BOARD OF CONTRACT AND SUPPLY CITY OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Item Description: RFP FOR WEBSITE DESIGN, CONTENT MANAGEMENT AND HOSTING SERVICES-3 YEAR CONTRACT WITH TWO 1 YR OPTION YEARS/PROVIDENCE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT/LOCAL Date to be opened: MAY 18, 2015 Bids may be submitted up to 2:15 P.M. on the above meeting date at the Department of the City Clerk. Room 311. City Hall. At 2:15 P.M. all bids will be publicly opened and read at the Board of Contract Meeting in the City Council Chambers, on the 3'" floor of City Hall.
INSTRUCTIONS Potential vendors must submit sealed bids in an envelope labeled with the above captioned Item Description. Communications to the Board of Contract and Supply that are not competitive sealed bids (Le. product information/samples) should have "NOT A BID" written on the envelope or wrapper. The bid envelope and information relative to the bid must be addressed to: Board of Contract and Supply Department of the City Clerk - City Hall, Room 311 25 Dorrance Street Providence, RI 02903
Bid Package Checklist Forms are available in the City of Providence Purchasing Department Office or online at http://providenceri.com/public-propertv/vendor-center/forms
The bid package must include the following, in order:
D Required: Bid Form 1: Bidder's Blank as the cover page/1 st page D Required: Bid Form 2: Certification of Bidder as 2nd page D Required: Forms from the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program, based on Bidder Category
D Optional: Bidder's Proposal/Packet, including additional pricing information and details related to the good(s) or service(s) being provided, if Bidder's Blank (Bid Form 1) is not adequate
D
Financial Assurance, as indicated, if checkbox 1a or 1b is checked under Bid Terms on Page RFP-3 of this document
Purchasing Department
City Hall
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 421-7740 ext. 264/751-0203 (TOO)
RFP-1 (Rev. 1/2015)
BOARD OF CONTRACT AND SUPPLY CITY OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND NOTICE TO VENDORS 1.
The Board of contract and Supply will make the award to the lowest responsible bidder.
2.
No proposal will be accepted if made in collusion with any other bidder.
3.
A bidder who is an out-of-state corporation shall qualify or register to transact business in this State, in accordance with R.I. General Laws (as amended) in the Rhode Island Business Corporation Act, RIGL Section 7-1.2-1401, et seq.
4.
The Board of Contract and Supply reserves the right to reject any and all bids.
5.
In determining the lowest responsible bidder, cash discounts based on preferable payment terms will not be considered.
6.
Where prices are the same, the Board of Contract and Supply reserves the right to award to one bidder, or to split the award.
7.
Competing bids may be viewed in person at the Department of the City Clerk, City Hall, Providence, immediately upon the conclusion of the formal Board of Contract and Supply meeting during which the bids were unsealed/opened. Bids may also be accessed electronically on the internet via the City's Open Meetings Portal.
8.
As the City of Providence is exempt from the payment of Federal Excise Taxes and Rhode Island Sales Tax, prices quoted are not to include these taxes.
9.
In case of error in the extension of prices quoted, the unit price will govern.
10. The contractor will NOT be permitted to: a) assign or underlet the contract, b) assign either legally or equitably any monies hereunder or its claim thereto without the previous written consent of the City Purchasing Director. 11. Delivery dates must be shown in your bid. If no delivery date is specified, it will be assumed that an immediate delivery from stock will be made. 12. A certificate of insurance may be required of a successful vendor. 13. Bids may be submitted on an "equal" in quality basis. We reserve the right to decide equality. Bidders must indicate brand or the make being offered and submit detailed specifications if other than brand requested. 14. For contracts involving construction, alteration and/or repair work, the provisions of State Labor Laws concerning payment of prevailing wage rates apply (See R.I. General Laws Sec. 37-13-1 et seq. As amended) 15. No goods should be delivered or work started without a Purchase Order. 16. Submit an ORIGINAL and three (3) copies of your bid to the City Clerk, unless the specification section of this document indicates otherwise. 17. Vendor must certify that it does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation and/or religion in its business and hiring practices and that all of its employees are lawfully employed under all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations.
Purchasing Department
City Hall
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 421-7740 ext. 264/751-0203 (TOD)
RFP-2 (Rev. 1/2015)
BOARD OF CONTRACT AND SUPPLY CITY OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND BID TERMS 1.
Financial assurances may be required in order to be a successful bidder for Commodity or Construction and Service contracts. If either of the first two checkboxes below is checked, the specified assurance must accompany a bid, or the bid will not be considered by The Board of Contract and Supply. The third checkbox indicates the lowest responsible bidder will be contacted and required to post a bond to be awarded the contract. a)
D A certified check for $_ _ must be deposited with the City Clerk as a guarantee that the Contract will be signed and delivered by the bidder.
b)
D A bid bond in the amount of _ _ per centum (%) of the proposed total price, to be deposited with the City Clerk as a guarantee that the contract will be signed and delivered by the bidder; and the amount of such bid bond shall be retained for the use of the City as liquidated damages on account of default.
c)
D A performance and payment bond with a satisfactory surety company will be posted by the successful bidder in a sum equal to one hundred per centum (100%) of the awarded contract.
d)
[8] No financial assurance is necessary for this item.
