Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract

Under the authority of FAR Part 6, subpart 6.301, FEMA intends to award a sole source contract to Shared Technologies, Inc. for maintenance services relating to the Nortel proprietary MPS 1000 and MPS 500 Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems currently owned and operated by FEMA. This maintenance service is utilized by FEMA to ensure the overall health of the IVR system and allow for a viable course of action that includes engineering support should a service-affecting disruption occur. The maintenance services include coding, scripting, configuration changes, enhancements, repairs and system modifications. In order to guarantee the maintenance services performed and to allow access to Nortel-certified engineers during a critical issue, Nortel requires that maintenance services be procured though a certified Nortel partner. Nortel no longer offers products and services directly through their company and stated that all IVR-related products and services must be procured through a Nortel authorized GSA Schedule Partner. The Contractor performing the maintenance services must be certified to maintain the specific type of hardware requiring the maintenance. Of the eleven (11) Nortel certified partners, Shared Technologies, Inc. is the only Nortel certified partner that is authorized to perform maintenance services on both MPS 1000 and MPS 500 proprietary systems. No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Any response must show clear and convincing evidence that the responder can meet the requirements listed herein and competition would be advantageous to the Government. A determination not to compete the proposed contract is solely within the discretion of the Government. Absence a response to this notice within 15 days, an award may be made to Shared Technologies, Inc.