HELP DESK/CALL CENTER

MASTER CONTRACTS

ORIENTATION

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Presenters:

Valerie Rolandelli, AVP of Procurement and Business Affairs, UMUC

Michael Bachman, Director, Information Technology Support ,Towson UniversityRobert Zornes, Manager of IT Vendor Support, UMUC

AGENDA• Executive Summary • Definitions• Procurement of Task Orders (TORP)/Implementation

Summary• Awarded Task Orders Oversight and Management• Master Contract Highlights

Executive Summary

and

Vendor Contact List

These contracts resulted in response to MEEC members expressing interest in help desk/call center services.

A committee of MEEC members comprised of representatives from community colleges and universities developed the RFP documents and evaluated the vendor proposals received.

The committee was sensitive to all K-20 MEEC member institutions when evaluating the various vendors.

This presentation may appear slanted towards higher education, simply because that is the work context of your three presenters, but there was clear evidence in the vendor presentations that they are very adaptable to K-12 needs.

• In May, 2009, MEEC solicited proposals for Master Agreements for comprehensive help desk/call center services (RFP and 6 Addenda and the Master Contract template are posted on MEEC’s website)

• Six (6) awarded Master Contractors (see contact list) with a myriad of unit prices

• Agreements are extremely flexible in:– Services able to be provided– Procurement Methodologies for Task Orders/Specific Scopes of Work (SOW)

under the Master Agreements

• Contract consists of:- General Terms and Conditions;- Implementation Process for Buying MEEC Members;- Certain sections of Master Contractor’s Technical Proposal - Master Contractor’s Unit Price List is an exhibit to each Master Agreement

*Note: UMUC’s AVP of Procurement and Business Affairs (Valerie Rolandelli) was the Procurement Officer on behalf of USM/MEEC, however, interpretation of the appropriate use of these Agreements is the responsibility of the buying MEEC member and its institutional procurement policies and procedures. The Procurement Officer for the Master Agreements is available for assistance, but is not the final authority for the buying MEEC Member’s institution.

What can I use this for?

Comprehensive Help Desk and Call Center Services include, but is not limited to, management and staffing of learning management systems; PeopleSoft, Banner, Colleague or other ERP system(s); MS Office Suites portals for students, faculty, and staff; enrollment management and student services call centers; and technical support to other software and hardware applications for students, faculty and staff of MEEC members in good standing.  The Agreement will be primarily for Level 1 Help Desk, however, may also be utilized, at the sole discretion of the MEEC member, for Level 2 support or for staff augmentation services related to the Services. [Refer to Section 2 of the RFP as amended from time to time for sample application/systems and user support breakout.] The Contractor will work with the buying MEEC member in developing, managing, and staffing the applicable need for help desk and/or call center support to assist prospective students, current students and faculty as determined by the buying MEEC member.  

– Academic Technologies

– Audio Visual Support

– IT Service Desk

– Financial Aid

– Student Accounts/Bursar

– Enrollment Management Services

– Continuing Education Services

– Switchboard Operator Services

– Service Help Desk

- Service Help Desk infrastructure

- Software/Hardware support services

- Training of on-site institutional help desk/call center staff and/or student workers

- Staff Augmentation

- After Hours Support for Faculty/Staff/Students/Parents

• Specific Task Orders/Scopes of Work to be procured by the Buying MEEC Member

• Initial Term of the Agreement: October 8, 2009 to June 30, 2014 with renewal options for up to an additional five (5) years.

• 25% MBE participation goal for Task Orders for USM Institutions; other MEEC members may request MBE participation in accordance with their jurisdictions. All MBE compliance requirements is the responsibility of the buying MEEC member.

• All required approvals for USM/State institutions have been received (BOR on 9/18/09 and BPW on 10/7/09) – No further approvals required of Task Orders during Initial Term

MEEC Website

• Procurement Officer’s Contact Information• Master Contractors’ Contact Information• Summary of each of the Master Contractors• Contract Template (Note: For confidentiality reasons, the posted

contract is a template; each of the Master Contractors’ Contract was customized and is available upon request of the MEEC Executive Director.)

• MEEC Member TORP Assistance Center (under construction)

Help Desk/Call Center

Definitions/Terminology

Procurement of Task Orders (TORP)/

Implementation Summary

The Master Agreements serve as a framework for each individual MEEC university, college or school to evaluate the solutions available to them and determine which of the Master Contractors best fits their culture, price point, and timeline.

