Questions

6. Does the current vendor need to collect any information during the call?
7. What challenges does the City of San Jose face with telephone interpretation and video remote interpretation services?
8. Can you please provide additional information on the time of the day when most of the calls are likely to take place based on the historic data from years prior?
9. Does the City of San Jose have any issues using interactive voice response (IVR)?
10. Are there any additional requirements/skills that have not been mentioned already required from the interpreters?
11. Do you require identical SLAs for OPI and VRI?
12. Do you have any restrictions for VRI to OPI rollover?
13. What type of lead time would we have before going live once we have been chosen as a provider?
14. Will you require any custom reporting?
15. Will you use your own equipment, or you might have a need to lease/purchase it from us?
16. What devices are you planning on using?

6.
7. A major challenge for the City of San José is making language services seamless for residents such that an interpreter or translator is not a barrier for them to engage. This experience is especially difficult to orchestrate during emergency situations. Often, notifications will be sent to bilingual staff for translation. Especially in the context of critical information, making residents feel safe and prepared is a priority.
8. Due to the unpredictable nature of emergencies, it is difficult to predict the time of day when calls are likely to take place.
9. The IVR system must meet accessibility, equity, and usability standards for users. The City uses IVR in its contact center, meaning there is precedent for this technology in the City.
10. The Office of the City Manager has an established pool of pre-approved vendors for interpretation and translation services. These language access service vendors may be used by departments to acquire interpretation/translation services for all projects and meetings.
11.
12.
13. The lead time for full launch will be determined upon selection of the vendor. In general, the City plans to pilot a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) scoped with the selected vendor by August 2020, with future expansion depending on the success of the pilot.
14. The solution requirements include reporting for performance metrics.
15. Generally, the City plans to use its own equipment for the front-end components of the solutions. Other components of the solution are at the discretion of the vendor.
16. For the social media aspect of the RFP, the City plans to use laptop computers. For the door-to-door aspect of the RFP, the City plans to use mobile and tablet devices.

1. Is there particular training & documentation that we will need to obtain? What does this entail?
2. Can you please provide the estimated spend for Telephone Interpretation, Video Remote Interpretation, and On-Site Interpretation Services in previous year?
3. For telephone-based and video-remote interpreting services, are you able to provide a breakdown by language? For example, 80% of the minutes were Spanish and 20% were all other languages.
4. How many minutes of telephone-based interpreting services were billed in the previous year?
5. How many minutes of video remote interpreting services were billed in the previous year?

1. Once a vendor has been selected, we will deliver necessary training and documentation as part of the determined scope. The City does utilize an Interpreter Code of Ethics.

2. We do not have the data to provide this level of breakdown. In lieu, from March 2019 to February 2020, the City had a total of $70,000 in open purchase orders in place for language access services across the City’s pool of language services vendors. This is not necessarily the total spend for telephone, video, and on-site services as not all City language services are procured in this way. This number does not consider City staff bilingual pay.

3. 25% of San José residents are non-English speakers. The most common languages spoken by non-English speakers are Spanish (23% of total resident population), Vietnamese (10% of total resident population), Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese; 7% of total resident population). We would expect the minutes to be reflective of these percentages.

4. We were unable to find the data for this breakdown for emergency management.

5. We were unable to find the data for this breakdown for emergency management.

Is there an incumbent vendor for these services?

The City has multiple vendors utilized for language access services across Departments (not exclusive for this use case). Some include LanguageLine, JBI Studios, Morningside Translations, Purple Communications, TransPerfect Global, and others. Another option includes utilizing certified bilingual staff.

What is the expected volume of this contract?

Due to the unpredictable nature of emergencies and disasters, it is difficult to predict volume and impact of an emergency event.

What has been the biggest challenge for fulfilling services under this contract, or if this is a new contract, are there any challenges that you anticipate?

A major priority for the Office of Emergency Management through this initiative is to deliver translated notifications that are accurate and understandable by our audiences.

If so, what rates do they provide?

The rates depend on the type of service provided, the service provider utilized, and the turnaround time.

We are a startup and have multiple products but we donot have references. Are you willing to reconsider your clause 3.1 (1) requirement?

We are unable to waive a minimum requirement

1) Please elaborate on the scope for social media integration?

We are open to different options to improve the translation process with the City’s social media channels during emergencies. Currently during emergency events, communications get sent to bilingual staff to translate and are then copied and distributed into the City’s social media channels. The City uses Hootsuite to manage social media content, but not necessarily during these types of events due to the live and rapidly-evolving nature of the information. A solution would allow us to more effectively translate, distribute, and analyze emergency content in social media channels.