Unified Communication Systems - Questions and Answers No. 2

Agency:	Shelby County
State:	Tennessee
Type of Government:	State & Local
NAICS Category:	541512 - Computer Systems Design Services 541519 - Other Computer Related Services
Posted Date:	Mar 13, 2026
Due Date:	Mar 26, 2026
Solicitation No:	SB-I000900A
Original Source:	Please Login to View Page
Contact information:	Please Login to View Page
Bid Documents:	Please Login to View Page

Bid Title:

SB-I000900A Questions and Answers No. 2

Category:

Information Technology

Status:

Open

Publish Date:

Friday, March 13, 2026 - 2:00pm

Close Date:

03/26/2026 - 2:30pm

Contact Person:

Candace Jackson

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Shelby County

Tennessee

Lee Harris, Mayor

Questions & Answers No.2

Issued: March 13, 2026

SB-I000900A

Unified Communication Systems Replacement

(Information Technology)

TO ALL PROSPECTIVE BIDDERS:

The following questions were submitted by potential bidders. Our answers are listed below in

red.

1. Please confirm whether this solicitation is for cloud service/subscriptions only,

equipment (endpoints/devices) only, or a combined solution inclusive of service,

equipment, and professional services. Combined solution of service, equipment and

professional services.

2. Does Shelby County Government intend to retain and reuse any existing telephony

equipment (for example, desk phones, conference phones, analog devices, gateways,

paging/intercom systems, elevator or door phones)? Shelby County intends to reuse as

much telephony equipment as possible. Current environment includes J series Avaya

desktop phones that will be reused. There are also Avaya 96xx series phones in the

environment that will need to be replaced. Analog gateway devices, paging and

intercoms, elevators and door phones should also be compatible with requested

solution and will be reused.

3. If existing equipment will be retained, please provide the manufacturer, model number,

approximate quantities, and connection type (analog, Session Initiation Protocol, Power

over Ethernet, etc.), if available. Avaya J-series telephones (approximately 3000)

4. If existing devices are reused, is full feature functionality required on those devices, or

will limited calling functionality be acceptable for certain endpoints? No. Shelby County

is aware of feature limitations on the phones intended for reuse.

5. Will Shelby County Government allow or request product demonstrations as part of the

evaluation process? If so, please advise preferred format (remote or onsite), anticipated

duration, and areas of focus (for example, Unified Communications as a Service features,

Contact Center capabilities, reporting/analytics, and emergency calling workflows).

demonstrations will be allowed for the evaluation process, if the county desires.

6. Do you have an approximate number of users that would need real time AI enabled

transcription? Not at this time

7. Can I bid an equivalent product to the RingCentral configuration quoted? Yes

8. Is Cat5/Cat6 wiring currently in place for the IP phones, or will wiring need to be

provided for each phone? If wiring is required, will it be handled by our team or another

party? Yes. Cat5/6 wiring is available at all existing phone locations. Further cabling

requirements will be handled by another party.

9. Are the existing network switches PoE-enabled (Power over Ethernet)? Yes. All

switching is PoE.

10. How many DIDs will be required for SMS capabilities, and what is the anticipated

monthly SMS message volume? N/A

11. Can the County clarify the relative weighting between price, vendor experience,

implementation approach, and long-term platform capabilities? All are equally

important to the overall decision.

12. For “best interest of the County” considerations, what non-price factors will materially

influence award? There are no influential factors for this bid.

13. If multiple vendors meet specifications, how will differentiation be evaluated? The

purchasing department will evaluate each bid according to the county policies.

14. Will the County consider total cost of ownership over the full renewal term (including

support, analytics, AI capabilities, storage, and scalability), or only Year 1 pricing? TCO

for 1 year

15. Is prior public-sector implementation experience considered under “Previous Vendor

Performance History”? Yes

16. Would you consider the contact center/call center separately from the unified

communications system? Meaning would you be willing to procure contact center/call

center from one vendor and RingCentral UC from a separate vendor. I ask because our

Contact Center solution integrates directly into RingCentral UC. We prefer a centralized

system.

17. What specific limitations or risks in the current system prompted this replacement

(reliability, security, supportability, cost, feature gaps)? Current system is End-of-Life and

Shelby County ITS has a department-wide effort to utilize cloud-based services wherever

possible.

18. Are there known service-level issues or uptime concerns the County aims to improve?

Replace the maintenance of current end-of-life systems.

19. Are there departments with higher call complexity (e.g., courts, public safety, health,

revenue, citizen services)? Yes. Several departments require a higher complexity calling

environment. Multiple departments currently utilize our CX solution for skills-based

routing and reporting features.

20. What reporting or analytics limitations exist today? Simplifying reporting interfaces to

empower supervisors/managers the ability to set up, manage and run their own reports.