2.
It is hereby mutually understood and agreed that no payment for extra work shall or will be claimed or made unless ordered in writing by the Board of Contract and Supply.
3.
Awards will be made within sixty (60) days of bid opening. All bid prices will be considered firm, unless qualified otherwise. Requests for price increases will not be honored.
4.
Failure to deliver within the time quoted or failure to meet specifications may result in default action in accordance with the general specifications. It is agreed that deliveries and/or completion are subject to strikes, lockouts, accidents and Acts of God.
The following entry applies only for COMMODITY BID TERMS: 5.
Payment for partial delivery will not be allowed except when provided for in blanket or term contracts.
The following entries apply only for CONSTRUCTION AND SERVICE BID TERMS: 6.
Only one shipping charge will be applied in the event of partial deliveries for blanket or term contracts.
7.
The successful bidder shall, prior to commencing performance under the contract, attach and submit evidence that they have complied with the provisions of the Rhode Island Worker's Compensation Act Title 28, Chapter 29, Section 1, et seq. (R.I.G.L.). If the successful bidder is exempt from compliance under the Worker's Compensation Act, an officer of the successful bidder shall so state by way of sworn Affidavit, which shall accompany the signed contract.
8.
The successful bidder shall, prior to commencing performance under the contract, attach and submit a certificate of insurance, in a form and in the amount satisfactory to the City by which the successful bidder will indemnify and hold harmless the City during the term of the contract from and against all loss or damages arising from the performance under the contract including all claims for personal injury or damages to property sustained by third persons, or their agents, servants and/or those claimed under them.
Purchasing Department
City Hall
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 421-7740 ext. 264/751-0203 (TOO)
RFP-3 (Rev. 1/2015)
BOARD OF CONTRACT AND SUPPLY CITY OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
DESCRIPTION AND I OR SPECIFICATIONS PLEASE BID AS PER THE ATTACHED SPECIFICATIONS
TOTAL AMOUNT OF 3 YR PROPOSAL
$
OPTION YEAR 1
$
OPTION YEAR 2
$
Purchasing Department
City Hall
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 421-7740 ext. 264/751-0203 (TOO)
RFP-4 (Rev. 1/2015)
Providence Schools Request for Proposals The Providence Public School District (hereinafter referred to as "District" or "PPSD") is soliciting proposals from qualified companies (hereinafter referred to as "Proposers") in the business of providing:
WEBSITE DESIGN, CONTENT MANAGEMENT AND HOSTING SERVICES Definitions Contractor means each successful respondent awarded a contract. District means the Providence Public School District. PPSD means the Providence Public School District. Proposer/vendor/respondent means a firm submitting a response to this RFP. RFP means Request for Proposal. Scope of Services Sought PPSD is soliciting competitive sealed proposals from qualified and established firms to provide all labor, equipment and services, including training and ongoing support, necessary to design, develop, and implement a state-of-the-art district website for both public and internal audiences with a unique and flexible design that meets the requirements of the District. Proposals will be considered from qualified and experienced vendors who are regularly established in the business of developing, implementing, hosting and maintaining versatile, state-of-the art websites using a robust enterprise or open-source content management system (CMS), especially those in the realm ofK-12 education. Migration of some content from the current platform may be required, in addition to creating new sections of the website with content provided by PPSD. A school district website directly connects district and administrative resources to parents, staff, volunteers, the general community and students. It is critical that the district's website be up-todate, user-friendly, informative, easy to navigate and search and be an effective resource for the community. The website will be hosted externally by the vendor. Vendor to provide details on the server platform their proposed system will run on. Through prior work performed, vendor must be able to show evidence of reliability, ability, flexibility, experience and personnel to perform the work requested. PPSD reserves the right to request the replacement of personnel assigned by the Contractor with no notice and at no additional cost to PPSD if, in PPSD's sole discretion, it is determined that the personnel does not adequately meet the needs of PPSD or is unable to perform duties and responsibilities to the satisfaction ofPPSD. Expected deliverables:
I
1. A state-of-the-art district website for PPSD students, teachers, staff, parents and the community that reflects district branding standards. Contractor's design team will work with district and school personnel to ensure alignment to district branding standards, which may change over time. 2.
The CMS/website platfonn will integrate with enterprise and third-party applications, including but not limited to: Skyward Student Infonnation System, Electronic School Board, SearchSoft.
