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Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020Request for ProposalCall Center ServicesPima County Community College District (“College”) is seeking proposals from qualifiedfirms for Call Center Services in support of its Student Services (Financial Aid/AccountsReceivable Services/ Admissions/Registration/Advising/Referral Services and General CollegeInformation).The deadline for receipt of sealed proposals is: March 13, 2020 at 3:00 PM (Arizona Time).Sealed proposals must be received by this deadline at the following location:Pima County Community College DistrictFinance / Contracts & Purchasing4905D East Broadway, Room D-232 Tucson, Arizona 85709-1420Any proposal received after the date and time listed above will be returned and will not beconsidered.Questions pertaining to this Request for Proposal (“RFP”) must be communicated in writing andbe received via email, listed below, by February 26, 2020 at 3:00 PM (Arizona Time). Questionsshall include the specified Buyer’s name and proposal number, a reference to the appropriatepage and section number of the RFP. Questions and answers will be posted on the College’swebpage listed below by March 6, 2020 at 5:00 PM (Arizona Time):Carole Quintana, Senior Procurement Analystdo-bids-proposals@pima.eduCopies of this RFP, questions and answers, and any related documents are available htmlAccommodations for People with Disabilities. If the vendor or any of the vendor's employeesparticipating in this RFP need, or have questions about the College's accommodations for peoplewith disabilities, please make arrangements with the specified College buyer, via email provided.Such requests should be made as early as possible to allow time to arrange theaccommodation(s)Terry RobinsonDirector of Procurement & Payment ServicesPima County CommunityCollege District 4905 EastBroadway, Room D-206Tucson, Arizona 85709-1420Page 1 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020Table of ContentsSection 1Project Summarypage 3Section 2Scope of Workpage 5Section 3Proposal Preparation and Submittalpage 10Section 4Selection and Contract Awardpage 15Section 5RFP Completion Checklistpage 16Section 6Proposal Formspage 17Vendor Proposal FormCost Proposal FormExceptions Requested FormSection 7Sample Agreement for Servicespage 24Attachment A – General Terms and ConditionsAttachment B – Scope of Work; DeliverablesAttachment C – CompensationAttachment D – Insurance RequirementsAttachment E – Supplemental ConditionsAttachment F – Sample Student Support Service QuestionsSection 8Certification Formspage 44Page 2 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020Section 1Project Summary1. Request for Proposal SummaryPima County Community College District (“College”) is seeking proposals from qualifiedfirms for Call Center Services in accordance with the Scope of Work specified in thisRFP. Request for Proposal (RFP). The College desires to partner with a company toprovide telephone, chat and e-mail support services to handle calls for Student SupportServices (Financial Aid, Accounts Receivable Services, Admissions, Registration,Advising, Referral Services, and general College information). Proposals should addressthese areas. While the above named services are separate functional areas within theCollege, transparent Student Support Services call support is required for anyonerequesting assistance. Services are required to support students, faculty and staff. PCCis looking for a tiered business model that will include clear escalation policies, knowledgemanagement, service level agreements, data analytics, metrics and extended hours ofsupport. Services providers should expect specific services to be selected on an ifneeded, as needed basis; and volume of call support cannot be guaranteed.The term of the Contract shall commence upon award and shall remain in effect for aperiod of one (1) year, unless terminated, canceled or extended as otherwise providedherein. The Contractor agrees that the College shall have the right, as its sole option, torenew the Contract for two (2) additional two-year periods or portions thereof.2. Entity Submitting RFP.The terms “vendor,” “offeror,” “firm,” “consultant,” “company,” or “contractor” used in thisRFP or any subsequent documents or communications related to this RFP areinterchangeable and mean the entity submitting a proposal and seeking to enter into acontract for the goods and/or services requested in this RFP.3. Description of Student Support ServicesStudent Support Services includes a centralized Financial Aid Department with staff atseven locations, an Accounts Receivable Service Department, six campus StudentServices Centers, and the Admissions/Records Department. Because of the nature offinancial aid processing, accounts receivable services and general student services,there is significant overlap in questions handled by a call support center. The FinancialAid Department receives approximately 35,000 financial aid applications a year;approximately 50 % are selected for verification. Accounts