Request for Information Regarding the National Airspace System Voice Recorder Program (NVRP)

NAS Voice Recorder (NVR) Program (NVRP) Request for Information (RFI) # 1 Amendment 0003 documents that the due date has been changed to September 18, 2015. That is the only change to the Announcement. 1. Introduction/Purpose The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is soliciting interest from industry participants capable of providing and installing digital voice recorders for the NAS Voice Recorder Program (NVRP). The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) mission is to provide safe, secure, and efficient air traffic services to commercial, private, and military customers operating in the National Airspace System (NAS). Voice recording systems are a part of the communications infrastructure that supports every domain of Air Traffic Control within the NAS. The NAS Voice Recorder (NVR) will support the FAA’s goals of greater NAS capacity, improving system reliability and reducing operational costs by replacing the aging digital recording systems throughout the NAS. As part of the equipment suite at every ATC facility the voice recorders must meet the requirements of the FAA Information System Security (ISS) program, which leads to accreditation under the latest security standards. The NVR must be network-centric, provide remote access via Wide Area Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN), and provide local and enterprise management capability. For information and planning purposes, a new voice recorder procurement, termed the NVR, will begin the market analysis phase in 2015 to acquire the next generation of voice recorders that will interface and be compatible with the FAA’s voice switching systems. The NVR procurement will incorporate NextGen requirements and will likely undergo its Requirements Definition phase in the 2015-2016 timeframe. Development and release of the Screening Information Request (SIR), evaluation of vendor proposals, and assessment of vendor equipment is planned for 2016-2017, with source selection and contract award in the mid-2017-to-2018 timeframe. Under the planned resulting contract, NVR equipment will be delivered to the FAA and Department of Defense facilities around the world. Background information and draft requirements for NVR are provided in Attachment 1 titled Preliminary Program Requirements for NAS Voice Recorder (NVR) Program (NVRP). The FAA is beginning the market analysis phase with release of the RFI #1 and the questions contained in Attachment 2 titled NAS Voice Recorder (NVR) Program (NVRP) Request for Information (RFI) # 1 Survey Questions. 2. New Capabilities for NVR Following is a summary of new capabilities for the NVR that will be included in subsequent versions of the Requirements Document: • Provide remote access via LAN and WAN • Provide Cloud Storage • Provide pre-scheduled voice recording start and stop capabilities • Meet mandatory security standards • Increase channel capacity • Support state-of-the-art interfaces, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and compliance with the most current version of ED-137/4 “Interoperability Standard for VOIP ATM Components – Volume 4: Recording?) • NVR will require Network Time Protocol (NTP) time format • Provide enhanced audio capabilities • Implement text-to-speech and audio-to-text transcription functions 3. Nature of Competition This announcement is for information and planning purposes only, and the FAA is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain pertinent information to assist in the pre-acquisition stage. The acquisition strategy for this procurement has not been determined at this time; however, either an unrestricted competition or a set-aside may be chosen depending on the responses to a future acquisition market survey. Interested large and small businesses are encouraged to respond to the acquisition market survey. This RFI does not create a promise to award a contract; the Government will not provide compensation associated with the preparation and submittal of inquiries addressing this RFI. All information is to be submitted at no cost or obligation to the FAA. The FAA reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any input as a result of this market survey. Responses will not be returned. Respondents may not be notified of the results of this survey or of information submitted. A specific schedule with acquisition milestones such as draft and final Screening Information Request (SIR) release dates, proposal receipt dates, and anticipated contract award dates has not been determined. Also, the total estimated contract value for this effort has not been determined. When a solicitation is issued, notification will be provided on the FAA’s Contract Opportunities (FAACO) web page. It is the potential vendor’s responsibility to monitor the FAACO site for the release of any solicitation documents. 4. Submittal Requirements Please provide responses to the questions contained in Attachment 2. Responses are due by September 18, 2015 at 2:00 pm ET (this is a change to the due date) and must be submitted in softcopy to the CO at contact@example.gov. In addition, the FAA welcomes any comments on the requirements contained in Attachment 1. In particular, if any of the requirements exceed commercial standards and would drive a change to your product, FAA would welcome specific feedback and alternate language. If you're viewing this announcement from a source other than Federal Aviation Administration Contract Opportunities (FAACO), visit https://faaco.faa.gov/index.cfm/announcement/view/22180 to view the original announcement.