3. The vendor's proposed product will: a. Work as the district's public website as well as an intranet for staff with integration of custom user dashboards and subscription (Teachers/Staf£'Parents/Students). b. Provide child sites for each of up to 41 PPSD schools, with the ability for those schools to manage their own content, calendar entries, etc. within a template chosen by District staff c. Provide NewslBlog feature for District news (RSS). d. Provide Multiple calendars: Lunch MenulDistrict events calendar - integrate with current third-party application (Active Data) or provide alternative solution. e. Provide a Mobile version f. Provide multiple languages (English/Spanish) - without the use of a universal translation plugin (a mirror site), with the option to include additional languages in the future. g. Provide a state-of-the-art search engine. h. Provide Social Media sharing capabilities. I. Be compatible across all operating systems and browsers. J. Be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) compliant. k. Have a robust document library and provide alerts for document aging. 1. Be visually appealing with an attractive mix of text, photos and graphics. m. Be easily accessed and navigated both internally to PPSD and externally. n. Create a consistent and standardized format and enhanced graphical look for all pages; thereby establishing a unified theme throughout the District's website. However, the established theme should also provide the flexibility to allow for different District functions. o. Provide an overall architecture that is conducive to future growth of infonnation sharing, services and functions that is easily maintained by the District's departmental personnel. p. Be able to track site analytics using Google Analytics. Maintenance software which includes reporting functions would be valuable. q. Have the ability to use create and use electronic submission fonns. r. Provide ability for super users/content managers to create new pages easily within the CMS with easy access to standard formatted pages for consistency in design creation. 4.
Contractor will provide training and ongoing support for district and school personnel assigned to managing content on the new web platfonn. Vendor must provide on-site training for approximately five "super" users. This training must be adequate for the "super" users to be competent in the operation of this product. PPSD is the sole detenninant when the "super" user has been trained to an adequate degree. Contractor will also provide a combination of on-site and distance training (through WebEx or similar) to
2
the appointed content managers at each of 41 schools and approximately 10 District departments. Contractor will also provide detailed documentation for "super" users to continuously train and support content managers on their function. 5. The website shall be available to the public 2417 with no downtime when updates to content or data are done and provide high-speed upload with minimal download response times for all types of equipment (i.e., high-speed and low-speed) in use by the public. 6. The product proposed will allow for delegated content management with tiered, customizable access to appropriate areas of the site. The District's preferred website model calls for authorized District staff to have the ability to perform routine content management related to routine information such as the posting of meeting dates, agendas, minutes, departmental events, removing old and outdated information and general noticing. A "super" user should have more comprehensive ability to provide quality control and the ability to update non-routine information. Therefore, a system needs to be structured for maintenance and updating capabilities by non-teclrnical staff. The District is interested in a robust content management process and is open to ideas on how best to accomplish this aspect of the website. Describe your proposed product's capabilities for different levels of delegated content management. 7. The proposed solution shall offer a comprehensive backup plan, where the vendor will perform full, regular backups. Describe your security and disaster recovery plan. 8. The Contractor will provide support in a timely manner as required by PPSD through phone, email, remote connection, and onsite meetings when necessary. 9. Vendor to provide details on the server platform their proposed system will run on. 10. The Contractor is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all interfaces for the life of the product.
ABOUT PROVIDENCE PUBLIC SCHOOLS It is expected that successful vendors will establish a strong partnership with PPSD. As a strong partner, successful vendors will need to become fully acquainted with the business of PPSD: Educating Providence's children. For a full description of Providence Public Schools, its mission, demographics, and vision can be found at www.providenceschools.org
INSTRUCTIONS TO THE VENDOR 3.1
Commuuicatiou/Questious Vendors are expected to raise any questions, or additions they have concerning the RFP docrnnent as soon as they become aware of them. Any questions or requests for clarifications must be directed iu writiug to
[email protected]. The subject line of the email must be labeled "Web RFP Question." Questions are due no later than 12 p.m. Eastern time on May 11,2015.
3.2
Calendar of Events The dates set forth below are for informational purposes only. All dates are tentative and subject to change.
