REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FALSE ALARM REGISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS Purpose: The City of Wichita is requesting proposals from qualified firms to provide contract-billing service for false alarm billing and tracking. The program will effectively and efficiently manage the alarm ordinance. Responses to this Request for Proposal (RFP) will be used to compare the various firms wishing to provide the requested services. Objective The City of Wichita’s goal is to reduce the amount of false alarm calls occurring within the city limits that require response of city law enforcement and fire emergency services. The City of Wichita alarm ordinance was created in 1999, based on the idea to reduce false alarm calls so emergency personnel are free to respond to real emergencies. General Overview The metro population of Wichita in 2012 was estimated to be 385,577. As of August 2014, the city has a total of 39,145 alarm user permits in the tracking system. In 2012, the City of Wichita recorded 17,997 false alarm events. In 2013, the City of Wichita recorded 18,461 false alarm events. Revenue collected in 2013 was $683,049.50. The City has used an outside vendor for third party false alarm billing and collection since 1999. Formal collection efforts on past due balances began in 2005 through a third party collections agency. Elements of the city’s false alarm program involve: - Licensing and regulation of businesses that install, maintain, repair, service or monitor alarm systems. (Licensing requirements are handled outside of the police department, however, the police department approves /denies applicants) - Issuance of permits on newly installed systems or as a result of a change of address or ownership. Permits expire one year from issuance. - Cancellation of permits upon new alarm ownership, change of address and upon alarm user requests. - False Alarm response fees for owners of alarm systems who request a response from law enforcement and fire. - Suspension of response due to excessive alarms and/or non-payment of fees assessed. - Formal collections process on past due fees. - Tracking and processing appeals.
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Ability to interface on a daily basis via Web Service to Web Service with the 911 Emergency Communications Center’s CAD system. (Exchange of permit information and alarm events to be billed) Sedgwick County uses a Northrop Grumman Product, Command Point Computer Aided Dispatch.
Scope of services: General Specifications: The City of Wichita code governing false alarms is attached as Appendix B. System should be user friendly with much access provided to the end-user. Access to the system should be secured with a connection such as a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection. The City intends for the vendor to continue the use of the standard user registration form with current numbering system. The permit information contains the user/owner name, alarm company/monitoring company name and call back phone number, premise phone number, alarm address, emergency contacts with phone numbers, email address, mailing or responsible party address, and special conditions for the alarmed location. The selected vendor should have experience with converting existing data from the current database into a new system. The vendor should also have previous working experience with Command Point CAD, a Northrop Grumman product. In addition, the selected vendor will:
Process on-line alarm permit registrations. This includes reviewing the documents for completeness and researching any missing or incomplete information. The vendor will issue a verification of receipt of the application and issue notification of the acceptance /denial of the application.
In addition to having a company procedure in place for registering permits on-line, the vendor should have the capabilities to register permits by phone for alarm owners with no computer or internet access.
Monitor the permit database and make changes to permits as directed by the Alarm Administrator. The Alarm Administrator will also have access to make changes to mailing addresses, phone numbers and will be able to update emergency contact information.
Have a company procedure in place to suspend or reinstate permits based on notification by the Alarm Administrator of suspension or reinstatement of emergency personnel response.
Have a company procedure in place for returned and undeliverable mail.
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Add alarm business licensing information received from the Alarm Administrator.
Provide daily web service transfer of permit database from the alarm tracking system to the Sedgwick County CAD system.
Receive a daily web service transfer of alarm events from Sedgwick County CAD to be tracked and billed.
A company procedure for validating address information.
Provide all programming requirements of the system per Sedgwick County Command Point CAD specifications.
