Request for Qualifications with Price Proposals
RFQ/P #46-010
For the provision of
Inmate Telephone System & Services – Correctional Institution
Purpose: Hall County, Georgia, (herein “County”) a municipal entity of the State of Georgia, Sheriff’s Office – Correctional Institution, located at 1694 Barber Road, Gainesville, GA 30507, is seeking qualified Contractors to provide Inmate Telephone System & Services (herein “Services”).
Schedule of Events:
Bid Post Date: April 17, 2025
Bidder’s Questions Due Date: May 1, 2025
Answers to Bidders Questions Due Date: May 8, 2025
Bid Due Date: May 15, 2025, 2:00 pm EST
Bidding Process: Hall County (herein “County”) is now accepting sealed bid proposals from qualified Contractors (herein “Bidder” or “Contractor”) for Inmate Telephone System & Services for the C.I. (herein ‘Services’). The County will accept sealed bids in the Purchasing Division on the fourth (4th) floor of the Hall County Government Center, located at 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, Thursday, May 15, 2025, by 2:00pm EST. Late bids may not be evaluated. All bid packets must be sealed, plus time and date stamped by the Hall County receptionist located on the 4
th
floor to be considered.
Term: It is the County’s intention to award one (1) vendor for all the Services listed herein, for an initial one (1) year term, followed by four (4) additional renewal options. Renewal options are not guaranteed. However, if one (1) vendor cannot provide all of the services by themselves or by utilizing subcontractors, the County may select multiple vendors for this project.
Cost Proposals: Bidder’s costs shall be firm and fixed for the initial contract term.
Questions: Address all questions and communications solely to Mike Hawkins, Issuing Officer at
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for clarifications of this RFQ/P requirements.
Public Reading: Bid openings are open to the public. Bidders are not required to attend but may do so. The Issuing Officer named herein will open and publicly read all proposer’s company names and location on the date, time and address above. Costs will not be read at this time.
Addenda: If needed and in the best interest of the County, Purchasing may make any extension of the bidding period by a formal written addendum and publicly posted on the County website. All addendums must be signed by the bidder and returned with the bid packet.
Proposal Documents: Bidders may obtain all submittal documents at no cost via the County’s Website located at
https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx
, then click the Inmate Telephone System & Services – CI with links to download all required documents. Any Addenda will also be posted at the bottom of the solicitation as needed and bidders are responsible for checking for Addenda. Addenda must be signed and returned along with the Bid Packet.
Request for Clarification: The County reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted though a written Request-For-Clarification. The County may also request in-person or virtual presentations, interviews, and may choose to enter into negotiations with potential bidders as needed.
Bid Response: The County considers a bid response as an irrevocable offer, good for a period of one-hundred and twenty (120) days from submission. Furthermore, the County reserves the right to reject all proposals, in full or partial, and to negotiate fees, conditions, or other terms with the respondent submitting the overall best scored proposal. Furthermore, the County may cancel the RFQ/P in its entirety if in the best interest of the County. The County may waive nonmaterial irregularities, informalities, and errors and seek clarification of such.
Legally Binding Agreement: The County and the selected Firm shall enter into a formal agreement; substantially in the form of the attached EXHIBIT B - CONTRACT FOR SERVICES by counter signing the contract with an execution date. Contracts are only valid if they are countersigned by the County’s Chairman of Commission. Bidders should sign the Contract and submit it with their bid response. All questions regarding the Scope of Services should be included in the response to the Proposal. If there are no written objections, then the County will take this as an affirmative acceptance of the Scope of Services as it is presented.
EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
Technical Qualifications & Proposal Response: Bidders must answer all twenty (20) Mandatory Questions found on Exhibit G – Mandatory Scored Questions, which are weighted and will be scored by the County’s evaluation committee. The County’s Evaluation Committee will score and assign point values to the answers. The total maximum points are set at 1,000. The County has assigned an 80/20 split for scoring points; eight hundred (800) points available for Technical Qualifications, and two hundred (200) points available for the Cost Proposal. The bidder with the highest total scores closest to 1,000 will be the apparent contract award winner.
