Transcription Services for the Department of State

This Sources Sought Notice is posted under SAM.gov, under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541930. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Quotation (RFQ), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFQ, IFB or RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any supply or service. Further, the U.S. Government is not seeking quotes, bids or proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this notice. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice. Submittals will not be returned to the responder. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation in any future RFQ, IFB, or RFP, if any is issued. 1. SCOPE OF WORK a. The Contractor shall provide dedicated personnel and furnish all labor, equipment and materials necessary to perform full-time transcription services for the Department of State and the Secretary of State. Types of transcription services include, but are not limited to: speeches, remarks including with foreign minister counterparts, Congressional testimony, briefings including the Spokesperson's daily press briefings, meetings, interviews, press conferences, news reports or portions of broadcast programs, teleconference briefings with Department officials, digital video conferences, Washington and New York Foreign Press Center briefings and events, and Office of International Media Engagement Hub briefings. This work would be under the direction of the State Department's Office of Press Relations, Bureau of Global Public Affairs. The Contractor shall provide transcription services for a wide variety of settings at the State Department and as necessary on location in other areas of the world and shall have processes for the prompt taking and receipt of audio from all such locations. Settings in the State Department include but are not limited to the following areas: the Press Briefing Room, the Secretary's office and other diplomatic rooms in the State Department, the State Department Studio, the C Street Entrance and other outside areas, the Spokesperson's office or the office of any other staff member. Settings throughout the country may include but are not limited to: Andrews Air Force Base, the United Nations Headquarters, a variety of temporary press office facilities and a variety of indoor and outdoor locations where press conferences may be given or meetings held. Settings abroad may include but are not limited to hotel rooms, embassy offices, foreign ministries, and aboard an aircraft. The demanding, high-profile nature of this transcription work - that is, providing the authoritative public record of the Secretary of State and Department Spokesperson's remarks, which are used to articulate foreign policy and respond to events around the globe - requires a highly experienced team of professionals. The Secretary of State's remarks both at home and during frequent overseas trips are transcribed in near or real time. All finished transcripts are sent to a direct mail list of over 1,000 subscribers and posted on the Department's website (www.state.gov). Accuracy and rapid turnaround times are critical, in order to ensure the Department's public messaging is reflected in 24/7 news cycle coverage. b. All work shall be performed in a businesslike manner and according to the highest professional standards. The Contractor shall at all times promptly provide as many dedicated transcribers, and maintain such staff and equipment as may be necessary, for the prompt production and furnishing of satisfactory transcripts. To achieve this, the Contractor shall have sufficient dedicated staff available to provide 24/7, 365-day coverage as required, to allow near or real time transcription of the Secretary's public events, and those of other senior Department officials, in Washington and during the Secretary's frequent and extensive overseas travel in all time zones. c. The Contractor shall provide the two-three dedicated onsite personnel, as requested by the Contracting Office Representative (COR), on a rotating daily basis during standard work hours or at any other time circumstances warrant. Outside standard business hours, Contractor personnel shall be available for duty onsite at the State Department, or remotely if appropriate, within 30 minutes from the time of initial notification by the Office of Press Relations. d. The Contractor must be capable of expanding the pool of available staff to include a minimum of six fully trained transcribers capable of surging to meet demand and support multiple, often overlapping events on a given day. The expanded pool must be capable of working remotely. On many occasions, activity continues in the State Department even when the Secretary and his staff are traveling. The Contractor must be able to meet these competing sets of requirements simultaneously, maintaining a full operation to cover events at the Department, including the Spokesperson's daily press briefings, and in support of the Secretary's travel domestically and overseas. e. The transcriber pool must be primarily dedicated to supporting this contract and must be available to support all requirements when requested by the Office of Press Relations. 2. