Carrier Services RFP to Reduce Voice Costs

As of May 2005, a Request for Proposal ( RFP) is being developed to solicit bids from vendors for Outbound Interstate, Intrastate, International, Operator Assisted, and Directory Assistance Services from campus PBX (Private Branch Exchange) and Centrex locations; Calling Card Services, Toll-Free Inbound and Outbound Services, and Teleconferencing Services.

The RFP encompasses three main objectives:

• Provide PBX outbound call traffic physical path redundancy between the University campus, the voice carriers, and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
• Provide vendor diversity between the University campus and the PSTN. In order to accomplish this objective, UC Davis will award two or more vendors some portion of traffic for outbound calling services.
• Provide a reduction in overall voice carrier costs for all carrier services.

  Due to recent and ongoing changes in the telecommunications environment, this RFP will enable Communication Resources to reduce its fiscal and operational costs for all carrier services provided to campus while improving the quality and reliability of those services. The RFP is in the final edit stage and will be distributed to vendors for response in late June. The new services are expected to be available in August 2005.