3
Milestone Issue RFP Deadline for Submission of Written Questions Proposal Due Date Vendor interviews, if necessary
3.3
Date April 20, 2015 May 11,2015 May 15, 2015 May 21-28,2015
Evaluatiou Criteria An PPSD evaluation committee will be established to evaluate proposers' responses to each of the RFP requirements. Each response will be reviewed, discussed, evaluated, and ranked by each of the committee members. Proposals should be complete on their face. However, after opening of responses, PPSD reserves the right to waive irregularities in any proposal, to request clarifYing information it deems appropriate from one or more respondents, to request supplemental information from all of the respondents, and to factor any additional infonnation into the evaluation. PPSD mayor may not require oral presentations of a group of fmalists in person or on the telephone/web conference and may request further information from those finalists. Proposals will be ranked based on the following criteria: Criteria Responsiveness Vendor QualificationslExperience with Like Projects Vendor Backgronnd Quality of Proposed Solution
Cost
Description Compliance witb proposal submission requirements Proof of Proposer's financial stability. Experience offrrm in providing like projects to like institutions
points PasslFail 15%
Experience of staff, creativity
15%
Quality of proposed methodology and approach to project and ability of Proposer to meet District's needs, including description of proposed prodnct (software/CMS/platform) and how well the product proposed addresses the expected project deliverables Pricing proposed
40%
30%
PPSD reserves the right to request one or more respondents to a Best and Final Offer ("BAFO") process. BAFOs may be used when no single response addresses all the specifications, when the costs submitted by all Proposers are too high, when two or more Proposers are virtually tied after the evaluation process, or when all Proposers submitted responses that are unclear or deficient in one or more areas. If a BAFO is utilized, Proposers may be required to submit revisions to the RFP response. PPSD will send out a BAFO request to invited respondents that will set forth the areas of the proposal to be covered, and the date and time by which the BAFO must be returned. All respondents will be treated equally and no information will be transmitted from one respondent about the other respondent's offer during the process. PPSD reserves the right to apply additional criteria not listed in the original RFP to the BAFO process, but any additional criteria will be disclosed to Proposers in the BAFO request. PPSD will open negotiations with the highest ranked after evaluation, interviews, or BAFO process. PPSD reserves the right to open negotiations with the second highest-ranked vendor if negotiations with the highest ranked vendor are not successful, etc. PPSD reserves the right to delete or add services until the final contract signing.
4
4.0
PROPOSAL FORMAT AND CONTENT Responses are to be formatted and tabbed in the form and sequence described in Section 4. Responses not following the format outlined will not be considered. The evaluation and selection of a vendor will be based on the information submitted in the vendor's response. Elaborate proposals (i.e. expensive artwork) beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective response, are not necessary or desired. Additional data can be provided in appendices. Quality, not quantity, is desired.
4.1
Response Organization For ease of cross-comparison, PPSD suggests that the vendor submit the proposal including the following sections: Section 1: Vendor QualificationslExperience with Like Projects (15%) Section l.l Provide a description of the Proposer's firm, including history; number of years the Proposer has been in business; type of services provided; and legal status of Proposer's organization, i.e. corporation, partnership, etc. Section 1.2 Provide documentation to verify the Proposer possesses adequate financial support, assets, and organization to provide the products and services required in this RFP. This may take the form of financial statements, credit ratings, a line of credit, or other fmancial arrangements sufficient to enable the offeror to be capable of meeting the requirements of this RFP. Section 1.3 Provide related project experience by including no fewer than three URLs of websites developed for large, urban school districts or organizations of a similar size. These should ideally be examples for which the staff proposed to work with PPSD have played a role. Section 1.4 Provide letters of performance support from no fewer than three past clients from large, urban school districts or organizations of a similar size. Include the names of the individual(s) you would propose PPSD contact, together with phone numbers and company names and addresses. These should ideally be references for which the staff proposed to work with PPSD have played a role. Note: PPSD reserves the right to contact or visit any party listed as a reference that has previously used, or is presently using, your products or services in a manner similar to those proposed by the vendor. PPSD also reserves the right to use other sources to obtain information about the proposed products and services. Section 1.5 Provide demonstrated capabilities to provide all services requested, or provide list of robust partnerships proposed to complete project. Information of work to be performed by partners/subcontractors should be complete and detailed. Section 2: Vendor Background (15%)
5
Section 2.1 Provide a description of the Proposer's creative and development approach to this project. Section 2.2 Provide demonstrated certifications, degree and experience of all team members or partners who would be assigned to work on this project. Describe process for identifying and replacing personnel, if necessary, during term of contract. Replacement or substitution of personnel proposed shall require prior approval ofPPSD. Describe the process for replacement ifPPSD requests the replacement of personnel assigned by the Contractor if, in PPSD's sole discretion, it is determined that the personnel does not adequately meet the needs of PPSD or is unable to perform duties and responsibilities to the satisfaction ofPPSD. Section 3: Quality of Proposed Solution (40%) Section 3.1 Describe any information that PPSD must supply and/or any other resources PPSD must supply in order for the vendor to complete the required deliverables. Vendor is responsible for the provision of all resources not specifically listed herein. Section 3.2 Provide a description of the proposed product (software/CMS/platform) including the product highlights and features. Section 3.3 In this section, your response must provide detailed information as to how the vendor will meet or exceed the requirements set forth in Section 1.2 (Required Deliverables). Label your response to correspond to the requirement iu Sectiou 1.2 to which you are responding for Expected Deliverables 1- 10, including #3 a-q. Section 3.4 Provide an estimated time line/work plan to perform the services required for intranet and internet, indicating major milestones and the estimated amount of time required for each phase. Indicate evidence of success and also the methodology used to meet proposed tirneline. Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to, Needs Assessment, Design, Development, Conversion of Existing websites/ Implementation, and Training. Specify the areas where services will be provided as well as clearly specifying the responsibility areas of the PPSD. Section 3.5 If you do not have a local (Boston/Providence metropolitan area) office, describe your methodology for working and communicating closely with previous clients located in a city in which you did not have a permanent local presence. Section 3.6 Describe maintenance services included in your RFP response for either Vendor-Hosted Option A or PPSD-Hosted Option B. Label the specifics for each Option. Section 3: Cost Proposal (40%) Provide your cost proposal with detailed breakdown of costs.