Receivable Service supportsfinancial aid students by processing approximately 55,000 financial aid refunds per year,primarily during the peak times of August and January. Accounts Receivable Servicesalso supports payment arrangements for all students, including payments by third partycontracts, veteran and military students, payment plans, and direct payments. TheStudent Services Centers support the needs and development of approximately 70,000credit, non-credit, workforce, and adult education students per year; with admissions,Page 3 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020advising, registration, counseling, Veterans Services, Disabled Student Services, CareerServices, referral services, Student Life, and student records. For purposes of this RFP,the Financial Aid, Student Services and Accounts Receivable Service functions are to beconsidered as one functional area for call support.Page 4 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020Section 2Scope of WorkCollege operations require a high level of customer service support in Student SupportServices functions. The types of call center support services required of the successfuloffering firm include telephone, email and chat coverage. Student Support Servicessupport the academic, social and financial transactions for all students from initialapplication through goal completion, and beyond. The Contract shall be on an “as needed,if needed” basis. There is no guarantee as to the amount of work that may be performedunder any resulting Contract.General Outline:1.Key Project DeliverablesThe key project deliverables for the implementation and operation of an effective callcenter to support the functional areas identified in this Request for Proposal are thoseidentified in this Section 2 – Scope of Work. The successful proposer will be the onewhich most ably demonstrates the ability to a) meet all due dates and comply with theterms and conditions of this RFP, b) handle the indicated call volumes (peak and annual)while meeting/exceeding the minimum service standards, c) effectively interface with allnecessary College technology platforms, and d) appropriately address the topics, issuesand concerns identified by the various functional areas.With respect to responses to this RFP, Section 3 of this package provides a detailed listingof the deliverables that the college is expecting in any and all responses. There is also asummary checklist included as Section 5 of this RFP which is provided as a convenienceto offering firms, but is not intended to be all-inclusive or to imply acceptance or evidenceof compliance by its use. It is the offering firm’s responsibility to submit complete andcompliant proposals.2. Minimum Service StandardsThe minimum acceptable standards of service, based on recent monthly averagesmust be: Sunday through Saturday, 7:00 am to midnight (Arizona time) coverage required.No services are required on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’sEve Day. Reduced hours for the day before and/or after Thanksgiving, ChristmasEve, and New Year’s Eve Day will be considered on a per year basis;Customer satisfaction will be consistently in top quartile;Abandonment rate will not exceed 15%, i.e., 85% of all incoming calls answered;Response time for phone/chat to be less than 120 sec peak, 60 sec non-peak;Response time for email to be less than 5 minutes; andPage 5 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020 95% resolution rate for first point of contact. Transferring a callto a higher tier at the College, or transferring a call to a higher tier internally, willnot be considered a resolution.4. Historical Call VolumeThe following is a summary of the College call and email contact volume byfunctional area during FY2019:Financial Aid, Accounts Receivable Services and Student Accounts: 45,000 callsannually.Financial Aid, Accounts Receivable Services and Student Accounts: 15,000 emailsannually.The College’s peak call volume is concentrated in the months of August, September,January, and May.5. Technical RequirementsThe College uses the following systems to support Student Support Services: SunGard Banner ERP; Luminus portal; Desire 2 Learn LMS; Microsoft Exchange 2010 for faculty and staff; Google email (Gmail) for students; Starfish; Salesforce, Inc.; OS distribution on College computers: 60% Windows 7; 30% Windows XP;10% Mac OS; and Federal websites required by the U.S. Department of Education andVeteran’s Administration.6. Functional Area Topics to be AddressedThe following topics, issues and questions have been generated by employees in thevarious functional areas affected by this RFP and should be addressed as an integralpart of the Scope of Work. Proposals should speak to the items below clearly andsuccinctly:A. Describe the offering firm’s background and experience:1. Relevant call center experience specific to each of the types of servicesrequested;2. Experience in serving higher education students and/or public sector clients;3. Qualifications of call center staff to handle support