70 -- COMMERCIAL OFF THE SHELF SOFTWARE (COTS) FOR AN ELECTRONIC CASE FILING SYSTEM

Notice Date

October 25, 2001

Contracting Office

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, OIS-PMD, Suite 3-250, Washington, DC 20544

ZIP Code

20544

Solicitation Number

USCA-01-R-0044

Response Due

November 26, 2001

Point of Contact

Linda L. Round, 202-502-1392

Description

This announcement is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation number USCA-01-R-0044 is assigned as a request for quotation (RFQ). All references to "offers" are understood to be "quotations." The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-20. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) has a requirement for acquiring a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic case filing system for the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of North Carolina. The AOUSC is currently deploying an in-house case management/electronic case filing system, which is not projected to be fully installed in North Carolina until the end of FY 2002. In the interim, due to critical increased bankruptcy caseload, an interim system/solution is required. An estimate of cases filed for the past 12 months, ending 6/30/01, are as follows: Chapter 7, 5959 filings, 2 documents per case; Chapter 11, 49 filings, 10 documents per case; Chapter 12, 5 filings, 3 documents per case; and Chapter 13, 6524 filings, 3 documents per case for a total number of filings of 12,537. This synopsis/solicitation announcement requests submission of information pertaining to any available COTS electronic case filing systems which must be able to support a minimum of the number of filings above and be able to perform the following functions: associate individual filings with the document management and case management systems' unique ID keys (primary keys, secondary keys, and combination keys); have the ability to verify case number and case information prior to filing a document; be flexible to allow multiple configurations for document filing, which differentiate between new case openings (by type), claims, and existing cases; interface with court case management systems and other 3rd party software for purposes of routing and retrieval; be able to associate individual filings with the court document management system to allow implementation of court workflow through configurable routes and steps; provide the ability to process primary documents and attachments in a single upload process; apply a date and time stamp to individual documents; track the status of each individual filing; provide feedback to the filer of successful or unsuccessful filing; provide the court the ability to accept or reject a filing and provide notification and instruction to filer; maintain filing logs which document and track the disposition of each individual filing; be able to continue accepting individual filings when court systems are off-line and have court receive filings automatically once systems are back on line; maintain archives of each individual filing for retrieval by the court; provide the court the ability to retrieve duplicate of original filing from electronic filing system, in the event images become corrupt or are inadvertently deleted; be able to accept Microsoft Word documents, Corel WordPerfect documents, ASCII text documents, Adobe PDF documents, and TIFF images; provide the court the ability to convert any document accepted to Adobe PDF format; allow court to define filing types and parameters; be flexible to allow the court to define specific filings or documents that will not be converted to Adobe PDF and to restrict filings to specific native formats; be compatible with court security and firewalls; provide electronic "finger print" of documents to ensure filing integrity; provide secure User ID and Password to provide filer verification; and ultimately provide a seamless/transparent conversion of all case data to the government's developed case management/electronic case filing system. The successful awardee will also be required to provide and support/maintain the following deliverables: All required hardware (i.e., servers), software, and installation compatible to accept incoming internet filings of court documents into the NIBS case management system and current image document management system; interface of electronic filings into existing NIBS case management system and existing image document management system; training courses for the local Bar by non-court personnel, initially and on-going for new users; a Help Desk to assist customer support questions about electronic filing; certifications of authorized users by vendor training before issuance of ID and password; and Court staff training to track & file images into existing National Integrated Bankruptcy System (NIBS) case management & image repository. NIBS is a computer-based approach to case management in a United States Bankruptcy Court. NIBS features include on-line docketing and case management, electronic transmission of information to the Statistics Division of the Administrative Office, production of notices and forms, and generation of reports. Once entered into the NIBS database files, bankruptcy and adversary case information is available for reference, and reports. The NIBS application is run from either a Novell Netware, or Window NT file server where the NIBS program files, and databases reside. NIBS is a menu-driven system. The user interface is typically run from a DOS, or Windows-based personal computer (PC) or remotely from the file server. The application, interface, and database were developed using the Microsoft FoxPro for DOS development tool set. Deliverables will be due before formal notice goes out to the public that the court is now "Open for Electronic Filing" to the rest of the Bar. The system must be up and running, 45 days after installation of hardware, software, and court staff training. The court requires that the performance of the electronic filing systems and its associated interfaces be tested for a period of 30 days, before total acceptance of the system. The acceptance criteria should include, 30 test filings by court personnel, 15 test filings by a designated attorney or law firm, and 5 live electronic filings with that same firm. The AOUSC will require non-exclusive, unlimited data rights to all documents developed and incorporated under any resultant contract, if applicable. Offerors should provide the prices assessed to the public and/or the government. The government will evaluate the different pricing schemes/strategies and make an award based on the lowest overall priced offer and technically acceptable system. Pricing will be thoroughly reviewed and may require discussions with offerors. The following FAR clauses and prescriptions apply and are incorporated by reference: FAR 52.212-1 "Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items (OCT 2000)" with the following addendum: Inspection and acceptance shall be made at destination; Provision 52.212-2 "Evaluation -- Commercial Items (JAN 1999)" with the following addenda: The Government intends to award a contract without discussion to the responsible offeror whose quotation conforms to the solicitation and provides the lowest price proposal. Offerors are to include a completed copy of the provision at 52-212-3, "Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items (OCT 2000)". FAR Clause 52-212-4, "Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items (MAY 1999)" is incorporated by reference; 52-212-5, "Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items (AUG 2000)" is included by reference with the following addenda: The following paragraphs apply to this solicitation and any resultant contract (a), (b) (1) (2) (3) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)(15), (d) (e); FAR Clause 52.232-33 Mandatory Information for Electronic Funds Transfer Payment (MAY 1999) is incorporated by reference. All responsible offerors who meet the requirements listed in this announcement are invited to submit a quote by fax to Linda Round, Contracting Officer, FAX (202)502-1066. All questions should be directed to Linda Round at (202) 502-1392 NLT November 7, 2001.*****

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011029/70SOL002.HTM (W-298 SN511516)