6
Alternate 1: Time-Sensitive Mass Notification System Please provide the additional per-stndent cost for provision by the same company of a time-sensitive mass notification system, with details as follows from a separate RFP issued for that product: Scope of Services The Providence Public School District (hereafter referred to as "PPSD" or "the District") is requesting proposals from qualified vendors who can provide the expertise, capabilities and experience to competently and competitively provide a comprehensive communications platform that will enable the district to effectively provide information to stndents, families, staff and the community. The Respondent's proposal shall demonstrate that the Respondent has the capability, experience and expertise necessary to provide a solution that will support traditional mass notification services via telephone, email, text, social media, etc. In addition to the minimum and technical requirements listed in this RFP, respondents should also provide ideas for how PPSD can realize greater value from the use of the system and should identify other school districts that are currently using those additional capabilities.
General Competencies Technical 1. Must use a fully hosted Application Service Provider (ASP) system with no on-premise equipment/specialized software (other than Internet browser) and no additional phone lines required. This ASP system will be used to deliver all message types including emergency notifications, absence notifications, general information notifications (open house nights, upcoming events, bus issues, etc.). Respondents must show proof of consistent ahility to deliver thousands of messages within minutes. 2. System must be configurable to provide granular user rights and roles, restricting data access and administrative oversight to appropriate personnel. 3. Provider must demonstrate extensive experience in delivery of time-sensitive, mass notifications. Responders should provide current delivery volume counts per month and in the past year through their existing Application Service Provider. 4. Provider must demonstrate extensive, proven experience with K-12 districts, with at least 20,000 stndents. Please provide 5 references from districts of this size. 5. Respondent's solution should provide archiving capabilities for all notifications for a period of3 years. 6. Provider must give evidence of the long-term viability of the mass notification service and address staffing, system architectnre, and ability to ensure ongoing R&D. 7. Describe your data integration process with district's stndent information system (SIS) and other district data systems. Provide a sample implementation schedule. 8. Describe the measures your system offers to provide security to private information. Include your system's ability to log user activity. 9. System should automatically create separate accounts for parents, stndents, and staff, which are created by data imported from district data systems. 10. System must automatically combine parent accounts for parents who have more than one stndent in the district. 11. System must provide for automated daily attendance messages that include detailed information including the name of the stndent, attendance violation, class period, school and date. System
7
12.
13.
14. 15.
16. 17. 18. 19.
20. 21. 22. 23.
should preferably be able to play entire message in true human voice. Message must be multilingual. System must provide for automated attendance history messages for students who have met defmed attendance thresholds. System must support ability to import data from attendance history file. System should be able to send messages for an unlimited number of attendance codes. Attendance messages should automatically support multi-modal intelligence wherein the automated attendance message is more detailed, including attendance policy information when sent via email and/or as a mobile message, less detailed when sent via telephone, able to fit in the 144 character specification for textiSMS and as a push notification, without requiring the district to have to create messages for each modality. System should provide parents with the ability to excuse the absence via the phone. System should support unique Caller-ID or call origination number for attendance calls, which will enable parents with the ability to simply call back the number to speak directly to the attendance secretary as opposed to reaching the school's main number. System must provide ability to create an unlimited number of custom calling groups. System must automatically create query-based groups based on grade level, class, and language preference, etc. System should also be able to provide the ability to create additional query-based groups for Community Members, Students, Parents, Staff, Teachers, Principals, etc. System should also be able to provide the ability to create query-based groups based on bus IDs, gender, graduation year, class grade, class score, assignment type, assigrunent score, assigmnent percentage, etc. Describe how your system supports ability to combine calls for messages that are being sent from multiple schools and from the district, to families that have children in more than one school. System should provide a very simple, friendly user-interface. Please provide examples of interface. System should provide ability to create a message and save message as a draft without requiring the user to manually save the message as a draft. System must provide ability to send messages to recipients based on their geographic location. System should also support ability to send message to multiple geographic locations.
Security I. The provider must demonstrate state-of-the art system security, including, but not limited to, a description of company policies and procedures to ensure both physical system security and data transmission security. 2. The provider must provide a description of their policy regarding storage, retention, and distribution of data. The provider must possess and state the company non-release policy for data. 3. The provider must require regular internal and 3'd party audits. The provider must disclosure its most recent audit rating. 4. The provider must be able to warrant that they provide background checks on all employees, and that only employees who have undergone said background checks will have access to client data. 5. The provider must explain internal company protocols regarding the handling of client data. The provider must require all employees to sign data handling agreements at hire.