responsibilities;4. Experience serving SunGard Banner, Luminis, and Desire 2 Learn;Page 6 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/20205. Security and training measures taken to properly handleconfidential student information;6. Support for ADA compliance, including any limitations;7. Call center staffing- do your sites or offerings include multiple locations orhome-based staff; and8. Links to any demonstrations/simulations of your service.9. Provide a profile of what minimum skills and experience employees have whileproviding service to Pima Community College’s call center.B. Describe the following service elements of the offering firm:1. How the firm would build a centralized call center to support anticipated callvolume;2. Detailed implementation plan and timeframes;3. How representatives will be trained to meet minimum service standards;4. How representatives handle contacts that include multiple student serviceand/or support issues;5. Measures the firm takes to ensure confidentiality and security in dealing withpersonal data in relation to FERPA, to meet federal financial aid complianceregulations and ADA considerations;6. How the firm maintains the representatives’ level of training for the duration ofthe contract;7. How a “knowledge base” will be maintained to ensure relevance and howutilization of knowledge base articles will be tracked; how representativesmaintain/update knowledge base; details regarding PCC’s access to theknowledgebase and/or written procedures;a. Ability for college personnel to update the Knowledge Base and havechanges take effect in real time and send update notifications to callcenter agents.b. Ability to directly coach/train agents on new Knowledge Basearticles/processes8. How staffing will be managed during call volume peaks;9. How callbacks will be handled and resolution tracked;10. How service escalations occur, and what will be done to track resolution;11. What ticketing system is used by the firm, and whether or not it integrates withother vendors’ solutions;12. Outline experience with non-English speaking customers and proposedresolution process;13. Detailed plans for initial and ongoing training and development and how thattraining will be tracked;14. What is the training approach for regulatory compliance and updates to Title IVregulatory issues;15. Will calibration calls be part of the proposed services, and if yes, what is theproposed schedule?16. Outline organizational criteria to assess representatives’ knowledge and abilityPage 7 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020to perform;Are international locations proposed;Will software/hardware or licensing purchases be required;Will training staffing for peak volume be an additional cost;What assessment tools are used to determine representative’s knowledge, aswell as steps taken if knowledge is deficient;21. What is the existing or proposed conflict of interest methodology for employeeswho become PCC students or are family members of students; and22. Ability to warm transfer calls to college.23. Ability to provide service for chat bot, text messaging and Rapid Responseoutbound campaigns and/or robocalls.17.18.19.20.C. Describe how metrics and reporting will be handled:1. List all metrics to be captured, frequency of capture and how the data will beaccessed;2. How monthly and annual service level metrics will be provided;3. How long customer interactions are stored for quality tracking purposes;4. How employee performance is measured, including corrective action,recognition, and performance measurements. Describe the process wherebythe College can request removal of a customer service representative for poorperformance; anda. Standard process for expectations of call center agents5. How customer satisfaction is tracked and handled. Please provide examplesof periodic surveys used for students, faculty and staff.6. Ability for college account administrators to pull reports/data metrics based onvolume, trends, success outcomes and user queues at any given time7. At a minimum the following list of reports will be provided to the College on aweekly/monthly/quarterly basis within the Scope of Work (including graphs andspreadsheets as requested.a. Agent Statistics Report(s)i. Call Detail Reportii. Chat Function Detail Reportsiii. Activity Reportiv. Summary Reportv. Unavailability Reportb. Call Center Report(s)i. Incoming Call Reportsii. Abandoned Call Reportiii. Presented Calls Reportiv. Summary Reportv. Service Level Reportvi. Call Detail Reportvii. Hold Time Reportviii. Speed of Answer Reportix. Handle Time (Call length) ReportPage 8 of 44
