Contact Center Services

Answering the Public's Call

USA Contact: Procurement

The USA Contact contract vehicle enables agencies to obtain high quality, state-of-the-art, cost-effective contact center solutions in a timely manner to better serve citizens.

The USA Contact contract is specifically designed for contact center services; the GSA schedule is not. Furthermore, the contract is both a firm, fixed-price and a time and materials contract, enabling agencies to select the pricing methodology that best fits the requirement.

This type of contract puts into effect the government’s preference for multiple awards for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) type contracts in order to maximize competition and choice for specific supplies and services. A multiple-award contract confirms that multiple companies have the basic qualifications to perform a general type of work.

Contracting With A Solutions Partner for Contact Center Services

USA Services will develop and publish the request for quotation (RFQ) through our Federal Citizen Information Center team. You can get a USA Contact solutions partner on board in as quickly as three or four weeks once your statement of work is written.

Step 1 – Preparing and Signing an Interagency Agreement (IA)
Step 2 – Writing the Statement of Work (SOW)
Step 3 – Limited Acquisition Plan
Step 4 – Independent Government Cost Estimate
Step 5 – Source Selection Plan/Panel
Step 6 - Request for Quotation (RFQ)
Step 7 – Technical and Pricing Evaluations
Step 8 – GSA and your agency Discussions
Step 9 – Final Proposal Revisions
Step 10 – Award Decision
Step 11 – GSA issues Task Order
Step 12 – If requested, GSA will debrief unsuccessful solution partners
Step 13 – Pre-Performance Conference

Step 1 – Preparing and Signing an Interagency Agreement (IA)
GSA uses an interagency agreement (IA) format for Procurement Request documentation.

The IA is a document prepared by your agency to describe services you wish to acquire from GSA. You submit the IA request to GSA’s USA Contact program manager to initiate the procurement process. The submission of an acceptable IA activates the procurement administrative lead time clock – the amount of time incurred from receipt of an acceptable IA to the award of the contract. In addition, the IA provides our GSA contracting officer with the information and some of the approvals necessary for initiating the procurement.

We have a template you can follow and modify according to your needs. If you need an IA for an emergency situation, you may use the Interagency Agreement for Emergencies template.

Action Required:

Your agency prepares and signs an Interagency agreement (IA) with funding documentation and forwards it to our USA Contact program manager.
Our USA Contact program manager will ensure completeness, have the appropriate GSA official sign the IA, and return the signed agreement to your agency.

Step 2 – Writing the Statement of Work (SOW)
The SOW describes the work your agency requires from GSA. SOW formats vary and are tailored to your agency’s requirements, but they should always describe:

Program Description
Purpose/Scope
Objectives
Services Required
Period of Performance
Transition/Start Up
Performance Standards and Reports
Billing and Payment Procedures
Workload Volume Data
Instructions for Submitting Proposals
Methods of Proposal Evaluation

A copy of the a generic Statement of Work for the task order shows the content required for each element and may serve as a guide.

If you are uncertain of your requirements, you may use a Statement of Objective (SOO) format that describes the outcome that you desire. The solutions partners will submit creative technical proposals for providing service.

Action Required:

If you know what you want, we will help you finalize your SOW and issue it to our solutions partners for competition.
If you are unsure of what you want, we will discuss your needs with you and help you develop an SOW or SOO.

Step 3 – Limited Acquisition Plan
An acquisition plan is a document used to facilitate acquisition planning. Specific content will vary, depending on the nature, circumstances, and stage of the acquisition. Plans for service contracts must describe the strategies for implementing performance-based contracting methods or provide rationale for not using such methods.

A limited acquisition plan consists of two primary sections:

Background and Objectives
Plan of Action

The Limited Acquisition Plan:

Must address all the technical, business, management, and other considerations that will control the acquisition.
Must identify those milestones at which decisions should be made.

Please review our sample format limited acquisition plan.

Action Required:

You prepare the limited acquisition plan. We will help you if you need assistance.

Step 4 – Independent Government Cost Estimate (ICGE)
An independent government cost estimate is the government's estimate (prepared in advance, and independently, of contractor bid submissions) of the expected cost of goods and/or services to be procured by contract.

The ICGE serves several purposes:

It functions as the basis for reserving funds necessary to accomplish the task;
It acts as a basis for comparing prices proposed in contractor submissions; and
It exists as an objective baseline in evaluating the reasonableness of proposal submissions.

