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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Michael Doerzaph, Commander Support Services
Jacqueline Hobday, Director Emergency Communications 911
Jeff Anderson, Deputy CIO
Shanita Thompson, Director IT Operations
DATE: June 12, 2020
SUBJECT:
Requesting approval to award the Next Generation 911 (NG911) phone system RFP to Intrado Life & Safety Solutions Corporation for an amount not to exceed, $1,251,110 for 5 years, and include locked in pricing for an additional 5 years, to support the City of Aurora's public safety and comply with state and federal standards.
PURPOSE:
The City of Aurora seeks to deploy a Next Generation 911 (NG911) system to replace the existing Patriot 911 system to comply with next generation 9-1-1 standards, rules and policy. The current system will soon reach end-of-support as of December 31, 2020. This supports Aurora’s public safety mission while providing new features and functionality such as allowing voice, photos, videos, text messages from the public, through the 911 network and to first responders. This functionality is required by the state. The Illinois' Emergency Telephone System Act Section 3(b) (50 ILCS 750/3(b)) requires that every 911 system in Illinois must provide Next Generation 911 (NG911) service by July 1, 2020.
Since NG911 will be a statewide solution, each Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) must be able to obtain access to the statewide Emergency Services Internet Protocol Network (ESInet). Therefore, the City’s 911 system must be updated to be capable of communicating with the state of Illinois’ new ESInet.
BACKGROUND:
ETSB funding will be used to reimburse for this project as well as grant funding that was awarded to the city. The State of Illinois Department of State Police grant is to upgrade, install and configure the 911 call handling positions installed in the city's PSAP primary center. The grant amount awarded was $259,733.23. The upgrade to the Intrado's Viper as a Service solution will make our PSAP compliant to the Next Generation 9-1-1 National Emergency Number Association (NENA) i3 regulations. The current system is at the end of life for product, support, and maintenance on 12/31/20; therefore, a new system is needed.
The new system will provide interoperability between other emergency service agencies. State legislation on phone systems requires NG9-1-1 capabilities that the new system provides.
Following the Clearbox Process, Marketplace.city:
▪ Created the Market Landscape with 20+ companies
▪ Conducted Vendor outreach: publicly posted the opportunity and scope for interested vendors to read and complete in order to be included in the reporting and selection process
▪ Validated and analyzed Vendor response: There were 5 responses and 4 distinct products with pricing and references.
After narrowing down the responses to 4 distinct products that fitted the needs of the City's E911 center, the City of Aurora hosted 4 vendor demos and conducted vendor scoring. Vendor scoring resulted in down-selection to Intrado and Motorola, who consistently ranked 1 or 2 in the scoring. Additional questions were sent to Intrado and Motorola, including reference contracts and scope updates to include mapping features.
Scoring and down-selection overview was scored based upon the following criteria:
▪ Functional Requirements -- 25%
▪ Technical Requirements -- 25%
▪ User Experience / Capabilities -- 16.67%
▪ Service / Support / Training -- 16.67%
▪ Experience / References -- 8.33%
▪ Pricing (including add-ons) -- 8.33%
Intrado and Motorola consistently ranked 1 or 2 throughout the scoring. AT&T was ranked 3rd and Mercury was ranked 4th.
After using the Marketplace.city process, the City of Aurora functional stakeholders have determined Intrado’s Viper as a Service solution as the best fit for a Next Generation 911(i3) system. Through conversations with Intrado, Aurora managed a price reduction, fixed pricing beyond the 5-year scope and contract flexibility. This solution is to replace an 11-year-old system that is costly to maintain and comply with next generation 911 standards, rules and policy.
Some decision factors:
▪ Superior Product: The Viper system is the preferred system as it is easier to use and has all the features requested by the team, including remote and resiliency features.
▪ Technical & Maintenance: The product, support and maintenance specification all meet or exceed requirements.
▪ Product Roadmap: Viper has a clear product roadmap and all updates are included; Vesta, the other option for solution, does not have a clear roadmap as they support two product. There is risk that the Vesta product goes away or is “sunsetted”.
▪ References & Customer Base: Intrado has a large and growing customer base, including many local 911 centers (Kane County, TriCom, etc.)
▪ Technology Risk: Structured as a service, the City of Aurora is not responsible for any changes/upgrades to the hardware
DISCUSSION:
Intrado’s Emergency Response Systems are designed to natively support emergency call handling to meet the specific needs of emergency service providers and are engineered for high performance computing (HPC) and public safety grade environments. Intrado’s VIPER® provides the foundation for i3-compliant Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) applications yet fully supports the legacy network and operations environment.
