Automated Fee Machines - AFM

FBO SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FEDBIZOPPS ANNOUNCEMENT SOURCES SOUGHT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) AG-7604-S-15-0053 Automated Fee Machines AFM As prescribed in FAR 15.209(c), the following provision is inserted: IAW FAR 52.215-3 --Request for Information (Oct 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although proposal and offeror are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of identifying information on Mobile Applications, Online (Internet) Venues, Low Frequency Beacons, Automated Fee Machines or Other Systems that have already been developed or may be modified from other commercial industry solutions to meet the agency requirement as listed below: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, is seeking sources interested in providing information for innovative and state-of-the-art, alternative, non-cash payment methods in which visitors may pay for day-use recreation fees in designated fee sites throughout the nation. This will not apply to overnight sites such as campgrounds or cabin/lookout rentals. These methods must provide ease of use via electronic payment. This RFI is for interested parties to provide information for any mobile applications, online (internet), print-at-home, low energy beacon, automated fee machine, and/or any other technology in which visitors may easily pay day use fees without handling cash. These methods would also need to include web-based and/or mobile methods for Forest Service personnel to store, retrieve, monitor, report and enforce said fee payments. Any method must also provide for security that would protect any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and must comply with security protocols for electronic transmission of financial data and/or other compliance required. Please be specific in your response. Interested respondents may respond to all or part of this RFI. REQUIREMENTS Responses to this RFI are to include suggestions on design approaches, solutions provided, as well as any benefits or additional services your product could provide with regards to the following specifications: I. MOBILE APPLICATIONS 1) What mobile operating systems would your application be compatible with-iOS, Android and/or other mobile operating systems? Respondents please also provide a thorough list of compliances, security, reporting, user interface, project management tools, enforcement, and/or other methodologies offered. For example: 2) What mobile solutions would your organization provide for transactions via mobile devices? 3) What security protocols would you put in place to protect personally identifiable and financial information? 4) How might your application process payments and receipt of payment? 5) How might payments be paid directly to the U.S. Treasury? 6) How might Forest Service personnel verify that a day-use fee has been paid? 7) If a visitor wants to pay on-site, yet mobile/cellular connectivity is unavailable, how might your application handle this situation? 8) How might management receive and run reports? 9) How might your application provide geographic and/or other analytics? 10) How might your mobile application provide for other options, such as maps, weather, print-at-home, or any other possible future upgrade? 11) Please describe any other processes, methodologies, tools or benefits not previously mentioned that your application might also provide. 12) How might your application interface with Oracle Retailer? II. ONLINE PRINT AT HOME (INTERNET) PURCHASING Online purchasing applications must comply with all current regulations regarding financial transactions over the internet. Respondents, please provide a thorough list of compliances, security protocols, and other functions and/or methodologies. For example: 1) How might the application process payments and receipt of payment? 2) How might your application ensure privacy and security of personally identifiable and financial information? 3) How might payments be paid directly to the U.S. Treasury? 4) How might Forest Service personnel verify if a day pass has been paid? 5) How might management receive and run reports? 6) How might your application provide geographic and/or other analytics? 7) How might your application provide for other options, such as maps, weather, or any other possible future upgrade? 8) Please describe any other processes, methodologies, tools or benefits not previously herein mentioned that your application might also provide. 9) How might your application interface with Oracle Retailer? III. LOW ENERGY BEACON TECHNOLOGY Low energy beacon technology is another possible solution to provide for the payment of day use fees and other services to visitors and Forest Service personnel. Respondents, please provide a thorough list of compliances, security protocols, and other functions and/or methodologies. For example: 1) How does the low energy beacon technology comply with all current FCC regulations regarding financial transactions? 2) How might the application process payments and receipt of payment? 3) How might your application ensure privacy and security of personally identifiable or collective financial information? 4) How might payments be paid directly to the U.S. Treasury? 5) How might Forest Service personnel verify if a day pass has been paid? 6) How might management receive and run reports? 7) How might your application provide geographic and/or other analytics? 8) How might your application provide for other options, such as maps, weather, or any other possible future upgrade? 9) Please describe any other processes, methodologies, tools or benefits not previously herein mentioned that your application might also provide. 