Action Required:

You prepare the IGCE
We can assist you in developing your IGCE using the Customer Service Cost Calculator

Step 5 – Source Selection Plan and Panels
A source selection plan is established prior to solicitation release to guide the source selection process. The format of the plan will depend on agency and contracting activity policies. However, it should include or provide for the following:

Basis for the best value decision
Source selection organization
- Technical Evaluation Panel
- Price Evaluation Panel
Proposal evaluation criteria and
Evaluation procedures

Action Required:

GSA will prepare with your input.
You will select participants for both panels, and they will be named in the source selection document. If you desire, we will furnish participants to assist in evaluating, particularly with the price evaluation.

Step 6 – Request for Quotation (RFQ)
The RFQ is the acquisition document used to detail your agency's proposed goods and services requirements, and which solicits solution responses and bids from the nine USA Contact industry partners. The RFQ consists of your Statement of Work (which outlines your agency's specific requirements and bid guidelines) as well as GSA's submission procedures and rules.

GSA issues all solicitations
Solicitations must have Fair Consideration
Solicitations must have Low Price, Technically Acceptable, and be Best Value
Quotations
- Price (Using CLINs in IDIQ Contract)
- Technical Solution

Action Required:

GSA’s contracting officer sends the request for quotation to all nine solutions partners requesting their responses by a specified date and time.
GSA's contracting officer coordinates collection of the responses, and distributes appropriate sections of the responses to the two panels for consideration and evaluation. The technical evaluation panel receives only the technical solutions portion, and the price evaluation panel receives only the pricing portion.

Step 7 – Technical and Pricing Evaluations
Two separate evaluations are conducted to determine the winner of the task order. To ensure unbiased evaluations, neither the technical evaluation panel nor the price evaluation panel is permitted access to the other panel's portion of the vendor proposals.

As a part of the evaluation process, GSA's contracting officer may, on behalf of the panel, submit written questions to the solutions partners to elicit clarification of the proposals. The technical evaluation panel may also request oral presentations from the solutions partners.

Action Required:

Technical evaluation: You will provide a panel of three to four people to evaluate the technical proposals (these individuals will have been named in the Source Selection Plan; see Step 5 above).
Price-evaluation: Price proposals may be evaluated by your agency, by GSA, or by a panel consisting of both, depending on your preference. In practical terms, GSA must ultimately be a factor in the price evaluation, since GSA must verify the solutions parterns' proposals are within the ceiling prices quoted in the base contract.

Step 8 – GSA and your Agency Discussions
Once the bids are evaluated by both panels, GSA and your agency will discuss the results and determine the best value to the government. The technical and pricing panels may request clarification on anything in the proposal.

Action Required:

GSA, your program office, and technical and pricing evaluation panel members meet in person or by telephone to discuss the results of the evaluations.

Step 9 – Final Proposal Revisions
If there is something in the proposals you don’t understand, our contracting officer will compile questions and submit them to the appropriate vendors.

Action Required:

Our contracting officer will send questions to solutions partners and ask for written responses by a designated date and time.

Step 10 – Award Decision
Do we have a decision?

Action Required:

GSA and your agency will review the responses to the final proposals and agree on the award decision.

Step 11– GSA issues Task Order
It’s official!

Action Required:

The contracting officer notifies the selected solutions partner and makes the award.

Step 12 – If requested, GSA will debrief unsuccessful solutions partners.
Unfortunately, there is only one winning bid. The unsuccessful USA Contact solutionsy partners cannot protest awards, but they can request a debriefing by GSA to discuss why they did not win the award.

Action Required:

Solutions partners' representatives make a request in writing to the contracting officer for an award debriefing. The contracting officer arranges and conducts the debriefing.

Step 13 – Pre-Performance Conference
After the task order is awarded, you begin day-to-day management of the program. However, GSA will help you get started, and you'll still have access to GSA experts to help you navigate the task order provisions and to offer ongoing support.

Action Required:
GSA and your agency will meet with the selected solutions partner for a pre-performance conference to discuss the ground rules for the task order. At this meeting, all parties will discuss:

Phase-In/Startup Time
Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative
Authority Limitations

Also view the March 5, 2007 Pre-Solicitation Conference documents:

» Contact us, if you have any questions or need additional information about USA Contact.