Proposers are required to answer all the Mandatory Scored questions. Skipped questions will return a 0-point score. The proposer’s response should limit answers directly to the questions asked. Each answer will be scored on a scale between five (5) percentage points as shown;
Poor = 0%
Marginal = 25%
Adequate = 50%
Good = 75%
Excellent = 100%
Bidders may expand their answers to the questions onto separate pages if needed, with the question repeated at the top of each page, in addition to the space provided next to each Mandatory Scored Question Worksheet. Bidder’s may input “see attached” in the space provided next to each question.
Please do not submit bound bid responses. Provide one-sided documents only. Do not include superfluous marketing brochures nor unnecessary promotional materials. These will not be evaluated. Address each specific question with direct, detailed answers.
Bidder Response:
Technical Qualifications
Each bidder must provide three (3) hard paper copies, with one (1) marked “Original” and two (2) marked “Copy” of their Technical Qualifications response. Submit all three (3) hard paper copies in a sealed envelope(s) separate from the Cost Proposal.
Cost Proposal
Bidders are to also submit three (3) hard paper copies with one (1) marked “Original” and three (3) marked “Copy” of their Exhibit C – Mandatory Cost Proposal.
Combined Digital Response
Additionally, bidders must provide their response on one (1) USB drive with two (2) folders therein, one entitled “Technical Qualifications Response”, containing your technical response, and one (1) entitled “Cost Proposal”. Do not include your cost proposal in the technical response folder as this may cause your proposal to be rejected.
All quantitative material should include complete assumptions and be supported by detailed schedules, evidencing all calculations and results.
Responses to the questions should be clear and concise. Where appropriate, Bidder’s should show statistical information in a tabular chart format, and textual information in bullet form. Summarize key points at the beginning of each answer.
Evaluation and Selection: The County will evaluate all submittals in accordance with the Official Code of Hall County, Georgia 3.10, and as further detailed herein. The County will evaluate proposals using a two-step process. The first is the ‘Technical Qualifications Proposal’ that outlines the bidding firm’s qualifications and experience and its approach to deliver the services.
Cost Evaluation: This solicitation is heavily focused on a Firm’s qualifications, experience and capabilities. Therefore, award may not be made solely based on the lowest cost bid. Cost will be given more importance when all the other evaluation criteria are relatively equal.
The County may deem an unreasonably low cost, and the highest cost, as materially unbalanced. In such cases then the County reserves the right to reject the proposals.
Although cost is not the only consideration for award. If, in the County’s consideration, qualifications between two or more bidders are equal, then the County may make an award to the lower cost bidder among them. The County will evaluate cost as presented on Exhibit C - Mandatory Cost Proposal. The cost is weighted and will be scored by the Evaluation Committee. Lower costs will receive higher scores. Any and all fees should be detailed in the response.
Validation: Hall County requires that bidders provide a cover letter with a signature by an officer of the firm with the submittal to ensure its originality.
Bid Retention: The County reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and use any idea(s) in a proposal regardless of contract award or not. The County shall have the right to waive any informality or irregularity of immaterial deviation, omissions and clerical errors in any bid received.
Mandatory Documents: Bidders must complete and return all forms and documents entitled ‘Mandatory’ with the bid proposal. Failure to do so may deem the proposal non-responsive and the County may not evaluate it for award.
Award Process: The County reserves the option to reject any or all bids, in whole-or-in-part, or to select any bidder to complete the described Service. The County will not make an award of contract solely based on lowest bid, but also on approach, references, qualifications and other subjective criteria as the County may deem necessary and determine at its sole discretion.
Non-Collusion Requirement: (aka Cone-of-Silence): Bidders must not have contact of any nature with other bidders, County staff members, elected officials, nor County Commissioners during this RFQ/P evaluation process. The County may deem such as collusion, and thus render the submission in violation of the Official Code of Hall County and therefore the County may render the proposal as non-responsible and not evaluate the proposal for an award.
