Call Center Services RFP

EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF TEXAS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CALL CENTER SERVICES

SOLICITATION NO. 23-13354-001

NIGP CODE: 915-20

The Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a qualified firm (Respondent) to provide call center services. ERS requires a customer service team dedicated to its call center operations to respond to and resolve members’ customer service and benefits-related needs, within a contracted timeframe. Respondent shall provide the level of services required in the RFP and meet other requirements that are in the best interests of ERS, its members, and the state of Texas (State). Respondent shall be required to execute a contract (Contract) provided by, and satisfactory to, ERS for a period that begins upon execution of the Contract by ERS and extends for a period of six (6) years, subject to the terms of the Contract. It is anticipated the Contract will be executed in April 2025.

P rospective Respondents must first create a profile in Bonfire ( ERS’ e-procurement portal located at erstexas.bonfirehub.com ) , which operates best on the latest versions of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, andMozilla Firefox. Browser cookies must be enabled when accessing Bonfire. Note that Respondent’s primary contact must create a Bonfire profile (with theactual contact person’s email address) and download the RFP documents in order to send and receive messages via Bonfire.

The Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement (Appendix F) must be properly executed and submitted to ERS in order to receive Appendices O – Y.

Questions will be accepted via Bonfire until October 1, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time(CT) . Answers to questions will be posted to Bonfire and ESBD on thedate specified in RFP Section A.5.

To be eligible for consideration, Respondent is required to submit its Proposal in accordance with the instructions set forth in the RFP. Respondentsmust meet the Minimum Requirements set forth in Section B of the Respondent Questionnaire (Appendix I). All Proposal materials shall be received by ERS via Bonfire no later than November 5, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. CT.

ERS reserves the right to rebid the RFP if deemed by ERS to be in the best interests of ERS, its members, and/or the State. ERS also reserves the right to reject any Proposal submitted that does not fully comply with the RFP’s instructions and criteria. ERS is under no legal requirement to execute a Contract on the basis of this notice or upon issuance of the RFP and will not pay any costs incurred by any Respondent in connection with the preparation ofa Proposal. ERS also reserves the right to revise any provisions set forth inthe RFP at any time prior to execution of a Contract where ERS deems it to be in the best interests of ERS, its members, and/or the State.

Any general questions should be sent to ERS’ point of contact, Chloe Conner, Procurement Specialist, via Bonfire or ivendorquestions@ers.texas.gov . ERS’ mailing address is P.O. Box 13207, Austin, Texas 78711-3207.