-the-trainer expectations)
Completed by Vendor:
The successful vendor will complete all work involved in the project aside from tasks listed in the “Completed by District” section above. The workload borne by the vendor may include, but is not limited to, design, installation, network integration, pre-implementation testing, post-implementation training and production/delivery of as-built documentation. A working system with the requested functions in an operable state will be expected before final payment is issued.
Training
The successful vendor will lead system administrator training for a group of up to three District IT team members. When training is complete, the administrator(s) must be capable of:
● Adding, changing, or moving of users and stations
● Creating and configuring hunt groups
● Creating and configuring voicemail boxes
● Creating and configuring auto-attendants
● Accessing the administration panel and its associated functions
● Running standard reports and exporting call logs into spreadsheets
● Running PRI usage statistic reports
● Managing the digital phonebook or user directory
● Setting up and managing paging groups