10) How might your application interface with Oracle Retailer? IV. AUTOMATIC FEE MACHINE (AFM) 1) Provide Forest Service with AFM units for select forests to have available on site for visitors to make payments for day use fees. The AFMs must provide documenting and reporting sales transactions, user role access control, product item management, and production of reports for all functions and data in the system. It is also a goal to provide installation, warranty, training and support of the AFM units. 2) The AFMs must be compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (requirements for consumer data protection in credit card processing); requirements of OMB Circular A-123 ("Management's Responsibility for Internal Control"), Federal Information Systems Management Act (FISMA) IT Security, Americans Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requirements. 3) The AFMs must have all necessary software, hardware, installation, integration, maintenance, training, and technical support to operate the units. The AFMs would include compliance with the relevant federal IT security, credit card security, and other federal requirements described in The AFM units and associated software are to be used in the collection of fees for day use sites. They must accept only credit cards for payment, print receipts, track fee collection details; and capture and transmit transactional data for collection activity and sales reporting. 4) Connectivity - Fee collection locations may be in areas that lack good infrastructure, particularly with respect to internet connectivity. Wireless internet availability may or may not available, and satellite communications may be necessary. 5) Configuration may include, but not be limited to, some of the following: Product/items for sale, including pricing, revenue accounts, question prompts for memo or statistical data collection, receipt printing, tender types accepted, receipt configuration printing, user roles and access controls, credit card merchant identification (ID) account number, authorization, and batch processing. 6) PCI Compliance for Services - Providers of the services in this section must provide services in a PCI-compliant manner. 7) Offline Store and Forward - When connectivity is not available to obtain authorization, the AFM software must securely (according to PCI DSS Standards) capture, process, store, and forward the credit card request upon reconnection with the network to the authorizing bank. 8) Merchant ID Account - The AFM unit software must use a Merchant ID account obtained from the US Treasury's Financial Management Systems (FMS) designated merchant processing bank and platform (provided by Vantiv) for each collection location where the connectivity is unique or isolated. 9) Reports - The AFM must produce a variety of reports to assist with transaction reporting. Minimum required reports include: - Financial reports based on product purchased by day of sale and tender type processed (i.e. authorized credit card) - Credit card sales settlement report must correlate to the bank's auto close settlement time - Monthly, annual, and fiscal financial summaries - Detailed record of transactions through a transaction log - Refund reports - Transactions stored in the offline mode and then rejected 10) Transactional Sales Data Reports - The AFM software must generate reports by any combination of the following user selected data: - Unique machine identifier - Date and time of transaction - Unique transaction id and number - Product(s) sold - Transaction type (sale, refund, exchange, etc.) - Total charge per transaction - Credit Card Merchant Identification Number (MID) 11) User Accounts - The AFM must generate reports to provide a complete list of the following: - All authorized users with their role - All deactivated users - Date and time of user account creation - Last user account modified date 12) Remote Monitoring - AFMs must have the capability to be monitored remotely to ensure the machine is functioning properly and to retrieve reports. 13) Technical Requirements of AFM Hardware - The following section documents requirements of all hardware delivered under this SOW must be included. 14) Cabinet - The AFM cabinet and layout of the display and components must be designed to be durable to withstand harsh environmental conditions, user friendly to the customer and employee maintaining the machine, and be tamper/theft resistant. The cabinet and all components used by the visitor to complete a sale (i.e. display, keypad, etc.) must meet Americans Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility requirements (See Section 4.3) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (see Section 4.2). 15) Pedestal for the Cabinet - The USFS prefers the contractor to use of any existing pedestals to install their cabinets on in order to reduce costs, the cabinet must fit on the existing pedestal or space; however, if the contractor proposes an alternative design that is more cost effective and upon USFS technical review and approval, the pedestal must fit into the existing space. The AFM must be securely attached to the pedestal and does not allow removal without opening up the cabinet door. 16) Cabinet Back-up Battery - The cabinet should be able to accommodate a deep cycle marine battery that is used as a back-up power source. 17) Environment Requirements - The AFM and case must be weather resistant with the ability to function in extreme high and low temperatures, high humidity, dusty, and wet environments since self-pay machines are located outside. They must be able to withstand extreme environmental conditions causing corrosion, rust, melting of components, paint peeling, and fading. 18) Security of AFM - The AFM must have a vandal resistant case with a secure locking system for access into the machine. The door must be resistant to prying or drilling and able to be secured to a permanent pedestal. 