Small Internet Protocol Terminal Voice Switch

The purpose of this Amendment 0001 is to extend the Request for Information (RFI) closing date from October 31, 2016 to November 3, 2016. This action is necessitated as a result of inquiries received from industry against the initial positing dated September 16, 2016. The Government responses to questions received from industry are provided in the enclosed attachment. Please review the enclosed attachment which can be downloaded from the following URL: http://faaco.faa.gov/. All other information remains unchanged. End of Amendment 0001 --------------------------------------------------------------- This Market Survey/Request for Information is issued in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acquisition Management System (AMS) Section 3.2.1.2.1. 1. Introduction and Purpose The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) mission is to provide safe, secure, and efficient air traffic separation services to commercial, private, and military customers operating in the National Airspace System (NAS). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is soliciting interest from industry participants capable of providing and installing Internet Protocol (IP) based Air Traffic Control (ATC) voice switches at facilities supporting terminal and Alaska Flight Service operations. The ATC voice switch is a mission-critical part of the communications infrastructure that supports every domain of ATC within the NAS. Voice switches provide a configurable, flexible and user-selectable combination of air-to-ground (A/G) and ground-to-ground (G/G) voice communications to allow conversations between controllers, pilots (via radio link) and other ground-based facilities. 2. Desired Attributes The FAA is soliciting information about the current market place availability of a network-based Voice Communications System (VCS) in the small terminal environment with the following high-priority attributes. • Cost effective replacement of existing analog based switch • Requires little or no development prior to use in an ATC environment • High reliability with redundancy options also available • Low supportability costs • Low risk of not being able to enter and pass formal testing (without significant development) • ED-137 compliance • Allows integration into a flexible communications routing network that supports features such as A/G asset sharing Physical space may be limited in the smaller facilities. The FAA would like the vendors to respond with this space limitation and the above attributes in mind. Please review and respond to Attachment 1 titled “Small IP Terminal Voice Switch Request for Information (RFI) # 1 Survey Questions?. The results of this RFI will be used by the FAA to gather information and understand the state of commercially-available IP-based VCSs suitable for use in an ATC terminal environment and as input to future FAA VCS strategies. 3. Nature of Request 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 in regards to potential ATC VCS solutions. 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. The FAA may elect to meet with one or more of the RFI respondents independently to ask additional questions. The FAA will use the information as input in determining potential future VCS strategies. 4. Submittal Requirements Please provide responses to the questions contained in Attachment 1. Responses are due no later than 2:00pm EDT, October 31, 2016 and must be submitted in softcopy via email to the Contracting Officer, Dana D. Brooks, at contact@example.gov. All responses must be provided in the English language. It is the contractor’s responsibility to appropriately mark any proprietary information. 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/25862 to view the original announcement.