Reverse-Auction Details- Ask Seller a Question


Event #: 2880

Q1:	How many users/subscribers is in each region on the Regional Auctions?
A:	If you have registered with Sorcity you should have the detail worksheet with the user/usage information. We have summarized this data for you as follows. If you have not registered with Sorcity please do so in order to receive the detail worksheet. Total count ~844 Where the Area Codes - where known or disclosed 214,469, 972 - plus Extruders - total phone count 336 303, 719 - total phone count 49 602 - total phone count 121 702, 760 - total phone count 36 623 - total phone count 1 714,818,510 - total phone count 17 503, 541 - total phone count 3 360 - total phone count 1 425 - total phone count 1 509 - total phone count 50 203 - total phone count 14 978 - total phone count 10 Cities where the area code was not shown: Pittsburgh - 13 Florida - 1 Baltimore/Washington D.C. - 12 Philadelphia - 15 Richmond VA - 2 Charlotte - 47 Detroit - 3 Cincinnati - 1 Cleveland - 2 Columbus, OH - 5 Chicago - 19 Boston - 7 Buffalo - 1 Atlanta - 4 Nashville - 4 St. Louis - 1 Birmingham AL - 14 Not knowing the geographical division of the provider does not allow for a division of phones by geography except as shown. The provider can calculate the areas served by region.

Q2:	Do you currently have any Wireless data enabled phones? • If yes, how many? • Will all contracts be up by the time this contract goes into effect.
A:	We have very few (<5) Wireless data enabled phones and this not a real consideration for us at this time Most phones are on "month to month" at this time. As specified on the detail sheet, some are not. In the cases where it may be unclear, you can safely assume that the majority are on month to month programs and if there are some stragglers, we can be flexible as to how best to deal with them by either nrgotiating with a current provider or delaying the transition for that particular unit.

Q3:	Is the push-to-talk or walkie talkie feature a requirement of the buyer?
A:	We consider the walkie talkie one group of phones and the traditional mobile phones a second group. We intentionally lotted the event to look at this functionality separately both regionally and nationally. Where a walkie talkie/push to talk is currently used, we will need this functionality; where it isn't, we don't need that particular functionality

Q4:	1. How are wireless voice and data services viewed within your company? Productivity enhancing tool or commodity cost? 2. Is there a current or future need for mobile device users to access legacy applications? ie: email, inventory, order processing. 3. What mobile devices are being deployed to remote sales, field technicians, and/or remote employees (laptops, Win CEs, Palms, wireless phones, proprietary devices)? 4. How many or what percentage of your employees are remote or mobile? 5. Do you have employees that travel internationally? If so, how many? 6. What is the percentage breakdown of mobile voice communication usage compared to your mobile data communication? 7. How will you quantify administration cost savings related to billing and auditing? 8. Will you be open to a 24 month agreement? 9. Clarification on the “Reprogramming/replacement of phones as needed”? 10. Clarification on 120 day warranty? Is this separate from the standard manufactures’ warranty that covers defects?
A:	1. It is viewed as both a productivity tool and has a cost that must be controlled. Like many technology related products (PC's as an example)it is viewed as having more/better features for less cost over time. 2. While those may be future uses, for the purposes of this RFP they are not significant needs/concerns. 3. Wireless phones and laptops 4. Less than 15 % 5. Very few and not a meaningful consideration for the purposes of this RFP 6. The vast majority is voice communication 7. Primarily man hours 8. There is a possibility of this. However, for the purposes of the RFP, use an eighteen month timeframe 9. In the event that a change of carrier is made, some phones are reprogramable and some are not. We are open to either option. 10. This was an error. We expect a one year warranty on all phones. What would be interesting is if an employee could go into a local store/retailer in the event of a warranty issue in addition to the method by which they could return it directly.

Q5:	1) Contract periods are 12 or 24 months. Is the 18-month period negotiable? 2) Direct Connect Only Service is independent of regional territory. Because National Two Way is now available, would you be opposed to activating all Two Way Only Units within a single region and then have the activated units delivered to each office according to it’s requirements? 3) The customer’s North-West Region includes BC. This area falls within Canada and is not under the control of a Nationwide Agreement. Can BC be excluded from the NW Region of the Nation Wide bid? BC could be negotiated separately with Canada. 4) The coverage requirement is a 100-mile radius. Coverage is not usually measured by radial distance. It is engineered to population density and transportation routes and may not meet a 100-mile radius requirement. What would be an acceptable alternative? 5) Cellular Number Portability is very complex and relies upon available transferring facilities from the old carrier to the new carrier. Number portability is not a factor affecting Direct Connect Service. If Cellular Number Portability is a major concern does the customer understand reliability is not based solely on the new carrier’s capability but on the old carrier’s ability to transfer numbers to the new carrier when the old number is dialed? 6) What period of time will it take from when the first order is placed to when the final order is placed from the original wining bid?
A:	1. The duration we are looking for is approximately 18 months. As mentioned earlier we will consider 24 and for the purposes of this bid use whatever would best approximate 18 months. 2. Not understanding the details of this fully makes a specific answer difficult, but on the surface this seems to be an acceptable approach 3. The reason for the inclusion was occasionally we have salesman, based in the US, call on accounts there and would like phone service to work. There are no facilities outside of the US we are considering. If the service provided by your firm works there (BC) we are satisfied. This is a minor concern as it is a small number of minutes. 4. That can be open to some discussion. We do service customers and sites that are outside of major metropolitan areas (MSA's). 5. Yes 6. We plan on working with the winning service providers in November to develop detailed implementation/rollout schedules, with the intent of making changes on or before 1/1/04. This being said, we can be somewhat flexible to make this process work as seamlessly as possible.
A:	Some clarification on Question #5, point #3. Service covering BC is NO LONGER necessary. Again, thank you for the questions.