Customer Service Enterprise Portal

Overview

The State Fiscal Accountability Authority on behalf of SC Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking information from potential vendors that can develop, implement, and manage an enterprise portal system, or any notable component thereof, that can be integrated with the core enterprise system to provide a comprehensive solution with the ability to serve as a one stop shop for all customer business functions. The system must support the ability to create granular user roles for all agency users and must be capable of integration with other agency software and applications.

This RFI is an opportunity for respondents to share ideas and information with and potentially have one on one sessions between DNR and respondents. Respondents invited for such sessions should be prepared to provide insight into current transformation and innovation solutions and technologies and services anticipated to emerge. Respondents will be contacted if a session is needed.

Disclaimer

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation for future business, an offer for procurement, or any other type of current or future procurement or contractual action and is only intended to gather input. SFAA will not award a contract based on this RFI, nor will it pay for the information it receives. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by DNR to form a binding contract. No party is bound by the information provided in response to this RFI.

Respondents may provide market-based pricing structures and describe potential services or solutions for planning purposes only.

Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. DNR is not liable for any costs or fees incurred by the respondent in preparing its responses.

Confidentiality

If any of the information in the vendor response is considered confidential, proprietary, or a trade secret, it must be clearly indicated on the appropriate page of the vendor response. Release of such materials is governed by the South Carolina Freedom of Information Law, which in pertinent part requires the requester to provide specific justification as to why disclosure of particular information in the response would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the vendor. It is incumbent upon the vendor to specify company-specific trade secrets in need of protection where public disclosure of said trade secrets would harm the company.

Public Access to Procurement Information in South Carolina: -

SECTION 11-35-410. Public access to procurement information.

(A) Procurement information must be a public record to the extent required by Chapter 4, Title 30 (The Freedom of Information Act), except as otherwise provided by this code, and with the exception that commercial or financial information obtained in response to a request for proposals or any type of bid solicitation that is privileged and confidential need not be disclosed.

(B) Privileged and confidential information is information in specific detail not customarily released to the general public, the release of which might cause harm to the competitive position of the party supplying the information. Examples of this type of information include:

(1) customer lists;

(2) design recommendations and identification of prospective problem areas under an RFP;

(3) design concepts, including methods and procedures;

(4) biographical data on key employees of the bidder.

(C) The board shall promulgate regulations directing the public availability and disposition of documents submitted in response or with regard to a solicitation or other request where no award is made.

(D) For all documents submitted in response or with regard to any solicitation or other request, the person submitting the documents shall comply with instructions provided in the solicitation for marking information exempt from public disclosure. Information not marked as required by the applicable instructions may be disclosed to the public.

(E) A governmental body, with the approval of the appropriate chief procurement officer, may keep portions of a solicitation confidential and release the information to prospective offerors only upon execution of a nondisclosure agreement, provided the information is otherwise exempted from disclosure by law.

(F) If requested in writing before a final award by an actual bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor with regard to a specific intended award or award of a contract, the procurement officer shall, within five days of the receipt of any such request, make documents directly connected to the procurement activity and not otherwise exempt from disclosure available for inspection at an office of the responsible procurement officer. Without otherwise limiting any other exemptions granted by law, and except as provided herein, documents of and documents incidental to proposed contractual arrangements, including those used for contract negotiations, are not exempt from disclosure after the date notice of intent to award is posted, unless the notice is subsequently canceled.

Respondents needing confidential treatment for any proprietary information they furnish must provide a redacted version of their response. All material submitted shall be considered SFAA property and may be returned only at SFAA's option. Notwithstanding any respondent's copyright designations contained on responses, SFAA shall have the right to make copies and distribute responses internally and to comply with public record or other disclosure requirements under the provisions of any State or United States statute or regulation, or rule or order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

Respondents to this RFI shall not provide recommendations for specific courses of action and shall not be deemed an advisor or consultant to DNR. DNR will evaluate the information presented and determine any subsequent course of action, including contracting for implementation of DNR-determined work. Such work may be procured through any procurement method available, and respondents to this RFI may be considered for selection to perform such work.

Responses to this RFI will not be returned. Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review, nor will they be provided copies of it.

Statement of Need:

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) is seeking information from potential vendors that can develop, implement, and manage an enterprise portal system, or any notable component thereof, that can be integrated with the core enterprise system to provide a comprehensive solution. The system is to include, but not limited to, records and document management for:

Hunting and Fishing Licenses, Permits & Tags

Commercial & Recreational Permitting (Saltwater and Wildlife)

Lottery Hunt Management (Registration, Party/Point Management, Reporting)

Event Registration (Tournaments, Clinics, Training Classes, Public Programs)

Volunteer Management (Digital Waiver Forms, Posting Volunteer Opportunities, Digital Timesheets, Staff Verification of Digital Time Sheets)

Campsite Permitting/Reservations (WMA Campsite Permits)

Harvest Monitoring and Reporting

Watercraft Titling and Registration

Outboard Motor Titling

Magazine & Product Sales

Online Application Process for Licensing, Recreational, and Commercial

Online Application Process for Titling and Registration

Support sharing of data with Law Enforcement & Other Systems

Comprehensive set of Marketing Features

System Management Tools available to Authorized Users (user role functionality)

Dedicated Mobile App for Law Enforcement

Customer Mobile App for iOS and Android

E-Titling and E-Liens

E-Signature that meets the SC Electronic Submissions Act

OCR Capabilities with auto population

Reporting

The interest of the agency will be directed toward ease of use, intuitiveness of the portal, and ability of the portal to serve as a one stop shop for all customer business functions. The system must support the ability to create granular user roles for all agency users and must be capable of integration with other agency software and applications.