By submitting a proposal, the bidder represents and warrants that no official or employee of Hall County Government has, in any manner, an interest, directly or indirectly in the proposal or in the contract which may be made under it, or in any expected profits to arise there from.
Open Records: All documents, communication, and proposals fall under the Georgia Open Records Act and are subject to disclosure to an Open Records request.
Taxes: Hall County, Georgia, is exempt from State of Georgia Sales and Use Tax. A Certificate of Exemption will be made available upon request to the awarded firm.
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Statement of Need
3.0 General Terms and Conditions
4.0 Scope of Work
5.0 Format and Content of RFQ/P Response
6.0 Submission of Proposals
7.0 RFQ/P Response Preparation
8.0 Selection Process
9.0 Steps to Award
10.0 Exhibits and Attachments
1.0.INTRODUCTION
Hall County, Georgia Government is in the top 10 of Georgia’s 159 counties, with 1,800 employees, an annual budget of $403,211,611 and serves a population of approximately 210,000 citizens.
2.0. STATEMENT OF NEED
The County expects the awarded company to be prompt, attentive, and able to perform the work in a timely and scheduled manner and with all personnel, including subcontractors, to be professional in approach and uniform in production.
In case of default by the awarded bidder then the County reserves the right to move on to the next highest scoring bidder to complete the services.
3.0 GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
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The County reserves the right to conduct any review it may deem advisable to assure services conform to the specifications.
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Prospective firms, including all officers, must not be, or have been, barred by any Federal, State, or Local authority, and
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Not be, or have been, in any legal suit for negligence, willful misconduct, fraud or otherwise malpractice charges, and
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Be legally able to conduct business in the State of Georgia, and
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Who has not abandoned a project or an engagement or otherwise been terminated for non-performance or subpar performance
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Must not be under an enforcement action for related investigation pending by a professional or regulatory group.
4.0 SCOPE OF WORK
The County may refuse to pay for any work done outside of the Scope of Work or before the issuance of a Notice to Proceed.
Inmate Communication (Telephone) Systems Requirements:
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All-purpose phones will be installed at current and future location designated by agency. Phones must be factory-sealed, constructed of heavy gauge steel, with shockproof keypads, a shatter proof handset, and no removable parts.
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All handset cords must be customizable in cord length and shall be armored and have a poly-coated steel lanyard that can withstand minimum of 1000-foot pounds pull of power.
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Tamper preventative screws shall be used on all telephones to protect from vandalism/and or destruction
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Phones must be hearing aid compatible with external volume control and minimize background noise.
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Phones must be PIN protected
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Phones must utilize voice biometrics
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Contractor will maintain 10% replacement stock of damaged phones, always.
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Barge in/Termination feature shall be made available remotely.
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Monitor/download/record conversation for investigation
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Word alert notifications
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Call blocking capabilities
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Inmate suspension function to restrict or prevent an inmate from making calls
Inmate Tablet System Requirements:
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Must provide 15 tablets per dorm with that being a total of 60 tablets.
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Tablet Subscription program with optional premium content.
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Phone application
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eMessaging
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Digital mail with free inmate retrieval upon release
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eBooks
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Education App, Including GED Courses
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Document Viewer
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Video App (PREA & Such)
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Podcasts
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Law Library
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Spiritual & Self-Help App
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FM Receiver
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Forms application
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Electronic Mail
Inmate Commissary Requirements:
o Interface with our Commissary Provider Keefe Commissary Network
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Inmates may purchase goods from the commissary once per week.
Hardware, as described:
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Stainless steel inmate phones
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3 phones per dorm totaling 12
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1 mobile cart mounted phone
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Online storage of call recordings and call data for entire contract duration
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Unlimited User Software Licenses.
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Inmate Kiosk
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1 per dorm totaling 4
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1 Cart mounted mobile Kiosk
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Inmate Tablets
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15 per dorm totaling 60
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Tablet Charging Stations
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15 per dorm totaling 60
5.0 FORMAT AND CONTENT OF RFQ/P RESPONSE
Institutions submitting proposals must disclose their qualifications provide for the Services to the County in the format set forth below. Failure to provide requested information may result in your proposal being deemed non-responsive and therefore eliminated from further consideration.
