STATEMENT OF WORK FOR TOWN HALL PLATFORM (Software As A Service)
1.
GENERAL
1.1 BACKGROUND: At the Hampton VA Health Care System (HVAHCS), regular input from employees and Veterans is essential to continuous improvement. Historically, Interactive Town Hall engagement sessions were sparsely attended, with 20 or fewer in person participants, limiting leadership s ability to identify issues and implement timely improvements. In exploring best practices, new Virtual Town Hall technology has demonstrated significant impact, enabling engagement with several thousand participants at other VA Healthcare Systems. Consistent outreach helps maintain an effective feedback loop to identify what is not working, informing follow-up actions, and strengthening both the Veteran and employee experience. When employees and Veterans are engaged fewer than four times annually, they may become disconnected and less motivated to provide meaningful insights.
1.2 SERVICES REQUIRED: An online Veteran and employee town hall engagement platform with integrated Telephony is required to enable Executive Leaders to continuously gather input from Veterans and employees and to provide timely feedback using a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model. The platform will enhance the organization s ability to gather timely, actionable input from Veterans and employees by expanding participation through an accessible, scalable virtual engagement system that supports real-time two-way communication via online and Telephony access. It will enable leadership to quickly identify issues, monitor trends, and implement improvements based on stakeholder feedback, while ensuring reliable system performance, high availability, and responsive technical support. The solution will accommodate 12 to 16 scheduled town hall events annually under the IDIQ contract and provide robust reporting and analytics to evaluate participation, track feedback trends, and document outcomes. All services and data handling will comply with applicable federal, VA, and information security standards.
The platform must support push/pull technology to facilitate real-time crowdsourcing, allowing leaders to engage groups directly and obtain actionable insights that drive ongoing process improvements. An IDIQ contract structure will support 12 to 16 town hall events per year, with the exact number determined by management needs. The contractor must provide a cloud-based town hall engagement platform with integrated Telephony capabilities to support real-time communication between Executive Leaders, Veterans, and employees. The platform sha will enable large-scale virtual engagement, support push/pull interaction, and facilitate rapid collection of feedback used to inform organizational decisions. Services shall include all required hosting, technical support, training, and system maintenance under a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.
1.2
OBJECTIVES for a Veteran and employee town hall platform:
1.2.1.1
Virtual Town Hall Event Platform with integrated Telephony
1.2.1.2
Pre-Town Hall Event Automated voice message delivery to phone numbers. VHA to provide phone numbers in Microsoft excel format.
1.2.1.3
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Surveys.
1.2.1.4
IVR - Responses results real time during town hall.
2
HAM
1.2.1.5
Peer to Peer texting
1.2.1.6
Town hall participant response data is deliverable and accessible by VHA via HTTPS or FTPS protocol and allows for secure movement of collected data from VENDOR to VHA following FIPS 140.2 Compliance as required for data exchange when exchanging information defined as Protected Health Information (PHI) or Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Including download of Voice messages left by town hall participants in Microsoft Windows media player format.
1.2.1.7
Platform allows for post event reports of the following metrics within 24 hours of call completion prefer real time . Example of minimally required reports as follows:
1.2.1.7.1
Total calls made
1.2.1.7.2
Total calls answered
1.2.1.7.3
Total calls disconnected
1.2.1.7.4
Time call was active in Minutes
1.2.1.7.5
Percent of participants staying on the phone line for the duration of the call
1.3
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Base plus one (4) option years
1.4.1 Base year: 09/01/2026 08/31/2027
1.4.2 Option year 1: 09/01/2027 08/31/2028
1.4.3 Option year 2: 09/01/2028 08/31/2029
1.4.4 Option year 3: 09/01/2029 08/31/2030
1.4.5 Option year 4: 09/01/2030 08/31/2031
2. DEFINITIONS
HVAHCS: Hampton VA Health Care System
SaaS: Software as a Service (SaaS) - is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts application and makes them available to customers over the Internet.
IVR: Interactive Voice Response (IVR) - is an automated telephony system that interacts with callers, gathers information and routes calls to the appropriate recipients. An IVR system (IVRS) accepts a combination of voice telephone input and touch-tone keypad selection and provides the appropriate responses in the form of voice, fax, callback, email and other contact methods.
3. SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SaaS) required for:
Hampton VA Health Care System
100 Emancipation Dr
Hampton, VA 23667
4. CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
4.1
Software Deliverables
4.1.1
Provide Enterprise software survey platforms
4.1.2
Storage for data during event and up to 72 hours after
3
HAM
4.1.3
Software compatibility with multiple computing platforms
4.1.4
Platform able to accommodate 20,000 live users
4.1.5
Provide inbound line minutes for toll free number for 100 inbound lines
4.1.6
Provide pre-event robo calls for 60 second messages or less for up to 40,000 dials
4.1.7
Platform able to accommodate 10,000 live users
4.1.8
Provide inbound line minutes for toll free number for 50 inbound lines
4.1.9
Provide pre-event robo calls for 60 second messages or less for up to 40,000 dials
4.1.10
Surveys and survey questions to be internally developed by HVAHCS managers.
4.1.11
Ability to configure screens with VA logos
4.1.12
Data displayed in real-time
4.1.13
Screen data displayed in multiple formats: Console, tables, graphs and graphics
4.1.14
All Provided, and Collected Data is exportable.
