SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Closed Captioning of the televised U.S. House of Representatives floor proceedings
- Notice Date
- 5/19/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- United States House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk, Office of the Clerk, H-154, The Capitol, Washington, DC, 20515
- ZIP Code
- 20515
- Solicitation Number
- CLK06000187
- Response Due
- 7/11/2006
- Archive Date
- 7/26/2006
- Description
- The U.S. House of Representatives requires the services of a qualified Contractor to provide full scale, real-time verbatim closed-captioning of the televised House floor proceedings for individuals who are hearing impaired. The Offeror shall provide the manpower, materials and equipment to provide closed-captioning service for the House in accordance with the Section C work requirements. At the commencement of the contract period and continuing throughout the term of the contract, the Offeror shall provide 98.6% accuracy of verbatim captioning at the average rate between 225 to 250 words per minute for live broadcast. The Offeror will be required to provide the services gavel-to-gavel for each daily session of the House. Closed-captioning services for broadcast on each calendar day in which the House is in session shall be created from an audio-only feed of House floor proceedings provided by the House Recording Studio and transmitted to Offeror via modem.. It is estimated that up to, but not limited to, 1,200 hours of captioning will be required for each 12-month period. Distribution of these hours over the calendar year will be variable and generally, unpredictable. At a minimum, captioning services will commence at the beginning of each calendar day on which the House is in session and end when that day's session is adjourned. The target population to be served by this service consists of persons with hearing impairments (and who are unable to receive or understand the audio portion of a television program with or without amplification) and persons learning English. This contract is a firm, fixed-price (FFP) type contract. The contract will have an initial base period of three (3) years (01/01/2007 through 12/30/2009) with three (3) annual renewable options thereafter. Preliminary written notice to the Contractor of the House's intention to exercise these options will be at least 90 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the House to an extension. The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause shall not exceed six (6) years. Unless otherwise provided by statute, the House is exempt from all taxes, including any sales and use taxes. The successful Offeror shall provide the necessary personnel, material and equipment to provide verbatim closed-captioning services of the televised floor proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives (House) at the start of each daily session and ending at time of adjournment. At the commencement of the contract period, the Offeror will be ready to perform full scale, gavel-to-gavel, real-time verbatim closed captioning for broadcast of the House televised floor proceedings with the convening of the next daily session of the House and will continue such service with each successive daily session of the House through the contract performance period. The services will start upon the opening of each session on each calendar day in which the House is in session, and end upon the adjournment of the day's session. The Offeror will provide closed-captioning on a real-time basis from an audio-only feed of House floor proceedings provided by the House Recording Studio and transmitted to Offeror via telephone. Captions will be transmitted via modem to the House Recording Studio in the form of a data string. The cost of transmission will be borne by the Offeror. The incumbent Contractor receives televised coverage (audio and video) while the House is in session via telecast on the C-SPAN network. The incumbent Contractor receives this audio and video signal independent of the House, and this C-SPAN coverage is not a requirement of the current contract. The incumbent Contractor does not rely on a local cable affiliate to provide this C-SPAN telecast, but monitors both the nationally distributed satellite feed and the local cable affiliate to assure uninterrupted, high quality reception. Additionally, the incumbent Contractor receives the main, audio-only feed directly from the House Recording Studio via telephone. This audio-only transmission is necessitated due to instances when C-SPAN opts not to broadcast all floor activities while the House is in session, or in the event that the incumbent Contractor suffers a temporary loss of their independent C-SPAN feed. The incumbent Contractor, in turn, encodes the audio portion of the floor activities and returns the signal, in the form of a data string, exclusively to the House Recording Studio via modem. The House Recording Studio then splits and transfers the data feed to the House's two insertion devices (EN-470-D1 Smart Encoder III). The two encoders add the data as captions to the House's internal broadcast and to the C-SPAN television signal. In accordance with this service, the incumbent Contractor will only