A. GENERAL PROPOSAL PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS
1. Proposal Preparation
a. Proposals shall be signed by an authorized representative. All information requested must be submitted.
b. Proposals shall be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the RFQ/P. Emphasis should be placed on completeness and clarity of content.
2. Oral presentation/Interview: Bidders may be required to give an oral presentation of their proposal. This provides an opportunity for the bidder to clarify or elaborate on the proposal. This is a fact finding and explanation session only and does not contemplate or authorize negotiation. Oral presentation is an option of the County in its sole discretion at the County’s request.
3. Costs incurred to prepare a proposal are solely those of the proposer. Nothing contained within this RFQ/P is indicative of an intent by the County to reimburse the proposer, in whole or in part, for any costs associated with preparation, submission, or presentation of proposals.
B. SPECIFIC PROPOSAL PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS
Proposals shall be as thorough and detailed as possible so that the County may properly evaluate the bidder's capabilities to provide the required services. The County is not interested in elaborate, stock marketing brochures. These will not be evaluated.
1. COMPLETE, SIGNED COPY OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
a. The return of all Mandatory Exhibits completed as required.
b. Demonstrate that the proposer is properly licensed to do business in the State of Georgia.
Failure to meet the mandatory criteria will result in immediate rejection of the entire proposal and no evaluation of the remainder of the technical component or of the cost proposal will be made.
2. COST COMPONENT OF PROPOSAL
For use following the technical phase of the procurement, the following information must be included in a separate sealed envelope marked "Cost Proposal.”
6.0 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
6.1 The County requests that Bidders submit proposals addressing all items listed below. Failure to include any of these mandatory documents may result in disqualification. All responses must be in writing. Bidders should submit one (1) copy of marked “Original” and Three (3) marked “Copy” and all documents loaded onto one (1) USB flash drive in MS Word, Excel and PDF formats depending on the document with the technical response and cost proposal separated into two different file folders on the USB flash Drive.
6.2 Bidder’s must submit their sealed bid response packages with clearly marked with RFQ/P #: 46-010 Inmate Telephone System & Services – C.I.
6.3 If awarded, the awarded firm must maintain insurance policies at the firm's own expense and must furnish the County with a Certificate of Insurance (COI) providing evidence of coverage at least in the amounts indicated in EXHIBIT B – CONTRACT FOR SERVICES. The insurance certificate must list County as the certificate holder and as an additional insured under the commercial general, automobile and umbrella liability policies as follows: “Hall County, Georgia, its Board of Commissioners, officers, employees, servants and agents, 2875 Browns Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30504”.
6.4 Follow these instructions carefully. Include in your bid response package two (2) separate, sealed envelopes. Mark one envelope with RFQ/P #: 46-010 - Inmate Telephone System & Services – C.I. - Technical Qualifications, and enclose these completed Mandatory Exhibits:
Exhibit A –Bid Response Sheet (Signed)
Exhibit B – Contract for Services (Signed)
Exhibit D –Completed W-9 Form (Signed)
Exhibit E - E-Verify Affidavit (Signed)
Exhibit F –Ethics Affidavit (Signed)
Exhibit G –Scored Questions
Any Addenda (Signed)
Copy of your Business License
Certificate of Insurance
Copy of Professional Licenses or Certifications
In a separate sealed envelope from above, enclose a completed Exhibit C - Mandatory Cost Proposal and clearly mark RFQ/P #: 46-010 - Inmate Telephone System & Services – C.I. - Cost Proposal on the envelope.
Do not enclose the Cost Proposal in the Technical Response envelope. This may render your proposal as non-responsive and thus not evaluated for award.
6.5 Bidders must submit it to the following address. All deliveries must be date and timed stamped by the HCGC 4
th
Floor Receptionist. The County is not responsible for late bids due to mailing delays.