Pricing / Contracting:
While Intrado was the highest priced solution at $1.4 million compared to staff's second choice of Motorola at $957,500, staff and Marketplace.city were able to negotiate the final cost of the Intrado solution down to $1,251,110 for the 5 year term and include Intrado's MapFlex mapping solution at no additional cost.
Savings Summary:
▪ Discounts off list price have been built into base pricing.
▪ MapFlex mapping solution pricing reduced from $42,120 annually to zero.
▪ 10 year pricing lock includes an additional 15% in savings; $43,200 in savings per year, $215,100 savings over 5 years, and $430,200 in savings over 10 years.
▪ Break even with alternate solution is in Year 3 (2023).
▪ 10 Year pricing aligns with life expectancy of system; Aurora has 5 year opt out and hardware refresh at Year 6 with no additional cost
Pricing / Contracting Details:
Contract Type: Solution as a Service
Contract Duration: 5-year contract with pricing locked in for 10 years
Contract Pricing:
|
Year |
Cost |
Description |
|
1 |
$287,750 |
Software, Configuration & Training Services |
|
Grant |
($259,733.23) |
State Grant for Primary PSAP |
|
Net Total Year 1 |
$28,016.77 |
Due 2021 |
|
2-5 |
$240,840 annually |
Software as a Service Payment |
|
Total Year 1-5 |
$991,376.77 |
Includes Grant |
|
6-10 |
$240,840 |
Hardware refresh in year 6 |
Total pricing and cost of $1,251,110 for the initial 5-year contract was budgeted and available in the 2020 Information Technology Other Services/Wireless ETSB account 211-3537-421.38-13. Grant funding of $259,733.23 is pending award. The award letter is attached and has already has been received by Naperville who are the Administrators of our ETSB. Aurora funded Year 1 is $28,016.77, and not due until 2021.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
Impact on Departments/ Divisions: Maintenance - Eases the burden on in-house staff; software vendor provides automatic updates and manages software patches. Allows 911 team to more efficiently and effectively handle 911 calls.
Impact on Technology:
- Structured as a service, the City of Aurora is not responsible for any changes/upgrades to the hardware or software
- VIPER® provides the foundation for i3-compliant Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) applications yet fully supports Aurora's legacy network and operations environment.
- Integrates with other APD systems
Impact on the public:
- Citizens in need of emergency assistance will be able to transmit photos, videos and other existing and future forms of broadband data and applications, in addition to voice, to 911 professionals
- NG911 will improve the public’s access to emergency response services by allowing 911 centers to exchange additional data and information with responders, improve call processing times, enhance situational awareness, and increase responder safety,
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is recommended to approve the aforementioned purchase.
cc: Information & Technology Committee
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
title
A Resolution requesting approval to award the Next Generation 911 (NG911) phone system RFP to Intrado Life & Safety Solutions Corporation for an amount not to exceed, $1,251,110 for 5 years, and include locked in pricing for an additional 5 years, to support the City of Aurora's public safety and comply with state and federal standards.
body
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora Police Department's E911 division seeks to deploy a Next Generation 911 (NG911) system to replace the existing Patriot 911 system to comply with next generation 9-1-1 standards, rules and policy; and
WHEREAS, the current system will soon reach end-of-support as of December 31, 2020, and
WHEREAS, the Illinois' Emergency Telephone System Act Section 3(b) (50 ILCS 750/3(b)) requires that every 911 system in Illinois must provide Next Generation 911 (NG911) service by July 1, 2020, and
WHEREAS, the Information Technology Division and the Aurora Police department performed an request for proposal through the Marketplace.city clearbox process, and
WHEREAS, Intrado Life & Safety Solutions Corporation Viper Service as a Solution for 5 years in an amount not to exceed $1,251,110 and a locked in price for an additional five years was chosen, and
WHEREAS, the purchase was budgeted amount in the 2020 Information Technology Other Services/Wireless ETSB account 211-3537-421.38-13, as well as Grant funding of $259,733.23 is pending award, and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Aurora Code Section 2-335(a)(3) the desired product is provided by only one source in this situation.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: requesting approval to award the Next Generation 911 (NG911) phone system RFP to Intrado Life & Safety Solutions Corporation for an amount not to exceed, $1,251,110 for 5 years, and include locked in pricing for an additional 5 years, to support the City of Aurora's public safety and comply with state and federal standards.