transmit captions or the recording thereof, to the House, and will monitor and verify the captions/signals via the C-SPAN Television Network to ensure that they are being fed properly to the House. Therefore, the prospective Offerors responding to this RFP must ensure that equipment used to close-caption the House floor proceedings is capable of receiving and/or transmitting signals that are compatible with Model EN-470-D1, Smart Encoder III, and are encouraged to follow the same or similiar process (as the incumbent Contractor) to maintain the integrity of the system. The Smart Encoder III, Model EN-470-D1, is manufactured by EEG Enterprises, Inc., 586 Main Street, Farmingdale, NY 11735. Section J - Appendix C includes the data input characteristics of Model EN-470-D1, Smart Encoder III. The House will utilize current industry standards. In the event the Smart Encoder is replaced or upgraded with a new one, the successful Offeror awarded a contract under this RFP shall ensure that equipment used to close-caption the House floor is compatible with any new unit. The accuracy of closed-captioning services provided under this contract will be the sole responsibility of the Offeror. During the term of this agreement, the Offeror will maintain the level of accuracy of closed-captioning services provided under this contract at not less than 98.6 percent accuracy at the average rate of 225 to 250 words per minute. Failure to comply with this standard may be grounds for liquidated damages and/or termination. The Offeror will be responsible for responding in a timely manner to complaints or other notices or advice regarding inaccuracies in closed-captioning. The Offeror will coordinate any such response to a House office through the Contracting Officer. The Offeror shall provide verbatim closed-captioning services from a site exclusive from the U.S. Capitol Grounds, including the U.S. Capitol Building and the buildings of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The Offeror shall submit six (6) copies, one (1) original, and one (1) electronic version in MS Word format of their proposal in response to this RFP by Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at 2:00 PM EDT. The original shall be so marked, and the copies shall be numbered. Proposal packages shall be sealed in a suitable container, and all containers shall clearly identify firm name and address and RFP Number. The electronic version, in MS Word format, shall be submitted to v.anne.tugbang@mail.house.gov by Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 2:00 PM. All written communications should clearly indicate the RFP designation of: "CLK06000187". Schedule for the Bidding Process and Captioning Transmission Test: a. Question and Answer Schedule. The Offeror may submit questions in writing via email to the Contract Administrator identified above by 12:00 (noon) EDT Tuesday, June 13, 2006. b. Pre-Proposal Conference. The House will host a pre-proposal conference on Friday, June 9, 2006. Each attendee will be required to sign an Affirmation of Non-Disclosure (see Section J - Appendix A) . The House will provide a detailed walk through of the RFP and will host a question and answer session. Due to security requirements, the Offeror will only be permitted three (3) attendees for the pre-proposal conference. Attendees must be registered with the Contract Administrator in the Office of the Clerk by 12:00 (noon) PM EDT, Wednesday, June 7, 2006. Register via phone at (202) 225-7000 or by e-mail: v.anne.tugbang@mail.house.gov. c. As part of the bidding process, all Offerors will be required to perform a remote, live caption transmission test. The House Recording Studio will transmit a two-hour audio-only broadcast of House proceedings to the Offeror via phone line. The Offeror will produce live closed-captions and will transmit the captions in the form of a data string to the House Recording Studio for encoding and recording. Offerors should produce captions using the method and technology proposed in their proposal, to include multiple captioners, same or similar equipment, and backup technology. The recorded results will be evaluated for accuracy of captions, continuity and consistency of captions as between multiple captioners, and compatibility of transmission modalities. The content of the audio-only broadcast will be a recording of actual House floor proceedings with multiple speakers. Date and time for testing will be established by the Contracts Administrator, in communication with the Offeror. Questions regarding test setup and execution must be submitted by June 15, 2006. This live caption transmission test is very important and will be weighed at 30 percent of the evaluation process towards the ultimate award of this contract. An Offeror unwilling or unable to successfully participate in this testing procedure will be deem ineligible for contract award. A complete copy of RFP # CLK06000187 can be found at: http://clerk.house.gov/clerk/solicitations.html
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
- Zip Code: 20515
- Country: USA
- Zip Code: 20515
- Record
- SN01054246-W 20060521/060519221616 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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