SPECIAL NOTICE -

THIS IS A SPECIAL NOTICE. This Special Notice (SN) is for planning purposes only. The Social Security Administration has developed a draft statement of work (SOW) that is being provided to industry for review and comments. This should not be considered as an invitation for bid, a request for proposal, a request for quotation, or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire services. Responses to SSA's draft SOW will be treated as informational only. The Government will not pay for information or comments provided in response to this Special Notice or for any follow-up information received. The information provided may be used by SSA in developing its acquisition strategy and SOW. The draft SOW is attached to this SN. SSA anticipates issuing a solicitation document during the third or fourth quarter of this fiscal year for a multi-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for the SSA government-owned Video Broadcasting Monitoring System (VBMS). The VBMS consists of the Interactive Video Tele-Training (IVT) Network, the Visual Communications Control Center (VCCC), Audio/Video (A/V) Monitoring Walls, the Office of Communications (OCOMM) High Definition Broadcast Studio, and Social Security Television (SSTV) Network. SSA has a staff of approximately 62,000 employees with headquarters in Baltimore, Md. The field organization, which is decentralized to provide services at the local level, includes 10 regional offices and approximately 1,600 Field Office locations. Most SSA field offices have IVT classrooms. The VBMS IDIQ contract shall provide on-going nationwide maintenance services for government-owned hardware and software, support services, on-site technical support, equipment relocations and technical training. The contract shall provide the Agency the opportunity to expand and upgrade the VBMS by purchasing additional equipment, software and support services throughout the life of the contract. VBMS expansion will include new IVT broadcast studios and classrooms, additional SSTV locations, new A/V monitoring walls and VCCCs for any additional data centers. VBMS upgrades shall include high definition and the latest technological broadcasting equipment for the existing IVT and OCOMM studios. The contract shall provide the Agency with an optional solution to integrate the existing IVT network with a new training to the desktop solution. SSA seeks information and comments from industry for preliminary planning purposes only. This SN will allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the Government's requirement and to affirm that there is a general understanding of the requirement. This SN should not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, implied or otherwise, to issue a solicitation or to award a contract.. A detailed description of the procurement is contained in the attached DRAFT SOW. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website at www.fbo.gov. It is potential offerors responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any solicitation. Responses from industry MUST be submitted via email to ed.casswell@ssa.gov by May 13, 2011. The subject line of the submission should read "VBMS Special Notice". No phone calls will be accepted, nor will questions be answered with regards to this RFI.