4.2
PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION
4.2.1
Provide remote live or online training sessions for VA Employees. Training may be recorded.
4.2.2
Any system upgrades Vendor will provide training sessions free of charge
4.2.3
Assist managers in creating user manuals
4.2.4
Create pulse campaigns
4.2.5
Technical support online and via phone
5. PROPRIETARY INFORMATION STATEMENT
Data collected from Veterans and VA employees is the intellectual property of HVAHCS and may not be used by the contractor for any purpose.
6. SECURITY/PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS
6.1 Data is secure and not mixed with data from other companies.
6.2 Data available to employees of HVAHCS on a privilege basis.
6.2.1 COR to maintain eligible employee list for purposes of data access as approved by HVAHCS Assistant Director for Outpatient Services.
6.3 Backup systems to store data.
6.4 Data will be purged or moved from Contractor SaaS infrastructure to HVAHCS secure network storage within 72 hours of a completed Town Hall Event or upon notification by the HVAHCS COR.
7. VA RECORDS POLICY
All records (administrative and specific) created during the period of the contract belong to Hampton VA and must be returned to Hampton VA at the end of the contract or destroyed in accordance to the VHA Record Control Schedule (RCS)10-1.
4
HAM
8. RECORDS MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
8.1 Contractor shall comply with all applicable records management laws and regulations, as well as National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records policies, including but not limited to the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. chs. 21, 29, 31, 33), NARA regulations at 36 CFR Chapter XII Subchapter B, and those policies associated with the safeguarding of records covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a). These policies include the preservation of all records, regardless of form or characteristics, mode of transmission, or state of completion.
8.2 In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, all data created for Government use and delivered to, or falling under the legal control of, the Government are Federal records subject to the provisions of 44 U.S.C. chapters 21, 29, 31, and 33, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), as amended, and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended and must be managed and scheduled for disposition only as permitted by statute or regulation.
8.3 In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, Contractor shall maintain all records created for Government use or created while performing the contract and/or delivered to, or under the legal control of the Government and must be managed in accordance with Federal law. Electronic records and associated metadata must be accompanied by sufficient technical documentation to permit understanding and use of the records and data.
8.4 Hampton Veterans Affairs HealthCare System (HVAHCS) and its contractors
are responsible for preventing the alienation or unauthorized destruction of records, including all forms of mutilation. Records may not be removed from the legal custody of HVAHCS or destroyed except for in accordance with the provisions of the agency records schedules and with the written concurrence of the Head of the Contracting Activity. Willful and unlawful destruction, damage or alienation of Federal records is subject to the fines and penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. 2701. In the event of any unlawful or accidental removal, defacing, alteration, or destruction of records, Contractor must report to HVAHCS. The agency must report promptly to NARA in accordance with 36 CFR 1230
8.5 The Contractor shall immediately notify the appropriate Contracting Officer upon discovery of any inadvertent or unauthorized disclosures of information, data, documentary materials, records or equipment. Disclosure of non-public information is limited to authorized personnel with a need-to-know as described in the IDIQ Town Hall Platform contract. The Contractor shall ensure that the appropriate personnel, administrative, technical, and physical safeguards are established to ensure the security and confidentiality of this information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is properly protected. The Contractor shall not remove material from Government facilities or systems, or facilities or systems operated or maintained on the Government s behalf, without the express written permission of the Head of the Contracting Activity. When information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is no longer required, it shall be returned to HVAHCS control, or the Contractor must hold it until otherwise directed. Items returned to the Government shall be hand carried, mailed, emailed, or securely electronically transmitted to the Contracting Officer
5
HAM
or address prescribed in the IDIQ Town Hall Platform contract. Destruction of records is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED unless in accordance with Paragraph (4).
8.6 The Contractor is required to obtain the Contracting Officer's approval prior to engaging in any contractual relationship (sub-contractor) in support of this contract requiring the disclosure of information, documentary material and/or records generated under, or relating to, contracts. The Contractor (and any sub-contractor) is required to abide by Government and HVAHCS guidance for protecting sensitive, proprietary information, classified, and controlled unclassified information.
8.7 The Contractor shall only use Government IT equipment for purposes specifically tied to or authorized by the contract and in accordance with HVAHCS policy.
8.8 The Contractor shall not create or maintain any records containing any non- public HVAHCS information that are not specifically tied to or authorized by the contract.
8.9 The Contractor shall not retain, use, sell, or disseminate copies of any deliverable that contains information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 or that which is generally protected from public disclosure by an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act.
8.10 HVAHCS owns the rights to all data and records produced as part of this contract. All deliverables under the contract are the property of the U.S. Government for which [FACILITY] shall have unlimited rights to use, dispose of, or disclose such data contained therein as it determines to be in the public interest. Any Contractor rights in the data or deliverables must be identified as required by FAR 52.227-11 through FAR 52.227-20.
8.11 Training. All Contractor employees assigned to this contract who create, work with, or otherwise handle records are required to take VHA-provided records management training, Talent Management System (TMS) Item #3873736, Records Management for Records Officers and Liaisons. The Contractor is responsible for confirming training has been completed according to agency policies, including initial training and any annual or refresher training.
