City and County of San Francisco
Sheriff’s Department
Request for Proposals for
INMATE TELPHONE SERVICES
RFP#SHF2010-01
Date issued: November 2, 2009
Mandatory Pre-proposal conference: November 17, 9:00 a.m.
Proposal due: December 11, 2009, 11:00 a.m.
RFP#SHF2010-01
Inmate Telephone Service
Request for Proposals for Inmate Telephone Services for the City and County of San Francisco Sheriff’s Department
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. Description of Services and Schedule 4
Introduction
Schedule
Grants Access and Use
Access and Use
Permits & License Use
Interference
Equipment
II. Scope of Work 5
General System Components
Lines
Electronics
Existing Infrastructure
Debit Card System
Basic Phone System
Monitoring and Recording
Visitation
Intake Phones
Informant Lines
Pay Phones
Maintenance
Accounting & Administration
Cooperation
Installation
Existing Conditions
Transition/Operation Plan
Rate Requirements
Additional/Optional Services
III. Facilities Information 15
Facility Locations
Facility Information
Visiting Schedule
Calling Statistics
IV. Contractor Operating Requirements 16
Contractors Operations
Drug Free Workplace
Subcontracting
Phone Company Service
Americans with Disabilities Act
Field Representative
Prior Notification
Maintenance and Repair
Remote Diagnostic
Materials
Software
Security
V Inmate Telephone Service Specifications and Operations 20
General Inmate System
Coin Pay Phones
System Monitoring
Compensation
Commission Payments & Reporting
Pre-Paid/Debit Application
Carriers & Provider
Termination
Reconciliation
Training
VI Submission Requirements 29
Time and Place for Submission of Proposals
Format
Content
VII Evaluation and Selection Criteria 31
Minimum Qualifications
Selection Criteria
Commissions
VIII Fee Proposal 32
IX Mandatory Pre-proposal conference and Contract award 35
X Terms and Conditions for Receipt of Proposals 35
Errors and Omissions in RFP
Inquiries Regarding RFP
Objections to RFP Terms
Changes
Terms of Proposal
Sunshine Ordinances
Public Access to meetings and Records
Reservation of Rights by the SFSD
XI Contract Requirements 39
XII Protest Procedures 40
Appendices:
A. RFP Registration Form **Important to complete and return ASAP**
B. HRC Attachment 2: Requirements for Architecture, Engineering and separate
Professional Services Contracts, for contacts $29,000 and over document
(separate document). Contractors must submit the following forms:
Form 2A HRC Contract Participation form
Form 2B HRC “Good Faith” Outreach Requirements form
Form 3 HRC Non-discrimination Affidavit
Form 5 HRC Employment form
The following form may be required, depending on the circumstances:
Form 4 Joint Venture Participation Schedule
Standard Forms: Listing and Internet addresses of Forms related to B-1
Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, to Business Tax
Declaration, and to Chapters 12B and 12C, and 14B of the
S.F. Administrative Code.
C. Agreement for Professional Services (form P-500) separate document
D. San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Jail Clearance Policy
E. Reference Requests
F. Administrative Clearance Request Form
Request for Proposals for
Inmate Telephone Services
I. Description of Services and Schedule
1. Introduction
The City and County of San Francisco Sheriff Department (“Sheriff”) seeks responses to a Request for Proposal for Inmate Telephone Services (herein known as “ITS”) at the Department’s detention facilities (“Jails”). This critical and essential ITS system is to provide a fully operational, secure, flexible and reliable inmate communications systems. Essential administrative functions are to include monitoring and recording (“M&R”). The ITS system shall be capable of data/ record-keeping, archiving and custom data retrieval. The accounting system for generated revenue tracking shall be user friendly, clear, concise, and well documented.
The Contractor shall install, operate and maintain at its own expense The ITS system, inclusive but not limited to all related hardware, software, and firmware to enable inmates to make auto-collect local, long distance, debit local, long distance and international calls and/or pre-paid local, long distance and international calls from the facilities. Select Phones at the booking center shall not be counted in the revenue stream (or otherwise considered as free). The single prime Contractor shall remain solely responsible for the performance and reliability of the system.
The Contractor’s ITS system is to ensure; lawful and legitimate use of the system, user friendly interfaces, a restricted environment accountability and maximum revenue generation.
