(1) Vendor needs to provide telephone answering services. – Provide answering services twenty–four (24) hours daily for three hundred and sixty–five (365) days annually.– Individuals may contact the Adult Maltreatment Hotline at 1 (800)–482–8049 to report Adult Maltreatment.– Agency primarily operates the hotline from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. CST Monday through Friday.– However, Contractor will take roll–over calls throughout the day when all lines are busy at agency and provide answering services after State normal business hours. Contractor will provide telephone answering services twenty–four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a weekA. Schedule1. Normal business hours are 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday – Fridaya. Contractor shall provide services for back–up Hotline overflow (Hotline automatically rolls to answering service when all lines are busy).b. Contractor shall provide via email, all reported information, including specific details given by caller in response to questions asked from the basic script, immediately following each call.2. After hours are 4:01 p.m. – 7:59 a.m., Monday – Friday3. Twenty–four (24) hour operation on holidays and weekendsa. Contractor shall answer hotline calls on holidays and weekendsB. Staffing Requirements1. Operators must be able to fluently communicate in the English language.C. Answering Service Requirements1. Contractor must be fully staffed with live operators.2. Contractor shall ensure good customer service; for example, maintain a friendly, pleasant, and helpful demeanor throughout contact with the caller.3. Calls shall be answered within three (3) rings; and in no more than five (5) rings.4. Contractor shall have software that tracks the number of rings and will provide a report with call information to DHS on a monthly basis.5. Contractor shall have a telephonic interpretation service available for callers who speak a foreign language.6. Contractor shall have a way to communicate with deaf or hard of hearing callers.7. Contractor shall have electronic records of call activity that records time of calls, action taken by answering service operators, and the time of this action.8. Average call length is ten (10) minutes and every effort shall be made to keep call length at ten (10) minutes or less.D. Customer Service– Operators must be professional and courteous at all times.– Operators must be capable of answering high call volumes with a low error rate. Complaints received against Contractor will be investigatedE. Reporting1. Contractor shall maintain electronic records of invoiced call activity that records the length of calls, action taken by answering service operators, and the time of this action.(2) All questions must be submitted no later than May 7, 2024. (3) The contract period will be one year.
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