Hand Delivery/FedEx/UPS/USPS/Courier:
Hall County Government Center
Attn: Mike Hawkins, Issuing Officer
Purchasing Division - 4th Floor,
2875 Browns Bridge Road
Gainesville, Georgia 30504
7.0. RFQ/P RESPONSE PREPARATION
7.1 The bidder bears all responsibility for all expenses incurred in responding to this RFQ/P such expenses to be borne exclusively by the proposer.
7.2 The County will not accept Joint Proposals unless otherwise noted herein.
8.0 SELECTION PROCESS
8.1 The evaluation process will include a pre-selected Evaluation Committee comprised of Hall County stakeholders and subject matter experts. The Committee will evaluate the technical qualifications. The highest scoring bidders may be asked for an interview, further negotiations, demonstrations, or a Best and Final Offer.
8.2 Each proposal should contain the Mandatory Cost Proposal (in a separate envelope) as provided with the RFQ/P document.
8.3 The Evaluation Committee will review each proposal with regard to demonstrated breadth of service, experience, financial stability, personnel, rates, references, lead times and other related criteria.
8.4 The successful respondent will be required to submit acceptable evidence of compliance with professional liability insurance coverage requirements as outlined in the Contract document.
8.5 Respondents are encouraged to submit clear and concise responses and excessive length, or extraneous information is discouraged. In an effort to ensure our ability to evaluate and choose a successful Firm, respondents are encouraged to organize their proposal as follows:
Section 1 – Cover Letter and Executive Summary
Section 2 – Answer all Mandatory Scored Questions
Section 3 – Cost Proposals Submitted in a separate sealed envelope
8.6 Bidder’s must locate and complete all Exhibits to this RFQ/P and submit with the bid. Bidders failing to do so may result in the bid to be Non-responsive and thus not evaluated.
8.7 If unable to reach an agreement with the highest scoring Firm, the County retains the right to negotiate with the next highest scoring company and so on until reaching a satisfactory agreement or the County may terminate the process.
8.8 The County structured the evaluation process to secure highly competitive bidders who would be most effective in delivering the Services. The primary objective of the evaluation process is to select a firm that:
8.8.1 Clearly demonstrates a thorough understanding of the contract responsibilities; and,
8.8.2 That presents a compelling work plan that yields the desired contract services and deliverables; and,
8.8.3 Shows adequate resources to handle the project
8.8.4 Presents a focused effort to allocate those resources to the project
8.8.5 Demonstrates exceptional value for the cost of services proposed.
9.0 Steps to Award
The Evaluation Committee will recommend award of the contract to the highest scoring company. In the unlikely event on a tie, the County may enter into negotiations of terms and conditions.
Step 1: The Evaluation Committee will evaluate the bidder’s responses according to the criteria described herein, and score and rank the proposals. The County reserves the right to request clarification of information provided and to request additional information required to assist in the evaluation process.
Step 2: Purchasing will then open the Cost Proposals and score the responses. Purchasing will combine these results with the results of scoring. After this scoring, Purchasing will rank the highest scoring proposers on Bid Tabulation Summary.
Step 3: The Evaluation Committee may schedule interviews with the bidders. All costs associated with the interview (if required) will be at the expense of the proposing Bidder.
Step 4: Based upon the results of the proposals, references, and the interviews, the Purchasing Division along with the Evaluation Committee may negotiate with the Firm(s) ranked highest in an attempt to reach agreement. If negotiations with the highest ranked firm are unsuccessful, the County may negotiate with the second ranked Firm, and so on until reaching a satisfactory agreement.
10.0 Exhibits and Attachments
Exhibit A - Mandatory Bid Response Sheet
Exhibit B - Contract for Service
Exhibit C – Mandatory Cost Proposal
Exhibit D – Mandatory W-9 Form
Exhibit E - Mandatory E-Verify Affidavit
Exhibit F – Mandatory Ethics Affidavit
Exhibit G – Mandatory Scored Questions