The contract period shall have an original term of three years. The term of the contract is the period from award execution date, approximately January 1, 2010, through the last day of the month of a thirty-six consecutive month period. In addition, the Sheriff shall have two options to extend the term, for a period of one year each, by mutual agreement, in writing. In the event such extension rights are exercised, all terms and conditions, requirements and specifications of the Agreement shall remain the same and apply during the renewal terms. The maximum contract period shall not be more than five (5) years.
2. Schedule The anticipated schedule for selecting a Contractor is:
Proposal Phase Date
RFP is issued by the SFSD November 2, 2009
Mandatory Pre-proposal conference November 17, 2009
Deadline for submission of written questions
or requests for clarification November 20, 2009
Proposals due December 11, 2009
3. Grant of Access and Use
SFSD shall grant Contractor permission to use any portion of SFSD’s facilities necessary and required to install and operate telecommunication equipment required for the provision of the services stated in the Agreement. This grant of permission shall not be effective until after the contract is awarded and transition meetings determine preliminary routes, conditions of installation and detailed plans. SFSD may grant Contractor use of the space, conduit and electrical power as part of Contractor’s installation. Such granted use shall remain in effect for the term of the Agreement. Any installation of equipment, conduit, wire, connections or other accessories are subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement. Notwithstanding SFSD issued grants-of-access it is the Contractor’s responsibility to comply with codes and/or “Authorities Having Jurisdiction”. SFSD shall have final approval of the Contractor’s work, including plans, designs, work locations and specification submitted.
Contractor’s access to areas of SFSD facilities shall be subject to approval by the SFSD in its sole and absolute discretion. SFSD understands that Contractor needs reasonable and necessary access to the buildings in order to install, operate, and maintain Contactor’s equipment. Contractor shall coordinate with the Sheriff’s designated representative for all access to SFSD facilities. SFSD, in its sole discretion, may deny Contractor access to any portion of any SFSD facility, if such access is not approved by the Sheriff’s designated representative. SFSD shall in no way be liable for the impact of any delays arising from denial of access to Contractor.
4. Permits and License Use
Contractor, at their expense, shall obtain all licenses, permits and approvals required to install and operate Contractor’s equipment.
5. Interference
ITS installation shall not cause interference (inclusive of, but not limited to, electromagnetic, RF or other sources) with its own or other equipment, or systems including SFSD emergency communications systems, or any other communication system.
6. Equipment
SFSD shall not relocate any of Contractor’s equipment without Contractor’s prior written approval.
II Scope of the Work
General: The Scope of Work is to be used as a general guide and is not intended to be a complete list of all work necessary to complete the Inmate Telephone Service (ITS). The Contractor shall provide all telephone equipment, services, engineering, design, programming, installation, testing and support of the ITS system utilizing the Contractor’s proven ITS expertise. All work is to be in accordance with those requirements and provisions minimally set forth in this section. It shall remain the Contractor’s sole responsibility to provide complete designs and to provide an operational system compliant with this contract to the satisfaction of the end-user. The following are basic and/or minimal equipment requirements and work tasks assumed necessary to provide the telephone system.
General System Components:
1. Components:
The Contractor shall provide all components for the ITS system, including a sufficient, quality/quantity of communication capacity to the ITS to allow background recording, monitoring and downloading with no effect on system performance. The system is inclusive of equipment and services required to provide the services, along with future growth, pursuant to the entirety of this contract read as a whole.
a. Components include but are not limited to; new telephones, conduit, lines, conductors, terminal strips, telephone cutoff switches (one per each phone), secure switch panels, backboards, pedestals, cabinets, enclosures, racks, along with any other miscellaneous appurtenances. Electronics, utilities, electrical interfaces as required: power supplies, uninterruptible power supplies: all for a complete system monitoring, recording and administration of the ITS system.
b. SFSD administrative interfaces: Install work stations at the designated facilities as directed by the SFSD for a secure, confidential, password protected recording/ monitoring system. The ITS system shall provide for “state of the art”/proven redundant data storage/archiving, playback capability. Archiving is to safely meet 3-year capacity to sort via various parameters inclusive but not limited to: time/date, location, phone source, facility, telephone numbers, inmate identifier, password access code, etc. Any and all loaded programs are to be as approved by SFSD.
c. The system shall have the capacity to expand. All critical administrative and Monitoring and Recording (herein to be called M&R) equipment is to be continuously monitored for functional operation. Reports on regular system checks and diagnostics are to be provided.