Billing: Management of billing and receipt functions for alarm fees includes formal collection efforts on past due invoices. Vendor will provide these services and reports on these accounting functions. (See appendix A) Vendor will identify false alarms with the following criteria: Verify Call Type (Medical and Government alarms are excluded.) Alarm calls with a clearance and/or disposition code, which maps to false alarms. Alarm calls where the clearance code indicates the call was cancelled. Final check is made to determine if the difference between the entered time and the cancelled time is more than four minutes. Alarm calls will be matched against user records. Unmatched records are written to a separate file for manual processing. False alarm calls that remain unmatched after a manual matching cycle are reviewed to determine if enough information is available to create a new user record. New user records are created only as a last resort, to eliminate duplicate and multiple user entries. The contractor will prepare billing invoices daily. Invoices will include a full event history identifying the event. Details will include: event date call entered and dispatched times CAD event I.D. number permit number invoice number balance due with due date. Vendor will mail all correspondence to the alarm customers. The mailing address is provided by the alarm user when registering their permit with the city. In instances involving unregistered alarm users the mailing address is derived from the CAD event record, which may require some
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research on the contractor’s part for a proper zip code. All office supplies to complete the tasks will be the responsibility of the selected vendor. Standard information concerning fee schedules, payment options, and appeal procedures will be included on statements and invoices. Statements will include an invoice stub to be returned with the payment to speed payment processing. Monthly statements will reflect any previous invoice fees along with newly added fees (late fees). Payment information will reflect the sum of payments to date. Vendor will prepare and mail monthly statements on any outstanding balances with the exception of balances in collection. Vendor will mail Warning Letters prior to the account being turned over to collections or placed into non-response. Vendor will post payments as they are received and deposits will be made within twenty four hours, excluding the weekend and/or holiday. At the direction of the Alarm Administrator, the selected vendor’s system should have the capability to invoice administrative penalties to alarm users for non-compliance as required by the alarm ordinance. Payments: Vendor’s system will accommodate the payment schedule stated in the ordinance. Payments are due within 30 days of the invoice date. A $10.00 late fee is assessed if the payment for any alarm is not received within 60 days of the invoice date. An additional $10.00 late fee is assessed at 90 days if full payment is not received. At 90 days past due, a demand letter is sent to the alarm owner informing them if the account is not paid in full within 30 days, the account may be turned over for collection. If the account is not paid within 30 days from the date of the demand letter, the account will be turned over for collection. Formal collections process should begin on past due balances at 30 days from the date of the demand letter. The payment module will record the method of payment (check, cash, credit, adjustments,) date received and the individual processing the payment. Payments will be applied first against the overdue fees, then past due fees and current fees in that order, unless otherwise noted by the payee. Module will include the ability to modify the payment record after the initial entry and provide the ability for corrections or adjustments noting as to why a change is being recorded. The Alarm Administrator should have the ability to receipt payments and process adjustments in this module. The system should also be capable of issuing credits and/or refunds and have the capabilities to receive on-line credit or debit card payments.
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Appeals The Police Departments Alarm Administrator handles appeals. The Alarm Administrator will have full access to the alarm module, with permission to make changes to fines and status of alarms. The module will provide the capability to record the status of the appeal and generate the appropriate responses to the alarm user based on the appeal decision. Every appeal that is processed, whether approved or denied, should have a reason assigned: Severe weather Evidence of criminal activity or emergency situation Utility/power failure Cancelled within four minutes User error Faulty equipment Other Appealed alarms should track as appealed and no charges for that alarm should be due until a decision is made on the appeal. Each alarm requires an appeal fee to be assessed to the alarm user’s permit. The vendor’s system should have the capability to track multiple appeals per permit and assess an appeal fee for each appeal. Reports: The report module must provide the capability to generate a varied number of statistic and financial reports (Appendix A). Reports should be available upon demand and able to be generated by the Alarm Administrator. Selected reports should be available in either printed or electronic versions. Types of reports that should be available:
Duplicate permits for property location; List of permit holders per alarm company; Full alarm history per permit number (including appeal history); False alarm rates by alarm owner; False alarm rates by alarm company; Top offenders list with ability to break down by hours, days, months, etc.; GIS Mapping capabilities – for tracking high offenders within the city; List of all unregistered customers; List of all alarm companies including account information; List of all non-response accounts with account information; Number of accounts by status; Other reports as requested by the Alarm Administrator.
Enhancements may be requested by WPD as required. Expected turnaround of enhancement requests shall be determined by urgency (i.e., ordinance change.) Therefore, input is requested from the service supplier relative to the methods and pricing for the enhancements requests. Enhancements may be requested due to but not limited to the following: ordinance changes,
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changes in the file layout, annexations, street name changes, and identified improvements in the system from users. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals submitted, to request additional information or clarification from respondents, or to allow corrections of errors and omissions. At the discretion of the Selection Committee, on-site presentations may be required. The City also reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and to use any ideas contained in proposals regardless of proposal being selected or not. Submission of a proposal constitutes acceptance of all conditions contained in this RFP, unless clearly and specifically noted in the proposal submitted and confirmed in the subsequent contract between the Firm and the City. In order to be considered responses must be received no later than 3:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time, Wednesday, September 24, 2014. Proposals received after 3:00 p.m. will not be considered. Any purchasing procedure inquiries should be directed to:
Any specification inquiries should be directed to:
Melinda Walker City of Wichita Purchasing Dept. 12th Floor (316) 268- 4636 (316) 219- 6426 (fax)
[email protected]
Deanna Perkins City of Wichita Police Department – 4th Floor (316) 268-4196 (316) 858-7704 (fax)
[email protected]
The Proposal: System Requirements: I.
Complete and include the Systems Requirement document designating whether the system requirement will or will not be provided, or whether the vendor agrees or disagrees with the statement. (Appendix C).
Costs I.
The written proposal should include a not to exceed cost to provide a full functional requirement document detailing the scope of this project.
II.
