THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY: This announcement is seeking information from industry, which will be used for preliminary planning purposes. No proposals are being requested or accepted with this notice. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT SHALL BE AWARDED FROM THIS NOTICE. The primary purpose of this notice is to conduct market research to determine if there are a sufficient number of qualified and interested Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) and/or Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB), capable of performing the required services, to warrant a solicitation set-aside in accordance with the requirements of Public Law 109-461, however businesses of all sizes are highly encouraged to respond. Applicable NAICS code is 561422, Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers, and small business size standard of $15 Million. Background: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is actively looking for ways to put Veterans in control of how they receive services and interact with VA. Modernization efforts are occurring across the Department to include changes to how Veterans disagreements with decisions on benefit claims are resolved. On August 23, 2017, the President signed into law the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 (Appeals Modernization Act; Public Law 115-55), creating a new claims and appeals process for resolving disagreements on VA s decisions on benefits claims. The new process provides Veterans streamlined choices for seeking review of VA s decision. While the law will not be fully implemented until February 2019, in an effort to provide some of the benefits of the new law s streamlined process, VA initiated the Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP). This initiative allows participants the option to have their decisions reviewed in the Higher-Level Review or Supplemental Claim lanes, as outlined in the new law. Participation in RAMP is voluntary and by invitation only; however, eligible Veterans can expect to receive a review of VA s decision on their claim much faster in RAMP than if they were to remain in the legacy appeals process. The RAMP initiative began on November 1, 2017 with the initial mailing of RAMP Opt-In letters sent to Veterans with some of the oldest pending appeals and will continue until the new law is fully implemented no earlier than February 2019. Scope: See attached draft PWS for more detailed information The VA is seeking a Contractor knowledgeable of industry best practices in customer service; call center operations, and prescribed rules of conduct concerning government information dissemination. The scope of this project encompasses personnel and staffing services to efficiently and effectively fulfill the Agency s goals and objectives of the RAMP initiative. Specifically, the Contractor shall provide experienced personnel to assist VA in: Performing outbound RAMP related calls to pre-selected qualified Veterans utilizing a VA - provided list Disseminating RAMP initiative detailed information utilizing a VA-provided script Documenting and reporting all call outcomes Directing Veterans who have additional questions unrelated to the RAMP initiative to the appropriate VA National Call Center (NCC) for further assistance Capability Statement/Information Sought: Interested large and small businesses are encouraged to respond to this notice. Responses must directly demonstrate the company's experience and/or ability to satisfy the minimum requirements stated in the draft PWS. Instructions for Responding to the Sources Sought Notice: Responses to this notice shall include a Statement of Qualifications/Capabilities package, as well as the cover letter. The cover letter shall, at a minimum, include the following information: Company name, address, point of contact with phone number, e-mail address, and DUNS number; Business Size and Size Standard / Classification relative to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code of 561422, Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers. If applicable, specify small business profile, i.e., SDVOSB, VOSB, 8(a) Program, HUBZone, or small disadvantage business. List any current contracts under GSA schedule that is applicable to NAICS 561422, Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers. Interested parties shall address the following in their Statement of Qualifications: Describe your organization's customer base and years of experience in providing outbound Call Center Support for similar, related, or identical services to this requirement as described in the attached draft PWS. Describe your organization's specific and relevant experience and expertise to fulfill this requirement. Please provide evidence of successful contact center ramp-up / ramp-down activity experience. Describe your relevant past performance for projects of similar size and scope for this requirement. Please provide examples or provide references of previously completed deliverables related to this requirement. Describe your organization s ability to have a turn-key facility ready at the time of contract award, containing sufficient capacity suitable to accomplish all contract requirements outlined in the draft PWS. For the purposes of this PWS, turn-key is defined as having a facility and equipment in place, meeting all the requirements listed in the PWS, ready for immediate use. Does your organization have the capability, ability, and interest to furnish and maintain all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, hardware, software, and facilities not otherwise provided by the Government? Will your company be able provide all hardware, software, key staff, materials and facilities to meet all necessary configurations of the aforementioned contact center requirements? If not, what components of the call center requirements cannot be provided? Please explain. Provide any feedback on the draft PWS regarding changes that you feel may be required to better align with industry practice. The response date to this Sources Sought notice is February 6, 2018 at 1:00 PM EST. This market research is for informational and planning purposes only. The Government will not pay any costs for responses submitted. Electronic submissions are required via email to
[email protected]. NOTE: Potential firms must be registered in SAM (www.sam.gov) and visible/certified in Vet Biz (CVE) (www.vetbiz.gov) in order to be considered (if claiming SDVOSB/VOSB preference).