MEEC members can utilize these Master Agreements in two (2) ways:

1. Select one (1) Master Contractor with whom a task order scope of work/help desk services will be negotiated utilizing the contract unit pricing (a variety of quoted unit costs were received such as hourly rates, per incident fees, software licensing, training, etc.); or

2. Request a Task Order Proposal (TORP) based on a specific scope of services from two (2) or more awarded Master Contractors. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the Task Order Proposal Request documents considering both technical and price factors. (Separate guidelines and examples of Scopes of Work for use by MEEC Members are under construction.)

In both cases above, the Master Contractor’s Master Agreement unit pricing isto be the basis for which pricing for a specific task order/scope of work is to bequoted.

• PRICE MAY CONSIST OF:

– Fixed fee for implementation/set up of help desk/call center

– Software licensing for ticket system and reporting features

– Ongoing operations of the help desk/call center (staffing and overhead fees)

TORP PROCESS

MEEC Member prepares a written Scope of Work:• implementation time frame/schedule; • scope of services required including hours of operation (sample scopes of work will be available at a later date)• required SLA’s; and, • required bonding, (if any);• May conduct a pre-proposal meeting,

The Master Contractors will provide to the buying MEEC/University member a proposal for Help Desk services for the specified project, that may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• (a) Management of the Help Desk inclusive of position and applicable background/resume and references.

• (b) Staffing Plan for the required help desk services including, but not limited to, the number of customer service representatives (CSR), the level of expertise of the staff, the shifts with number of agents per shift to be operated, and the hours per staff per shift (i.e., level of effort).

• (c) The approach to providing the services including, but not limited to, the training of the CSR’s, the telephony and the call tracking systems, building of knowledge base, quality assurance program, etc.

• (d) Similar experience with other customers/clients including contact information so that the MEEC member may, if it so chooses, check references.

• (e) A schedule of tasks to ensure that the required time frame to set up the desk and/or complete the work in accordance with the MEEC’s/University's scope, and,

• (f) A statement indicating the MBE participation percentage commitment for the project

Note: In addition to the information noted above, the buying MEEC/University member reserves the right to request other information from Help Desk Service Contractor as it deems appropriate. In such instances, this requested information will be included in the scope of services/proposal request issued by the applicable MEEC member.

Evaluation

• The applicable MEEC member will review the proposal(s) received as well as may request an interview of assigned help desk/call center team members and/or an “audition” whereby the buying MEEC members could call, e-mail, or chat with Level 1 support staff as part of the evaluation. The buying MEEC member may also conduct site visits to the Contractor’s location(s)as part of the evaluation.

• The applicable MEEC member will evaluate the proposal(s) for, but not limited to, cost advantage, proposed assigned key personnel's expertise and time commitment, MBE commitment, ability to meet the required schedule, ability to provide the scope of services, etc.

• The evaluation criteria and process is solely at the MEEC member’s discretion and will be included in the scope of services/proposal request issued by the applicable MEEC member. The award will be based in accordance with the task order proposal request and may be based:

– solely on price with the lowest responsive and responsible cost receiving the award; – on a combination of technical and price evaluation/ranking, or– solely on technical expertise followed by the MEEC member negotiating a fee with only one

Help Desk Services Contractor or, if more than one proposal is received, with the top ranked Help Desk Services Contractor; in the event of unsuccessful negotiations, the MEEC member may discontinue negotiations with the top ranked firm and proceed to the next rank, and so forth;

AWARD OF A TORPFollowing the evaluation of the TORP proposals, an award will be made by

the buying MEEC member to the Help Desk Service Contractor(s) with the

most advantageous proposal. The Buying MEEC Member may elect to

issue a Task Order Contract/Purchase Order with the Master Contractor

under the Master Agreement.

Awarded Task Orders Oversight and Management

ReportingDaily & Monthly Reports

DailyMonthly

•Provides information on the customer “experience”•Shows adherence to Best Efforts and Service Level Agreements across:

-Hours/Shifts -Days of the week -Times of the semester and month

•Allows for proactive responses and adjustments to processes

•Provides a “big picture” of the overall performance•Acts as path for validation of data and should match compiled daily metrics•Purpose – measurement and compliance with service level agreements•Critical to year-end reconciliation

Reporting Metrics for SLAs

•Email •Phone•Survey•Chat• Voicemail

Reporting for validation of the SLA

•Average Speed to answer or respond (ASA)•Availability to receive contacts

•Minimum staffing•Abandonment of contact where applicable

•Volume of quality reviews•Customer survey response metrics

Reporting Synchronous & Non-synchronous Interactions

Synchronous – Phone & Chat

•ASA and availability have already been mentioned•Additional items to consider

-How often and long are contacts

placed on hold -What are the maximum and minimum speeds to answer? -How often are contacts transferred and to where are they transferred -What selections are being chosen on the phone tree routing into the support center -If routing multiple phone lines to the support desk, the individual breakdown of volume by incoming number

