Department of Veterans Affairs, Acquisition Operations Service (93), 810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20420

70 -- VETERANS AUTOMATED ASSISTANCE TELESERVICES (VAATS) SOL RFP 101-24-96 POC Contracting Officer, William S. Stapleton, (202)565-8004 The Department of Veterans Affairs intends to issue a request for proposals to acquire the Veterans Automated Assistance TeleServices (VAATS). VAATS will directly support the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) effort to improve veteran access through integration of telephone technology with their automated information systems. VAATS will incorporate technologies such as interactive voice response, automatic call distribution, automated call attendant features, speech recognition, outdialing, voice mail, and text-to-speech conversion. Clients will use VAATS to communicate with the VBA and more readily obtain information and services. VBA will use VAATS to communicate with clients, obtain and review information and data, update files, and respond to inquiries from several programs. Clients will use a variety of devices to communicate with the VBA, including dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) phones, dial pulse phones, and facsimile machines. Clients and VBA will communicate through the use of FTS 2000 and local exchange carrier services. A draft RFP has been posted to the VA Vendor Bulletin Board ( 1-800-SELL-2-VA for non-metropolitan Washington DC callers and 202 565-6971 for Washington DC metropolitan callers). No printed copies will be available. In furtherance of the Governments program for open communicationwith the industry we are inviting firms to make formal presentations concerning how they would meet the needs identified in this draft RFP. To schedule an appointment please contact Mr. Frank Morello at 202 565-6845. We anticipate that presentations will be allowed until the end of March 1996. While we will endeavor to provide maximum opportuntiy for these presentations, they will be limited to 45 minutes and will be scheduled on a first come first served basis. After receiving comments and viewing presentations VA will make determinations on any suggested changes to the RFP. A decision has not been made whether this should be setaside for small business participation or not. We invite your comments on this issue also. Please provide specific details which will allow an informed decision to be made. If you suggest a setaside - please provide names and details about companies who would qualify under such a setaside and why you think they qualify. If you suggest a non-setaside, please provide details on why you think this should not be setaside. The final release of the RFP will be via VA Vendor Bulletin Board and no announcement other than this synopsis will be made regarding release. The final RFP will not be release prior to April 30, 1996. Any comments or questions other than scheduling for presentations should be referred to William S. Stapleton, Contracting Officer at 202 565-8004 or faxed to 202 565-4428. (0046)

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