Redundancy 6. The provider must provide a zero-single-point-of-failure system through utilization of mUltiple telecommunications providers, multiple servers across multiple power grids, and multiple streams of communication (e.g. VoIP, e-mail, etc). 7. The provider must describe its data backup policy and utilize mirrored server sites for backup. 8. The provider must describe how they will utilize a business continuity plan which allows failover to a primary disaster site with equal capability as the primary site, and additional data recovery
8
sites nationwide. The data recovery plan should allow for resumption of normal client activities within I hour of failure. 9. The provider must be able to describe their ongoing maintenance and system testing procedures. The provider should be able to guarantee at least 99.99% uptime, scheduled maintenance notwithstanding. Upgrades, updates, and enhancements should be provided free of charge, and seamlessly rolled out into the existing system after extensive internal quality assurance testing.
Capacity I. The provider must state what percentage of its contracted capacity is used on a daily basis and provide a company commitment to scaling the service as clients' needs grow. 2. The provider must be able to provide an independently certified accounting of the highest volume of voice messages delivered to unique phone numbers exclusively though its ASP application on behalf of its clients within a concurrent 24 hour period. 3. The provider must state the highest volume of voice messages delivered to unique phone numbers exclusively through its ASP application on behalf of its clients within a 3 day "event" period (i.e. hurricane, etc). Reliability I. The provider must discuss its delivery strategy to maximize successful deliveries 2. The provider must describe system redundancies which exist to ensure call delivery, such as telecommunications providers andlor delivery streams. 3. The provider must provide anecdotal experience of successful call delivery during a time of highly impacted capacity (e.g. hurricane, flood, tornado). System Technology 1. The provider must utilize an Application Service Provider (ASP) messaging system with no onpremise equipment / specialized software (other than Internet Browser) and no additional phone lines required. This ASP system will be used to deliver all message types, not just emergency messages. 2. The provider must be able to facilitate unattended, automated and secured contact data upload and update from the Providence Public School District's student and human resources database systems. 3. The provider's system must be configurable to provide granular user rights and roles, restricting data access and administrative oversight to the appropriate personnel. System Features I. The provider must be able to send voice messages to multiple types of devices (land phone, cell phone) and text messages to multiple types of devices (e-mail, TTY, PDAs, SMS). 2. The provider must allow users to select the type of message for send--voice, text, or voice and text--depending upon the urgency of the call. 3. The system should be able to extract home language from a client database field and allow users to deliver messages in the appropriate language. 4. The system should offer a text-to-text language translation option in languages other than English, including but not limited to, Spanish. 5. The system must be able to record and archive messages for future delivery. 6. The provider must display the client's pre-selected number on the recipient's caller !D. 7. The system must offer the ability to deliver messages in the user's own voice and text-to-speech, or a blend ofthe two. 8. The system must provide reports documenting results of notifications provided as well as other reports, such as monthly usage. 9. The system must have a client "call-in" number for message playback of previously sent
9
messages. 10. The system must allow an unlimited number of groups and subgroups to be created. Call Send Process 1. The call send process must be easy and user friendly, using the client's phone and hislher computer. The send process must be the same for regular and emergency messages. 2. The call send process should work from any computer. Users should not have to use a specific computer or phone from which to schedule calls. 3. The provider must offer a telephone-only urgent access method to send calls in emergencies in which the client is unable to access the Internet andlor has no power. This process should be simple, secure, and not require operator intervention. 4. The service must offer a call authorization process (e.g. reqnire dnal authorization for call listwide callout) as a fail-safe to accidental all-system calling. The process must be accessible for authorization by phone and/or Internet and able to be overridden by customer support if both users are not available in an emergency. Customer Implementation, Training and Support I. The provider must present an implementation plan with a timeline from contract signature through user training with clearly identified roles and responsibilities for both provider and client. The plan must be able to be completed within 30 days of the date the contract is signed. 2. The provider must present during the implementation and training phase an articulated plan for best practices for use and how the system adheres to existing client protocols for communication. 3. The provider must include initial training for all users, re-training, and new user training as part of the cost. 4. Initial training must be provided onsite, or via a live meeting environment if requested by the client, and must offer the option to train all users on-site. 5. The provider must offer printed training manuals as well as suggestions for use and best practices as part ofthe training process. 6. The provider must offer unlimited 24171365 support for all users through a toll-free phone number at no additional cost. 7. The provider's support time must be It, hour or less for all issues, at all times of day or night. 8. The provider must offer and explain in detail its ongoing customer support beyond initial training. 9. The provider'S customer support personnel must be full-time, company-employed customer service professionals. These professionals must be dedicated to specific accounts for relationship building and trained specifically to support the needs of the school district. A background check should be performed on all support personnel before hiring. 10. The provider must provide assurance that they do not outsource customer support. II. The provider must include technical support as part of the 24171365 included customer support. 12. The provider must provide independent validation of customer satisfaction. Section II - Specific K-12 Competencies The K-12 market space has several specific and unique needs. Listed below are specifications for K-12 school districts in addition to the afore-mentioned general specifications. K-12 System I. The provider must be able to describe how the system is designed specifically to meet the needs ofK-12 educators. The provider should demonstrate, at minimum: • previous successful integration experience in the K-12 market space • the employ of customer service representatives and management with specific experience in and/or training in the needs ofK-12 educators • the provision of policies and best practices designed for educators based upon similarly
10
sized K -12 users a full understanding of laws specific to the governance of best practices in education an ongoing record of development of new features based upon administrator use and input. The provider must offer a system which does not require a specific browser, plug-ins, special settings or other aspects which are cumbersome in a low-tech access environment such as a school district. The provider must offer a system which provides sufficient stored contacts per student to accommodate mUltiple telephone numbers including cell phones, multiple residences, and workplaces. The provider's system must be Schools Interoperability Framework (SJF) certified and SJF compliant, with a history of successful integration with SJF compliant school districts. The provider'S system must provide unlimited messaging not only at the district level, but at the site level as well so as to provide adequate notification services for all K-12 administrators district-wide. The provider must be able to provide centralized hierarchy of oversight, with decentralized controls, to allow individual principals to act with autonomy within the scope of their site, and allow the district office to view activity within the district. • •
2.