x.xi.xii.xiii.xiv.xv.Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020Call Origin (Reason for call) ReportEscalation to College Rate ReportReason for Escalation to College ReportCustomer Satisfaction ReportHow students contacted Report (phone, email, chat)What time students contacted Report (normal business hours,evenings, weekends)D. Quality Assurance1. Ability to provide callers with after call and email surveys and pull surveyreports2. Ability to listen to recorded calls at any time, with appropriate search optionsto locate the call.a. Ability for College to remotely monitor calls in real timeE. Contract Management1.Account manager to proactively provide ideas for process improvement basedon volume drivers and data reports2. Ability for one college administrator to have direct access to the call centerfloor manager for quality assurance3. Present the standard process for how the college will address concerns andhow to report outcomes back to the college. Provide examples.Page 9 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020Section 3Proposal Preparation and SubmittalBefore submitting a proposal, each firm shall familiarize itself with the entire RFP, including theScope of Work, sample Agreement for Services, College’s insurance requirements, and all laws,regulations and other factors affecting the firm’s performance. The firm is responsible for fullyunderstanding the requirements of a subsequent contract, and shall otherwise satisfy itself as tothe expense and difficulties accompanying the fulfillment of contract requirements. Thesubmission of a proposal will constitute a representation of compliance by the firm. There will beno subsequent financial adjustment for lack of such familiarization.Proposals must conform to all requirements stated below. Disregarding these requirementswill result in disqualification of the proposal:A. All proposal materials must be placed in a sealed package (envelope, box, etc.) clearlymarked with the proposal name and number and the firm’s name.B. It is the responsibility of the firm to ensure that proposals are received in the office ofthe College Director of Contracts & Purchasing by the due date and time stated onpage 1 of this RFP. The firm is responsible for delivery of their proposal by thedeadline notwithstanding any claims of error or failure to perform by a mail, courier orpackage delivery service. No proposals or proposal modifications may be submittedorally, electronically, or via telephone, facsimile, electronic mail (email) or telegraph.C. The firm proposal package must consist of both, one (1) original hard copy of theproposal, clearly marked “Original” and one (1) digital (PDF) copy of the proposalon a USB flash drive.D. All proposals must be typewritten on standard paper size (8½ x 11 inches), and mustinclude page numbers.E. The proposal shall incorporate the forms provided in this RFP package. It ispermissible to copy these forms as required. The authorized person signing theproposal shall initial erasures, interlineations or other modifications on the proposal.F. The proposal should be organized in sections as outlined below:1. Cover LetterAll proposals must include a cover letter submitted under the firm’s name on the firm’sletterhead containing the signature and title of a person along with contact information or anPage 10 of 44
Proposal No. P20/10025L02/12/2020official of the firm who is authorized to commit the firm to a potential contract with the College.The cover letter must also identify the primary contact for this proposal and include theCollege’s RFP number found within this RFP. The cover letter should express the firm’sinterest and serve as an executive summary of the proposal. Claims of proprietary informationmust be included in the cover letter.2. Proposal FormAll proposals must include the complete Proposal Form signed by a person or an officialauthorized to commit the firm to a contract with College.By signing the Proposal Form the offeror certifies that the submission of the proposal did notinvolve collusion or other anti-competitive practices; that the offeror has not given, offered togive, nor intends to give at any time hereafter any economic opportunity, future employment,gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to a public servant in connection withthe submitted proposal. The Offeror also certifies whether it is a small business under thefederal regulations, and if so, the category of eligible small business.3. Cost ProposalThe offeror shall complete the Cost Proposal Form included in this RFP (Section 6), or inalternative, use the enclosed Form as a guide in completing its own cost proposal, and shallsubmit such detailed Cost Proposal together with its original proposal packet. The CostProposal shall conform to the following guidelines:a. Prices shall be shown by item and individually extended, unless otherwise indicated.In case of a conflict between unit price and extension, unit price prevails.b. Proposals that include equipment or materials should include itemized sales tax in theamount of your proposal; Proposals for services only, are not taxable. Note, the Collegeis not exempt from paying State and local transaction privilege tax (sales tax).
Questions pertaining to this Request for Proposal (“RFP”) must be communicated in writing and be received via email, listed below, by February 26, 2020 at 3:00 PM (Arizona Time). Questions shall include the specified Buyer’s name and proposal number, a reference to the appropriate page and section number of the RFP.