19) Display The machine must have a screen with visual prompts displaying rates and options that is Section 508 compliant. The display screen must be user friendly, easily read from different angles and under varying lighting conditions (including bright, low or no light), resistant to extreme weather conditions, and modular for easy removal and servicing. 20) Keypad - The machine shall have a reliable Section 508 compliant keypad which allows visitors to enter numbers for the number of items purchased. 21) Voice Prompt - If the AFM uses a voice prompt for the visitor, it must meet the Section 508 compliance requirements. 22) Receipt Printer - The AFM must have a printer for printing receipts, collection and compliance reports with the following features: 23) Receipt Paper - Receipt shall be printed on durable, weather resistant paper stock that is resistant to fading or turning black in extreme temperatures/sunlight. Each receipt printed by the receipt printer must be readable for seven (7) days of direct sun in the dashboard of a vehicle. 24) Paper stock with USFS Messaging - The contractor may provide a proposal for paper stock with a pre-printed USFS message on the back of the paper which could include the USFS and/or other local logos as a watermark. 25) Magnetic Stripe Reader - Each AFM unit must include a magnetic stripe reader capable of reading the magnetic stripe on a credit card. The magnetic stripe reader must meet the PCI DSS requirements. Machines must be Chip and PIN (EMV) compliant. 26) Power - The AFM shall at a minimum meet the Underwriters Laboratories (U/L) electrical Safety Standard 60950-1 with an international protection rating classification of IP54 or greater. The power supply shall have a circuit breaker and indicator to identify the power is on or off. 27) UPS - Each AFM must include an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) capable of allowing the system, including all peripherals, to safely shut down, if necessary, and protect the AFM against electrical power surges and brown outs. 28) Surge Suppressor - Each AFM must include a surge suppressor that will allow the AFM and UPS to survive a power surge, including a lightning strike. 29) Solar Power - The contractor must provide an option that the AFMs have a solar power source. 30) Please describe any other processes, methodologies, tools or benefits not herein previously mentioned that your AFM might provide. 31) How might your application interface with Oracle Retailer? V. OTHER METHOD Please suggest any other method or technology which has not herein already been identified which might provide for the innovative payment of day-use fees. Method must comply with all current Federal regulations regarding Financial Transactions, as well as security protocols when dealing with personally identifiable and collective financial information. Respondents please provide thorough list of compliances, security, reporting, user interface, project management tools, enforcement, and/or other methodologies offered. RESPONSES Responses are to include the following: a) Name of corporate point of contact, telephone number, full mailing address, e-mail address, CAGE Code, NAICS identifier and any other pertinent information. b) Corporate competencies and past performance experience with regard to development and production of government and/or commercial RF sensor monitoring systems. c) Whether your company's interest in the RSM program as a system developer prime contractor, a subcontractor or a vendor of components or services. d) Describe any independent Research and Development programs applicable to Remote Site Monitoring. e) Omitted f) Companies should present their responses in the form of a whitepaper no more than 25 pages in length describing the information requested in this RFI. Specification sheets and product information may also be provided in addition to the whitepaper. g) Responses shall be in Microsoft WORD h) The format of your response shall be as follows: 1. Font size of Times New Roman 12 or a font of similar size and clarity. 2. 8.5 X 11 paper with 1 inch margins on all sides. 3. While there is no page limit, overly verbose qualification statements are strongly discouraged. i) Companies should submit their response no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on 06/15/15. j) Companies will submit their responses electronically to mdesouto@fs.fed.us, E-mail file sizes shall not exceed 6Mbs. k) Technical questions may be directed to Todd Harbin, via email at tharbin@fs.fed.us. DISCLAIMER This Request for Information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, request for quotation, request for proposal, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire goods or services. Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the USDA Forest Service in developing its acquisition strategy and Statement of Work/Statement of Objectives and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI. Interested parties capable of providing this item, which meet or exceed the above requirements, shall provide a Statement of Capability (SOC) that demonstrates the existing capability to provide, modify, and sustain the system and a description of system capabilities. A rough order of magnitude (ROM) is requested as part of the RFI and will be used as market research. The SOC shall be unclassified and the information submitted should be pertinent to, and identify system capability as related to the technical effort requested above. A limit of fifty (25) pages is imposed for the responses. Responses should be received by close of business June 22, 2015. Testing will probably determine the most effective system. Please e-mail all Information and SOC to the Contracting Officer, Michael DeSouto, at mdesouto@fs.fed.us . For programmatic questions or technical questions contact Todd Harbin, via email at tharbin@fs.fed.us. This synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract, nor does the Government intend to directly pay for any information or responses submitted as the result of this synopsis.