3.
4. 5.
6.
K-12 System Technology 1. The provider must utilize an Application Service Provider (ASP) messaging system requiring no district owned or leased equipment or specialized software at the school site, district office, or any other off-site location and no additional phone lines required. This ASP system will be used to deliver all message types, not just emergency messages. 2. The fully-hosted ASP solution must require no additional software, hardware, or additional phone lines either at the vendor's site or at the school district. 3. The provider must be able to facilitate unattended, automated and secured contact data upload and update from the school district's existing HR, SIS and other database systems. 4. The provider's system must be configurable to provide granular user rights and roles, restricting data access and administrative oversight to the appropriate personnel. K-12 Messaging Features 1. The system must be able to deliver four message types: emergency, outreach, surveys, and attendance. 2. The provider must allow users to send messages in multiple languages via voice, text-to-speech, or voice plus text-to-speech. 3. The system should be able to extract home language from a field on the district's student database and allow users to deliver messages in the appropriate language. 4. The system must be able to record and archive messages for future delivery. 5. The provider must display the distric1!school's pre-selected number on the recipient's caller ID. 6. The system must offer the ability to deliver messages in the user's own voice and text-to-speech. 7. The system must provide reports documenting results of notifications provided as well as other reports, such as monthly usage. 8. The system must have a "call-in" number for message playback of previously sent messages. 9. The system must allow an unlimited number of groups and subgroups to be created. 10. The system should offer the capability to send messages by any of the following selection means: by specific contact type (student, faculty, administrators, etc.); by grade; by home language; by school; by custom, user-defined group, by geography (all contacts within a radius around a point; within a polygon, inside a donut ring, etc.). II. The system must offer Delivery Protection mechanisms (warnings about calls being scheduled to greater than xx% of contacts, warnings about calls being scheduled early in the morning or late at
11
12. 13. 14. 15.
16.
night, the ability to require prior authorization of certaiu users for certain call parameters, etc.). The provider must be able to provide automated attendance calling district-wide and/or on a siteby-site basis. Calling must be available on a period-by-period or once a day basis. The system must permit users to include personalized student iuformation, such as name, school name, date, period absent, etc iu automated attendance calls. The system must allow users to record a call in their own voice and add personalized iuformation such as lunch account balances, library fines owed, etc. The system must provide adequate reporting to demonstrate that usage of the notification system supports admiuistrative standards for community outreach, safety plans, and other annual mandated reporting. The system must provide reporting in a manner that does not violate District FERP A compliance requirements.
Customer Implementation, Training and Support I. The provider should be able to articulate specific examples of assistance provided throughout the year to meet the needs of educators. 2. The provider must document how their support staff is hired, educated, and traiued to support the specific needs ofK-12 educators. 3. The provider must have no limitations on the number of times data transfers can be performed from the district's SIS and HR system. Indicate whether a fee is associated. The provider should not require parents to add their data via a computer iuterface
12
Alternate 2: District-Branded App Please provide the per-student cost for the additional functionality of a district branded app. The service should also provide for the possible future development of a district branded app that is a fully native app for iPhone and Android devices and not built on HTML 5 code. In addition to a native app, the respondent should also be able to provide an HTML 5 app for devices other than iPhone and Android.