21. Does the County currently track CX metrics such as call resolution time, abandonment,

service levels, or citizen satisfaction? Yes, for departments using the CX solution.

22. Is FEDRAMP a security requirement? What security certifications or compliance

standards are required (CJIS, HIPAA, etc.)? Yes, flexible. The county has CJIS, HIPAA

standards to maintain.

23. How many departments operate formal contact centers versus distributed

administrative call handling? Approximately 20 departments operate formal call centers.

24. Are AI-enabled capabilities (virtual agents, call summarization, quality automation,

sentiment detection) within scope for this procurement? Yes. AI capabilities are a

requirement for this procurement.

25. Is call recording intended for compliance only, or also for performance management and

service improvement? It will be used for both compliance and performance & service

management/improvement.

26. What is the County’s expected call volume growth over the next 3–5 years? N/A

27. Does the County anticipate expanding automation to reduce call volume over time? Yes.

We have several departments that will be looking to initiate/expand automation

solutions to both reduce call volumes and improve customer experience.

28. How important is a single-pane-of-glass analytics environment across UC and contact

center? Very important. Several departments will use wall monitors to display and track

call analytics. Supervisors and managers have expressed desire for detailed but

simplified call metrics for their call centers.

29. Does the County prefer a vendor with demonstrated public-sector scale deployments?

Both Public and Private sector

30. Regarding the 5500 RingEX Advanced Users identified on Page 14:

a. As RingEX Advanced includes CRM Integrations, SMS, and AI Virtual Assistant

might we please identify the following

i. What CRM(s) does the county require integration with if any? There are

no current CRM requirements with this bid.

ii. How many of those 5500 Users require CRM integrations? N/A

iii. Please describe how the county currently uses SMS service (if at all)? No

current use of SMS with our present phone system.

iv. How many users/numbers require SMS (if any)? None

v. Please describe in detail what AI services available with the RingEX

Advanced services are utilized by the county today and how? No current

usage of AI services with the County today.

31. Regarding the 150 RingEX-Digital Line Basic services on Page 14:

a. Is it possible to get a full list of equipment/devices and services each of these

represent? Due to security risks, this list will be presented to the winning bid.

b. If not, can a high summary be provided of what these are? Primarily, analog

devices (i.e., wall-mounted, lobby/customer phones, phones in jail locations that

do not require advanced features, etc.)

32. Regarding the 75 RingEX Advanced – Outbound Only services on Page 15:

a. Is it possible to get a full list of equipment/devices and services each of these

represent? Due to security risks, this list will be presented to the winning bid.

b. If not can a high summary be provided of what these are? Examples

include: Elevator emergency phones, external door intercoms, fire/motion alarm

lines, etc.

33. Regarding the 325 each RingCX Named Seats on Page 15:

a. Is that supposed to be $3.25 each or $325.00 each? This column represents the

quantity as indicated in the column header on page 14.

b. Is this an add on fee for any user that needs RingCX added? Please seek Ring

Central for the use of the Vendor Product SKU

c. Which version of RingCX are these as each comes with different services

(Standard, Professional, Elite, Enterprise)? Please seek Ring Central for the use of

the Vendor Product SKU

d. As these services are for contact center can you please describe in detail how you

use call center or contact center today? Currently using Avaya Aura Contact

Center with approximately 300 agents/supervisors for call queueing/treatment,

routing and call accounting/reporting.

e. Do you have any services using Web Chat, SMS, email, or social media into a

contact center? We aren't currently utilizing these features but want to develop

them with the RingCentral solution.

34. Are you looking to replace your existing solution with a Ring Central solution, or do you

already have Ring Central and would like to replace it with a similar solution? Replacing

an Avaya Aura environment with RingCentral.

35. Is a Bid Bond required? Section 13.1 on page 7 and 2.0 on page 14 have conflicting

information. No, a bid bond is not required.

36. What is your current PBX or VoIP platform you're using? Replacing on-prem Avaya Aura

Communication Manager, Contact Center, et al.

37. Are you using your internet to make/receive phone calls and SMS/MMS

text? Yes. Current phone services are provided by IP-Flex SIP trunking. We also utilize

softphones over our intranet and VPN networks.

38. How many buildings do you have for those users utilizing your current PBX or VoIP? Our

phone services extend to more than 50 different buildings.

39. Do all of those buildings have internet? Yes.

40. Is there inter LAN/WAN connectivity between all buildings? If not, which buildings? Yes.

This page summarizes the opportunity, including an overview and a preview of the attached documents.

* Disclaimer: This website provides information about bids, requests for proposals (RFPs), or requests for qualifications (RFQs) for convenience only and does not serve as an official public notice. Individuals who wish to respond to or inquire about bids, RFPs, or RFQs should contact the relevant government department directly.

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Unified Communication Systems - Questions and Answers No. 2

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