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS a. The Contractor shall furnish all necessary equipment and supplies which shall be solely dedicated to the support of this contract. This includes any equipment not provided by the Government. Working space will be provided by the Government in the State Department (HST) building at 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC. The Government will provide computer terminals required for onsite transcription. Transcription from digital audio files and using encrypted flash drives may be required. b. Contractor personnel, both onsite and remote, shall have the capability to record from phone or TV; receive and transfer digital audio files via email, google drive or other established site sharing means; transcribe those recordings; and send a prepared text back to the originator. During the Secretary of State's overseas travel, the Contractor shall have an established process to coordinate with Embassy personnel and the Secretary's travel team on audio transmission, according to a notional schedule of the Secretary's public events and media engagements. Contractor personnel shall handle spontaneous requirements and situations where sound amplification systems are not available or visual contact with the speaker(s) is impossible. c. Recording equipment must be highly portable, redundant in nature or application to ensure recording capability is not impaired by mechanical or electrical failure, and operator monitored to ensure proper recording. Electronic recording systems must be unobtrusive and of such quality as to ensure clear voice recordings in a wide variety of situations and environments noted previously, including question-and-answer sessions where they may be located at some distance from the speakers, with foreign officials whose first language is not English, and via interpretation. Podium or desk microphones cannot be used under this contract. d. Contractor personnel must be capable of working on PC equipment and using Microsoft Outlook and Word to transcribe and transmit finished transcripts. 3. TRANSCRIPTION METHODOLOGY a. State Department transcripts of public events are made available to the general public and global press corps as an authoritative record of U.S. foreign policy. As such, accuracy and precision, while maintaining fast turnaround times, are crucial. These requirements dictate that only the best-qualified, experienced transcribers should be assigned to satisfy the demanding and somewhat unusual requirements of this contract. b. Transcriptions shall be in a single copy submission on a RUSH COPY basis, as directed by the COR. Contractor personnel will distribute electronically to an internal Department distribution list - draft for release /or/ internal only transcripts, as required. The Contractor must provide transcripts quickly and accurately and shall work directly with the State Department Office of Press Relations in editing and correcting transcripts. For example, a 30- to 40-minute press conference should be transcribed and be near 100 percent accurate within 60-90 minutes after completion of the press conference. To do so, Contractor personnel must be able to begin transcription while the event is in progress, if available by feed, and reporting remains underway. Final authority for the form and content of the transcript rests with the COR, and the Contractor's transcribers are responsible for producing transcripts to the satisfaction of the COR and his/her leadership chain in the Department. On days when there are multiple transcripts (volume per week can average 30-40 transcripts of varying lengths and complexity), Contractor personnel shall have a proven method to make determinations on priority order and organize workflow to maximize efficiency and output. c. All transcripts will be proofread for errors in spelling and punctuation by Contractor personnel prior to delivery, and names and titles, including those of foreign leaders and locations, should be accurate and conform to the Department's standard spellings. Occasionally, audio files that require transcription will be provided from other sources. Contractor personnel must be capable of providing a quick and accurate transcript from this source, provided the audio file is of acceptable quality to allow for an accurate transcription. d. All transcripts will be prepared in conformity with the requirements of the Statement of Work. The following basic requirements apply: All transcripts are to be typed single-spaced. The first page will have a set masthead, including the U.S. Department of State and the Office of the Spokesperson, the title and place of the event, the start time of the event, and the names of the individuals involved. The index (for press briefings) or the first paragraphs of the transcript (for press interviews and remarks) will follow. Individually numbered pages will then follow consecutively. The COR will provide approved templates. The Government reserves the right to request an alternate format. However, any changes to the standard format will be provided in writing to the Contractor at least 30 minutes before the start of the event. If format changes are required after the completion of the transcript, the cost for such changes will be borne by the Government. 4. Response Package submissions are limited to no more than 15 pages in length, single spaced and 12 font minimum, demonstrating its capabilities in reference to this requirement. The Government prefers that your firm submit its response in Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, or a combination of both and the document must be searchable. The capability package shall be sent by email to: the Contract Specialist, Robert Namejko (namejkorb@state.gov) and the Contracting Officer Michael Henderson (HendersonMP@state.gov). Your email subject line should reflect: - Firm's Name, Response to the Sources Sought The size limit of each email, with all attachments, cannot exceed nine (9) megabytes (MB) due to the Government's email system restrictions. Do not send zipped files as the Government please provide: Please provide your Company profile to include name of your firm, point of contract, phone number, email address, CAGE code, and UEI. Respondents must also indicate whether they qualify as a Small Business, SDB, 8(a), EDWOSB, WOSB, HUBZone, or SDVOSB. In addition, please provide list of current contract numbers for similar wotk.