Non-Synchronous – Email, Web Ticket

•Measurement of time between receiving communication from customer and time of response for:

-Ticket Creation-Ticket being Reopened-Customer providing information

or asking additional questions-Maximum and minimum times to respond

Non-Synchronous – Voicemail

•How long was the customer in the phone queue before leaving a voicemail.•Measurement of time between completion of voicemail and support receiving and reviewing the recording•Measurement of the time between completion of voicemail and a communication being sent to the customer

Reporting Quality & Customer Satisfaction

Quality Reviews

•What is being measured? -Internal/vendor processes -Soft skills -Technical proficiency

•How is the scoring calculated?•What are the thresholds and associated actions with scores?•What were the scores of the team overall and individually?•Accessibility and access to

-Review tickets -Communications -Phone recordings

Customer Satisfaction Surveys

•What questions are being asked? •Are the questions ambiguous or leading?•How are the questions weighted?•Associating surveys with customer metrics

-Origin of ticket (phone, chat, email, etc.) -Customer Type (student, faculty, staff) -Geographic Locations/Time Zones -Assistance Request Type

•Method and timing of the solicitation of surveys

ReconciliationClosing Business (Monthly & Yearly)

•Meeting occurring early in the month and discusses the preceding month

•Review of the reporting metrics run for the previous month to determine:

-Variance in data between month and day -Areas of concern -Applying the data to compliance with Service Level agreements

•Agreements on: -Outcomes of SLA compliance -Total volume of contacts through the month

Monthly Yearly

•Meeting to ‘close out’ the previous year

•Review should be focused primarily on billing related issues as agreements should already be in place for monthly SLAs year

•If outstanding items remain from previous months an audit of these may be necessary to ensure SLAs have been met

CommunicationScheduled Meetings and Touch-points

Management (Twice Weekly)-Upcoming issues-Ongoing projects

-Performance concerns

Knowledge (Weekly)-Identify items where knowledge is needed-Discuss knowledge that needs organizational review to prevent

stagnation-Finalize and approve changes to workflows, naming conventions &

processes

Quality (Weekly)-Discuss outcomes of reviews-Detail action plans from reviews-Determine new initiatives for improvement

Communication Processes and Procedures for Notifications

Non-Emergency

• Vendor notification of maintenance, critical issues, and mass communications which may result in volume increases• Process for notifying the vendor of these initiatives• Organizational Contact Points (Business Hours)

Emergency

• Process for notification from vendor to school – Who is contacted and thresholds for when– What information needs to be imparted at time of contact

• Contact points to vendor– Email distribution– Emergency phone contacts– Escalation path

• Organizational Contact Points (After-Hours)

Overview of Issues for Consideration

• Open communication through periodic/scheduled meetings and with processes to ensure notification of critical issues, changes or other items that will impact the support center and customers

• Ensure reporting capabilities both to measure Service Level Agreement and gauge experiential metrics related to customers

• Integrate into the support center as a member of the management team. While staffing is the concern of the vendor compliance, user interaction, quality, and information provided relates directly with the organizational values and/or retention

CONTRACT SUMMARY

• Non-exclusive• No minimum guarantee of dollar amount of number of task orders• Incorporates only a portion of the Contractor’s Technical Proposal (generally, staffing

and methodologies • Price Proposal is a variety of unit costs such as per hour; per contact; per agent; etc.

These are “maximums” and may be negotiated lower for a specific task order. • Price must be auditable – that is must be itemized sufficiently to tie back to the

quoted unit pricing.• Work Product (Section 3) and Intellectual Property (Section 4)

– What Contractor owns remains the Contractor’s– What is developed for the MEEC member is owned by the MEEC member (such as

knowledge base; training materials; etc.)– Section 4.4 grants the Contractor the use of MEEC member’s name,logo, and other

identifying symbols for use in Help Desk/Call Center (ie branding)• Confidentiality (Section 5) – very comprehensive; FERPA included; • Insurance (Section 21) – Master Contractors have provided certificate of insurance

naming USM and MEEC additionally insured; individual buying MEEC member may want additional certificate per Task Order which names them also additionally insured;

Exhibit A: Implementation Process verbatim from RFP

Exhibit B: Master Contractor’s Price Proposal

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Contact Tamara Petronka, Executive Director of MEEC, to obtain specifics regarding each Master Agreement

QUESTIONS???