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NV Contract -- Embarq Response to Best and Final Offer 2007

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ATTACHMENT CC
Contractor's Response

Embarq is hereby given an opportunity to respond to the following Best and Final offer to the
inmate telephone RFP # 1628. If you, the vendor, agrees with the items outlined below, the
proper response to each item should be "Read, agreed and will comply." Please note Vendor is
required to provide additional responses to item 7.
1. Vendor does not take any exceptions to RFP # 1628 and all included
requirements/specifications for inmate telephone service are agreed to.
Read, agreed and will comply.

2. Vendor shall perform PIN administration duties (listed below) for the inmate telephone
system from a remote location. Should Vendor fail to provide the PIN administration
duties to the satisfaction of Nevada Department of Corrections ("State"), the State, at its
sole option, may require Vendor to provide one (1), full-time, on-site administrator at no
cost to the State. The State and Vendor shall periodically review the PIN administration
duties to determine the viability of the functions being performed remotely by Vendor.
The list of duties may be modified from time to time by mutual consent of the State and
Vendor.
Pin Administration Duties
~ Receive Personal Allowed Number (PAN) lists from all State facilities and
enter/modifY entries into the inmate telephone system within three (3) days of
receipt.
~ Indicate the status of each inmate addition/deletion directly on the PAN list
request form and return the completed PAN form to the facility for distribution to
the inmates within 4 days of receipt.
~ ModifY assignment of inmate accounts based on facility movements within three
(3) days 0 f receipt.
~ Validate requested attorney phone numbers by contacting the attorney and
receiving a copy ofthe attorney's letterhead prior to entry of the phone number in
to the inmate telephone system. Attorney phone numbers should be entered into
the global database as privileged/non-recorded phone numbers and should not
count against the maximum PAN amount of 10 phone numbers.
~ Add/modifY system user accounts and security profiles in the inmate telephone
system.
~ Block and unblock phone numbers at the direction ofthe State and/or facilities.
~ Implement requested inmate telephone schedules as directed by the State and/or
facilities.
~ Run usage reports as requested by the State and/or facilities.
~ Program "Hot Numbers" in the inmate telephone system as requested by the State
and/or facilities.
Read, agreed and will comply.

3.

Vendor shall maintain certain standards associated with customer support/pre-paid collect
accounts (listed below). The State shall periodically review the quality of the customer
service center and if the State is not satisfied, the State will provide notification to
Vendor in writing of the issues that are a deviation from the standards shown below. The
Vendor shall have thirty (30) days from such notification to improve the customer service
to meet the satisfaction levels ofthe State. Should the Vendor not improve the customer
service to the level required by the State in its sole opinion, the Vendor shall pay a
penalty in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00) per month for each month of
unsatisfactory customer service.
Support Standards
~ Vendor shall ensure the general public has access to live customer support on a
24/7 basis;
~ Hold times shall not exceed five (5) minutes per call for setting up a pre-paid
collect account or addressing other end user requests;
~ Once the customer has funded the pre-paid collect account, Vendor shall ensure
no delays in posting funds for use;
~ Vendor shall record all calls with the general public so any unsatisfactory
instances can be researched and resolved; and
~ The State, at its option, will perform periodic test calls to the customer service
center to check the performance of the customer service representatives.
Read, agreed and will comply with one note.

EMBARQ's customer service center for prepaid collect accounts provides live agent
access 24/7. However, EMBARQ's customer service center for LEC-billed/collect
calling is open from tam to 6pm Central. These restricted hours are driven by LECs'
call center hours; since almost all collect calling issues require coordination with a live
LEC agent, we are unable to provide service for these types of calls beyond these core
hours.

4. Requested calling rates and commission:
Call Type
Local
Intrastate
Interstate
International

Surcharge
$1.45
$0.85
$3.50
Vendor to Propose

Monthly Commission Rate: 55.15%
Minimum Annual Guarantee: $2,400,000.00

Per Minute Rate
$0.00
$0.1175
$0.79
Vendor to Propose

EMBARQ agrees to the calling rates and Minimum Annual Guarantee above but
proposes a slight modification to the commission rate.
NDOC-requested calling rates
~

~

Pcr Minutc Rutc

Local
Intrastate
Interstate
International

$1.45
$0.85
$3.50
$3.99

$0.00
$0.1175
$0.79
$0.99

Monthly Commission Rate: 54.20%
Minimum Annual Guarantee: $2,400,000
This offer includes reasonable assumptions for call stimulation above the current gross
revenue run-rate of$405 thousand per month, derivingfrom severalfactors -(e.g.
allowance ofcalls to cell phones, the EMBARQ/ICS revenue management program). If
we do not realize this approximate level ofgross revenue we request the right to
renegotiate in goodfaith with the State.

5. Provision ofbasic and premium reverse look-up:
~

~

Basic reverse look up shall be provided at no cost to the State; and
2,500 Premium look ups per month shall be at no cost to the State. Additional
queries each month shall be provided at the rate of $0.75 per query. Vendor shall
be responsible for tracking and reporting monthly premium queries to the State
each month.

Read, agreed and will comply.