2. Lines:
a. Reception quality: Contractor shall provide ITS reception quality at least equal to the toll quality offered to the general public and shall meet telecommunication industry standards for service quality. The SFSD shall be the final determiner as to whether reception quality is adequate.
b. Provide “Channel Banks” for breakout of T-1 lines at each location.
Contractor must provide a sufficient number of telephone/trunk lines to the ITS to allow inmates the opportunity to place calls at least 99.5% of the allowable time. The SFSD shall be the final determiner as to whether the frequency of dropped calls is acceptable. Keep busy signals to a 5 minute maximum. System design shall meet capacity demands, and have growth potential.
c. Redundancy: Provide sufficient, redundant; trunk, feeder, T-1, data lines and alternate data paths for potential losses as required for this ITS system.
d. Provide outside/offsite test-lines for system checks as required.
3. Electronics: Electronic Component failures shall not cause system failures.
Contractor shall:
§ Provide computers, file-servers, modems M&R stations, firewalls, security measures and communications instruments as required.
§ Provide redundant measures, hot swappable and by-passable components and raided arrays as required for reliable operation.
§ Provide diagnostic field tools as required to efficiently resolve issues.
4. Existing Infrastructure: The Contractor may, with the permission of the SFSD utilize conduit and wire or other components that are currently part of the existing system.
5. Debit Card System: The current Commissary Provider (“CP”) is administering the distribution/selling of the portable debit cards sold to the inmates to charge against for the phone system. The CP shall purchase the cards from the ITS Contractor for resale to the inmate. Inmates may purchase debit cards once a week (presently on Tuesdays) by selection from the CP menu. Delivery of the debit card and operational ITS service for the inmate occurs approximately one day later. Each card has unique identifiers to code the card. ITS contractor to sell the card at a fixed cost to the CP. Provide all the costs, inclusive of any discount, that the cards are being sold to the CP. There shall be no changes to this charge without SFSD approval.
6. Basic phone system: Provide an inmate phone system suitable for the intended purpose and the environment expected inclusive of but not limited to; planning, design, installation, administration and maintenance.
Phone operation:
a. Charges to the value remaining in the Inmate Debit Card are made based on the actual usage.
b. The SFSD or its authorized agent shall have sole access to prisoner trust accounts (Inmate Trust Fund).
c. Each inmate is to have access to ITS phones at any time and by following the pre-recorded voice prompt instructions to either gain outside communications or to get an audio statement of the current balance in the associated Inmate account. SFSD shall be able to access ITS system at any time via an administrative station to get traffic records as required. Debit card balance shall also be recorded and searchable by using the account number.
d. Inmates shall be allowed to call the Public Defender’s Office without charge or the use of a code Pin. Post clear multi-language signage with instructions for making such calls in English, Spanish and Cantonese to be affixed in the immediate vicinity of the phones in a location approved by SFSD. Inmate calls to the Public Defender’s Office shall not be recorded or monitored but shall be on the ITS/M&R system defaulted to not record/monitor.
e. Automatic and customizable call blocking features. The SFSD shall be allowed to block certain telephone numbers from being called-on regardless of connection method employed by inmates or remaining balances. Primary requests to block numbers will be routed to the ITS Contractor for action. SFSD shall retain the capability to block numbers.
f. The Contractor’s Telephones installed in the Intake & Release Center on the first floor of 425 7th Street (CJ#9), shall allow inmates to make telephone calls to locations within the local calling area free of charge and on a collect only basis if the call is to a location outside of the local calling area without the use of a Pin#, account#, etc.
7. Monitoring/Recording:
a. The ITS shall be capable of permitting full monitoring and recording of calls from any telephone within the Facilities unless there are restrictions that prohibit the recording and monitoring of specific calls. All inmate-attorney (or Public Defender) phone calls are not to be recorded. Visitation calls are not routinely recorded. If there is a specific request by authorities to monitor a particular visitation call, the request is submitted to the Sheriff’s Department Administration, and upon their sole authorization, monitoring will be allowed. The ITS shall have the capability to specifically record authorized visitation calls only under these specific circumstances.
b. All call recordings shall be stored online for a minimum period of one (1) year and shall be stored offline for a minimum of three (3) years. The Contractor shall be responsible for supplying all backup disks/CDs/media for the storage of call and visitation recordings at no cost to the Sheriff’s Department throughout the life of the Agreement and any renewal terms.