MINIMUM TECHNICAL AND FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MOBILE WEB ACCESS AND FOR DISTRICT BRANDED APP Must use a fully hosted Application Service Provider (ASP) system with no on-premise equipment/specialized software (other than Internet browser) required. Both the district branded app and the district mobile web access will be used to provide access to district and school news, access to district's social media sites, district and school calendars, directory of district and schools and faculty/staff. Both the app and mobile web access should also provide access to all notifications being sent from the district and schools. Both the district branded app and the district mobile web access, which will be referred to as system in this section, should also provide a parent/student portal for access to student grades, assignments, scores, etc. System must be configurable to provide granular user rights and roles, restricting data access and administrative oversight to appropriate personnel/users. General Requirements Respondent shall have experience in providing its app in a K-12 education environment. The Respondent must be able to facilitate unattended, automated and secured data uploads and updates from the District's existing HR, student, cafeteria, library, transportation, and/or other database system(s). (Provide names of3 districts where you are already integrated with all these systems.) System must support ability for parents to have "On-Demand" access to district news, calendars, notifications, etc. from a district branded app. The system must provide students the ability to access grades, assignments, scores, attendance, cafeteria balance, bus routes, and library balances, etc. with a single login. The system must provide parents access to all their children's grades, classes, assignments, scores, attendance history, cafeteria and library balances, bus routes, etc. without requiring the parent to login for each child. System must provide parents and students the ability to set thresholds to be alerted about grades, low scores, class grade drop, cafeteria balance, assignment updates, etc. System should provide direct links to library and cafeteria payment portals. System must provide an administrative interface so that authorized district and school administrators can access student data including grades, assignments, class schedule, bus route, parent contact information, etc.
13
The system must be configurable to provide granular user rights and roles, restricting data access and administrative oversight to appropriate personnel. The system must provide ability for users to view district and school Facebook Pages and Twitter Feeds without exiting from district branded app. System should provide ability to view Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, calendar events, and school/district news all from a continuous stream, without requiring the user to have to click on multiple buttons or requiring tbem to bave to log into any of these services. System should provide a directory of staff with contact information. System must be branded to the district's name, colors, logo, etc. Users should be able to find district branded app by searching for the district's name. System must provide parents and students with 24x7 access to all attendance notifications via mobile web interface and also via native app. The system must provide for a map-based section that uses built-in GPS technology, so that users can identify the schools they will attend based on an address that they enter or based on their current location. Regular updates to the system will be included. System must not require advertisements including banner ads. System must provide reporting capabilities to identify number of downloads and also to identify usage. System must provide ability to combine district and selected scbool calendars into a single calendar for viewing. Must also provide ability for users to add events into their personal calendar, without being taken out of the app. System must be able to combine news from district and selected schools into a single view so that users don't have to jump from one school to another. System must provide ability to create and send surveys. Surveys should be automatically formatted to display clearly in the app. System must also provide parents with the ability to fill out and submit surveys via the app and mobile site. Should support ability to translate the icons as well as all content, excluding .pdf documents, into multiple languages in the app. System must include tip line and feedback functionality to allow users to report school safety issues, maintenance issues, and other types of feedback. Tip line must support web and phone access for submissions. Tip line must provide ability to automatically route all submissions to designated district and school officials based on the category of submission. For example, if tip is a safety concern, the tip would be routed to school police and the school Principal.
14
System must support the ability to host files, documents, media and links to web resources. System must provide access to users without requiring them to leave the district branded app.
15
Alternate 3: Social Media Management Please provide the per-studeut cost for additional functionality to assist in the management of district and school social media. PPSD recognizes the tremendous opportunity in the use of social media. Respondents should demonstrate that they have experience and expertise necessary to provide a solution that will support the ability for the district to oversee the interactions and activities taking place across all authorized district and schools social media sites. Respondents should provide a plan for how they can help the district continue to expand its presence in social media.
MINIMUM TECHNICAL AND FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT
Must use a fully hosted Application Service Provider (ASP) system with no on-premise equipmenVspecialized software (other than Internet browser) required. Should provide ability to monitor and manage interactions and activities taking place on official district and schools social media sites. System should provide ability to easily post messages to all official district and schools social media sites or to selected district and schools social media sites. System must be configurable to provide granular user rights and roles, restricting access and administrative oversight to appropriate personnel/users. The Respondent must be able facilitate the creation of social media sites for Facebook and Twitter for the District and for each of the schools withiu the District. General Requirements
The system should provide the ability to view and manage the postings that are made on the district and school social media sites. Respondent's solution should also provide archiving capabilities for all social media postings, etc. for a period of 5 years. Respondent's solution should provide ability to separately view and manage all questions that are being posted on official district and schools social media sites. System should also provide ability to immediately respond to questions. System should provide ability to monitor postings that are being made about district and schools within the district, even if the postings are not made on official district and school social media sites. Ability to identifY number of followers individuals have that are posting things about or are posting on official district and schools social media sites. System should have automated content monitoring and should automatically remove postings that contain offensive language from district and school official social media sites. System should also provide authorized administrators the ability to remove postings manually. System should provide ability to monitor the number of people that are following the district and schools.
16
System should provide ability to monitor the social media activity of the district and each of the schools. System should provide ability to have tutorials to help authorized district and school personnel understand social media policies.
17