Background: SCDNR serves as the principal advocate for and steward of South Carolina's natural resources. SC State Law governs the agency's recording of titling and registering of watercraft and outboard motors for both individuals and other entities. The law governs the sales of licenses, permits, and tags for recreational and commercial hunting and fishing activities, as well as for scientific collection. This information is recorded, archived and used by appropriate personnel and the agency's Law Enforcement Division.

It is vital that the agency securely records and maintains Personal Identifying Information (PII) concerning boat ownership, licensing and permits, participation in lottery hunts and in programs such as Property Watch, harvest reporting, and event registrations. SCDNR must be able to report on our licensing and registration data so that marketing, regulation and programmatic improvement decisions can be made.

Customer Service Enterprise Portal Software System requirements:

Meets PCI and PII Requirements

Licensing and Permit Sales Management-Recreational and Commercial

Boat & Motor Titling and Registration Management

Internal and External Information Integration

Financial and Statistical and Other Reporting

Data Storage Requirements

Customer Relationship Management to include Marketing, Analytics, and Reporting

General Information

During this RFI process, SCDNR hopes to learn how various vendors are creating, implementing and managing customer service enterprise portals and related components. We anticipate a future solicitation may include multiple statements of work that may be awarded to a single respondent. As such, we encourages responses to this RFI from specialist providers.

The sole point of contact for this RFI is Monica Briseno, and can be reached as follows:

Monica Briseno

Procurement Manager

SC State Fiscal Accountability Authority

1333 Main Street, Suite 700

Columbia, SC 29201

(803) 737-3789

Respondents shall make no contact with other DNR personnel, except as permitted by the point of contact, concerning this RFI.

QUESTIONS FROM RESPONDANTS

All questions should be submitted in writing and received by the Procurement Officer for this Request for Information no later than date and time listed on Cover Page One. Email is the preferred method for submitting questions to the Procurement Officer, Title the "Subject Line" of your email, "RFI Questions 5400029821". Questions must be submitted in an easily copied format such as MS Word. Please do not place your questions in tables. Email .

Response Instructions

Respondents should provide their responses in native Microsoft Office or Adobe formatted documents (e.g., Microsoft Word or PowerPoint) via email to the Procurement Officer listed on Page One.

The response must be received by email on or before the date and time of the RFI Response Due listed one Page One. The time of receipt shall be the time recorded by the SFAA email system as received. Please adhere to the following convention for the email subject line in emailed RFI Responses:

[Company Name] - RFI 5400029821 Response

SFAA encourages respondents to focus their responses on DNR-specific elements instead of including generalized or marketing statements and collateral unnecessarily.

In order to facilitate the review of the responses content, please provide the information in exact order as listed below. Responses should be provided within the document directly below each question, maintaining the original formatting of this document.

Response Content:

Cover Letter

include company name, point of contact name, e-mail address, and telephone number.

Provide specific information about your services and products in relation to the following:

Communications

Identify and explain how your software informs customers of the status of their current privileges, transaction status, priority points for lottery system, etc.

Describe the use of communication channels your software uses with customers for marketing activities.

Describe your digital licensing process and how it integrates with Law Enforcement and other internal agency users.

Mobile Application

Provide information about your mobile application for customers purchasing licenses, permits, and tags and mobile application capabilities for Law Enforcement.

Provide details of how your software allows a customer easy access into their account to view current licenses, boat registrations and renewals or purchase additional licenses, permits, and tags and registration for events.

Interoperability between software modules

Describe the system's capability to communicate and integrate with other software vendors. (Law Enforcement Ticketing System; Document Management System - Perceptive; Education; Event Registration; County and State Tax Collection Agencies; Geographic Information System (GIS))

Accounting Information

Describe in detail the accounting system with emphasis on:

Automatic Renewals

Daily transaction information, including advanced financial reports and ability to deposit collected monies into specific accounts as required by law

Auditing

Provide information about real time licensing information to include license trends, number of license sales, churn rates, etc.

The extent to which your system can provide detailed deposit information by payment type (including type of credit card), locations, channels, dates, frequency, and the level of customization available; The format(s) available for users to use as supporting documentation for deposit entry.

Your ability to prepare data and files that support the Annual State Hunting and Fishing License Certification and securely maintain the same for US Department of the Interior audits.

The ability to research refunds/voids within the system.

Reporting

Describe your reporting system to include, but not limited to daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual, yearly and historical accounting reports, agency trend reports, ad hoc reporting capabilities, etc.

Security

Explain security protocols you have within your system to limit employee access to data and information.

Describe security used to protect PII and meet PCI standards.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Describe your use of AI regarding streamlining processes, reducing errors, and improving overall efficiency. Describe any customer service improvements utilizing AI with self-help chat bots, etc.

Unique Functionality

Explain any additional functionality that has not been previously discussed that will provide SCDNR tools to increase productivity and customer satisfaction.

Identify and describe tools that can be utilized in marketing campaigns.

Informational Needs

If a solicitation were issued in the future, describe specific information would you need in order to respond to the solicitation.

If you believe we missed any categories or capabilities, please include them in your Response.