Preparing a
Request for Proposal
2. Information an RFP
Must Convey
The contents of an RFP may seem obvious, but it
is important to have some sort of a checklist to be sure all bases
are touched. If you don’t tell the vendor what he needs to know, you
may get an inappropriate response.
First, be sure to identify the name of the
company (or specific segment of a large company) that is going to
acquire the PBX, and the location where the PBX will be installed.
Second, state the name and address to which the
vendor is to respond, and the date by which proposals must be in the
customer’s hands. Related to this is an address, including a
telephone number, where vendors can call if they have questions
about the meaning of items in the RFP. If desired, the customer’s
consultant can also be identified here. Although this may be in a
cover letter, it should also be in the RFP proper to make sure that
those who actually prepare the proposal have the information
available. If a vendor meeting is required to provide clarification
for all vendors, however, a separate letter, transmitted later, is
usually more satisfactory for specifying its date and time.
Third, the nature of the business or
institution should be described briefly so that an appropriate
vehicle can be selected. If an existing system is being replaced or
is in use at a similar location, a short description of it, what it
does well and what its shortcomings are in the particular context,
can be invaluable.
Fourth, the size of the system should be
identified in terms of terminals on the switching matrix. This
includes the number of lines and trunks at cutover, plus estimates
of the number that will be needed at, say, 2, 5 and 7 years into the
future. Specifying a growth rate is often enough, but it is clearer
to spell out explicitly the quantities involved. Note that trunks
need to be identified in terms of CO and tie, and the number of
groups of each should be listed.
Fifth, the size of the system in terms of
traffic should be specified. This requires, first, an estimate of
the number of busy hour call attempts, based on the number of
extensions involved and the type of calling. Clearly, an ACD or
telephone sales group will generate a lot more calls per phone than
the accounting department, although the accounting department may
generate a much higher proportion of intra-PBX calls. Then, the
average occupancy anticipated for extensions and the desired grade
of service for trunks should also be listed.
Sixth, features of particular importance (and
why) for this particular installation should be identified. Those
that are necessary should be separated from those merely desirable,
and it often helps to specify system, station, console and
maintenance/administration categories. Features may also be divided
into two categories: major and minor. Major features are complex
subsystems in themselves, and often are available only at extra
cost. Examples include ARS, CDR, UCD, CAS, electronic sets,
non-modem data, directory, message center, administration system,
etc. Minor features are those which are normally assumed to be
included in the system, are relatively simple, and do not require
special hardware. Hunting and call forwarding, speed calling, call
waiting, transfer, conference and the like are examples.
These are the general categories of information
that must be sent from the customer to the vendors in an RFP.
However, the RFP has additional work to do. It must transmit
information to the vendors concerning the rules that will be
followed (the basis for the contract), and then it must elicit from
the vendor exactly what the vendor sees as the customer’s
responsibilities (site preparation, etc.). This usually involves the
need for accurate scheduling from contract signing to several months
after cutover, particularly if the customer MUST have the system up
and running by a fixed date.
Perhaps the most important rule the customer
can insist upon is the right to choose any system on any basis
whatsoever, or no system at all, and that by responding to the RFP a
vendor is acknowledging this right. In the competitive PBX market
today, the disappointment of unsuccessful vendors is understandable
but, none-the-less, must be guarded against.
Other items include the date of response;
provisions for changing the scope of the project and the resultant
bid prices; provisions for making corrections in proposals;
responsibility for insurance and liability; the kind of
installation, maintenance, spare parts, training, etc. that are to
be provided; the responsibility for interfacing the telco and other
carriers; etc. The customer must also reserve the right to approve
the sale or the maintenance contract or the assignment of the
mortgage or its equivalent.
The information the customer must prompt the
vendor to ask for includes the kind of access to premises needed;
how the site must be prepared (air conditioning, both winter and
summer, ducting, power; “key cabinets,” reuse of existing switchroom
and cable; what is required for cutover of switch, sets, wiring,
etc.); what sort of data base the customer must provide, and, in all
cases, the dates when the customer must have his side of the job
done.
While it may be cheaper to reuse the existing
switchroom and wire, It is often much easier to put in the new
system completely independently, including new wire, phones, etc.
Then the new system including its database can be tested and
training can take place. Cutover consists of little more than
throwing over the trunks from the old machine to the new one, and if
anything goes wrong, the trunks can be put back on the old system
and service can continue until the bug is found. Throwing over
existing station lines, particularly in a large system, is an order
of magnitude more difficult than just throwing over trunks, and
changing out telephone sets at the same time approaches the
impossible; further, such a cutover is very nearly irreversible.
As part of installation, wire should be run to
a jack at every point where a telephone might possibly be needed in
the future, not just to the original phone locations on the
architect’s floor plan. Chances are, a person who wanted his desk
next to one wall will move it to the other, and then finally put it
in the middle of the room with the phone on a credenza in front of
the window. This additional wiring (sometimes called “station
prewires”) costs extra, but is far less expensive than running new
wire after the walls are closed up and painted.
In addition to all the above, the competence of
the vendor and manufacturer, both technical and financial, must be
established. It is particularly important to know the quality of the
vendor’s maintenance staff, and to identify what support the
manufacturer will provide if the vendor moves 20 miles away across a
state line, changes product lines, or goes out of business. Even the
best vendor in the city may not be of much use maintaining a Brand A
PBX after he has changed to Brand B, or moved from Massapequa, Long
Island, to Patterson, New Jersey.
Then, a presentation of costs in a standardized
manner to simplify comparison is required. Also needed here is the
cost of installation and continuing maintenance. Further, if growth
or other information suggests that additions will be made in the
next several years, estimates of such costs should be defined. The
customer will also have to include the cost of trunks, power, taxes,
insurance, etc., and a knowledgeable vendor who offers guidance on
these costs, even if they are not items he sells, can earn a
favorable reaction by such help.
When the proposals come back, it will be much
easier to see what is being offered than what is not being offered.
Something not there can easily be missed without anyone realizing
it. Thus one approach to obtain important information is to use
“exhibits.” An exhibit is a form which the vendor is required to
fill out. Specific questions are asked, and space is provided for
responses. By looking at the responses, the customer can discover
very quickly where the vendor is actually responding to the RFP; a
blank where there is no response stands out like a sore thumb.
Vendors should be encouraged to include
additional information as desired, and should be permitted to
respond to specific questions (whose answers may be quite complex)
by citing an attached company document, as long as the page and
paragraph in which the appropriate information reposes is clearly
identified. To say “See system description, attached” is not useful.
[
Top ] [ Next ] [
Table of Contents
] |