Your proposal should include your estimate of the cost of designing / implementing a contract billing and tracking system based on your understanding of the project from the information provided in this request for proposal.
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III.
Provide an acknowledgement of your willingness to gain the approval of the Emergency Communications Administrator and Northrop Grumman for any interface or software changes required in the Computer Aided Dispatch System. - Detail any experience you might have with working with Command Point CAD and/or Northrop Grumman.
IV.
Provide an estimate of ongoing system maintenance needs and costs.
V.
Vendor has the option to provide additional alternative costing methods for this contract billing service.
Proposing Firm Information I.
Provide the corporate identity and qualifications of the proposing company. If more than one entity is proposed to provide services, list all organizations and describe the relationship between the entities.
II.
Provide the name, corporate address, and a brief history of the proposing company. A. What portion of the company's total operations is devoted to software development? B. Service representatives: 1. Please identify locations of national, regional, and local offices that will be involved in the service of this account. 2. Please provide brief descriptions of the responsibilities and qualifications of the individuals who will develop and work on this account. C. Include a compliance statement regarding the City’s EEO policy and maintaining liability insurance as outlined in the purchasing specifications.
III.
Client Information A. Provide recent experience (last five (5) years) in providing services similar to that requested in this proposal. B. Provide client work history including contact name, phone number, and mailing address as well as a brief description of the work done for the client. Discuss whether the work is completed or is an ongoing contract. C. Provide information regarding any contracts terminated by clients within the last five (5) years, including agency name and reason for termination.
Submission Requirements: To achieve a uniform review process and obtain the maximum degree of comparability, it is required that the proposals be organized in the manner specified below:
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A. Title Page Show the RFP subject, the name of your firm, address, telephone number, name of contact person and date. B. Table of Contents Clearly identify the material by section and page number as outlined in the “The Proposal”. C. Letter of Transmittal State your firms understanding of the work to be done and make a positive commitment to perform the work. Give the names of the persons who will be authorized to make a presentation for your firm, their titles, addresses and telephone numbers. A partner or principal of the firm shall sign the letter. D. Envelopes Proposals must be received in sealed envelopes with the outside of the envelope clearly marked as follows: PROPOSAL: False Alarm Registration and Management E. Number of Proposals Ten (10) copies of your proposal must be sent to: Melinda Walker, Purchasing Manager City Hall – 12th Floor 455 N. Main Wichita, KS 67202 Tel.: (316) 268-4636 Proposals must be in the office of the Purchasing Manager by 3:00 PM Wednesday, September 24, 2014. It is the responsibility of the firm to insure that this proposal is in the Purchasing Manager’s office before the time of the scheduled proposal submission. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content. Costs for developing proposals, submission, and oral interviews are entirely the responsibility of the firm making the proposal and shall not be charged to the City. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be evaluated using the criteria listed below to ascertain which proposal best meets the needs of the City of Wichita. The items to be considered during the evaluation are as follows: A. B. C. D.
Firm’s national and/or local office experience. Technical qualifications of the persons assigned to this engagement. Firm’s understanding of the work and proposed approach Fees.
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Appendix A
Required Reports
Report Category/Title Program Management Listing of permits by number, address, and alarm company An event exception report Daily Activity Report Daily Event Activity Report Top Offenders Report Top Offenders Report User list by alarm business Event counts by user type Frequency distribution of users by number of alarms, by user type Alarm companies with balance and status Listing of non-response permits with account information Number of permits by status
Financial Reports Current A/R balance Revenue Receipt - by revenue source, by date range, by location received, by type payment (cash, check, adjustment, etc.), by type fee Billings and Collections rollup - by type payment, by type fee, by type user; by month or range of months A/R over 30, 60, and 90 days past due - by account, rollup by type user, rollup by type fee Account summary (due versus paid) - for range of account numbers, for individual accounts Overdue accounts by account/days overdue Delinquent accounts
Purpose
Identify duplicate registrations, and total permit counts Identify non-permit holding events and alarm type codes other than true or false Number of permits sold, new user permits entered. Determine specific number of false alarms reported each day. By alarm company customers Identify repeat offenders and excessive false alarms Verify names of users associated with specific alarm businesses Determine frequency/alarm rate for residential versus non-residential users Determine frequency of occurrence of any specific number of alarms, identify effectiveness of reduction program over time. Determine ratios. Identify alarm companies failing to comply with the ordinance Identify all accounts placed in non-response at any time. Identify the number of permits in the database by status (closed, OLD ACCT, expired, expiring, active, pending)
Available for all accounts and by type user (residential/non-residential) Track revenue received over time; should balance with bank deposits Track revenue due versus received over time; identify trends in non-payment Cash management report; target collection efforts Answer customer inquiries
Target collection efforts; cash management Determine delinquent accounts, by either business, residential or non-residential types
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