6. Provision of JPAY Release Debit Card program (to be implemented at no cost to the
State and with no commission payable at a time convenient for the State):
Requested transaction fees assessed to the released inmates:
~ Domestic pas transaction fee - $0.25 per transaction; and
~ Domestic ATM transaction fee - one free transaction per month and $1.50 per
transaction thereafter.

EMBARQ is not able to fully comply with this provision and offers the alternative
structure below.
EMBARQ, through JPay, agrees to provide the release debit card program to the State at
no cost to the State and with no commissions payable to the State. However, we are only
able to offer these effective transactionfees:

~
~

Domestic POS transaction fee - $0. 70 per transaction; and
Domestic ATM transaction fee - one free transaction per month and $2.00 per
transaction thereafter.
Please note: because ATM transaction fees are
automatically assessed by financial institutions, this fee must be initially charged
to the inmate and then credited back to his or her account following card
activation.

Thisfree ATM transaction is given with the consideration that EMBARQ/JPay will be the
exclusive provider of the debit card program, which would include all releases of State
inmates with a balance of$10 or more.

7. Provision of JPAY Inmate Mail (to be implemented at no cost to the State and at the time
selected by the State); please indicate all applicable fees.
Read, agreed and will comply.

EMBARQ will provide Inmate mail through JPay's Program (inbound and outbound
mail) at no cost to the State. This program includes all kiosks, maintenance and
replacement (under normal service conditions), and investigative functionality. In the
event a printer is not available to deploy inbound mail EMBARQ/JPay will provide a
printer.
These considerations and commission schedule below are offered with the understanding
that EMBARQ/JPay will be NDOC's exclusive provider of inmate messaging services,
and that NDOC will work in good faith with EMBARQ/JPay to complete the initial
deployment of JPay's Inbound Mail Program within six months of effective date of the
contract ("Effective Date "). The Outbound Mail Program would begin deployment
following completion ofInbound Mail and would be fully deployed within eighteen (18)
months ofthe Effective Date.
The proposed commission schedule is below:
E-Messaging to Inmates - Inbound
Commissions of$0.10 per message paid to the Department on a quarterly basis.
Fees Charged to the Sender

Postage

Fee

5 Messages

$3.00

16 Messages

$9.00

33 Messages

$18.00

E-Messaging by Inmates - Outbound

Commissions of$0.05 per message paid to the Department on a quarterly basis.
Fees Charged to the Illmatc

Fee

Postage

$0.35

1 Message

Further, following full deployment of the Inmate Mail Program, EMBARQ/JPay offer to
deploy the JPay Canteen Ordering Application and Inmate Trust Account Inquiry
Application on the kiosk and write the inteiface for the State's commissary program at no
cost to the State. EMBARQ/JPay will also work with NDOC on a case by case basis to
deploy any additional kiosk applications (e.g. law library).

8. Continuation of JPAY Electronic Trust Account Payments program (to continue at no
cost to the State)
Requested transaction fees assessed to depositors:
~ All transactions (with the exception of credit cards by phone) - $6.00 per
transaction;
~ Credit card transactions by phone - $7.00 per transaction; and
~ Commission - $1.00 per transaction
EMBARQ/JPay require some modification to the transaction fee schedule.
EMBARQ, through JPay, agrees to provide the electronic trust account payment
program to the State at no cost to the State with a $1.00 commission per transaction to
the State. This program is also offered with a $2.00 deductionfor all MoneyGram
transactions and $0.50 deductionfor all credit/debit card transactions. Thefee schedule
would be asfollows:

Payment Amount

Discount ys.
current fees

Fee

SENDING MONEY ONLINE

$0.01 - $20.00
$20.01 - $100.00
$100.01 - $200.00
$200.01 - $300.00

$3.45
$6.45
$8.45
$10.45

-13%
-7%
-6%
-5%

SENDING MONEY BY PHONE

$0.01 - $20.00
$20.01 - $100.00
$100.01 - $200.00
$200.01 - $300.00

$4.45
$7.45
$9.45
$11.45

-10%
-6%
-5%
-4%

SENDING MONEY VIA ACE AGENT LOCATION

$0.01 - $5,000.00

$5.00

--

This discountedfee schedule is offered with the consideration that EMBARQ/JPay will be
the exclusive provider ofNDOC's electronic trust account payment program and that the
State YVOuld credit payments in inmate accounts the same day the State receives a
paymentfile from JPay.

9. The State requests a faster implementation schedule. It is preferable to the State that the
largest institutions receive priority status over other smaller and more rural facilities.
Please submit an implementation schedule detailing a faster implementation. Include a
listing of the expected change over dates per facility.
Read, agreed and will comply.

Afaster implementation is very achievable. The schedule below is EMBARQ 's attempt to
best meet NDOC's needs; we will work with NDOC to change priorities and timelines as
requested.
The attached Excel spreadsheet details EMBARQ 's proposed implementation plan, which
is significantly faster than the originally submitted plan. Installation schedules have
been (reasonably) compressed and long lead-time commitments have been pulled
forward, allowing us to begin site cutovers on March 13 at Lovelock Correctional Center
and end cutovers April 1 at Tonopah Conservation Camp (please see attachment).