HTA encourages prospective bidders to carefully review the RFP and to take the opportunity to pose questions where clarification is needed. Responses to all questions from bidders will be included in an “RFP Question and Answer” document that will be updated twice weekly during the open bid period. Bidders interested in receiving the “Question and Answer” document each time it is updated, should email , using the subject line “Add to RFP Q and A Recipient List.”

Q & A:

Updated 1/10/18

• Q: How many total users of the system (not necessarily simultaneous) will there be: Employer-users? Employee-users? Administrative staff?
  These numbers may determine what platform choices are open to us, since some potential platform directions may provide greater development leverage but require recurring per-user license fees.
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  A: We foresee the need for at least four types of users: employer-user, employee-user, admin-user, IT-user. These details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: Are native mobile apps for both Android and iOS a hard requirement or is a mobile-responsive web app acceptable?
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  A: Yes, native mobile apps for both Android and iOS are a hard requirement.
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• Q: How complex are the requirements for a job posting? E.g., is it a half dozen fields (job location, shift date and time, role from a pre-determined list—e.g., housekeeper, bellhop, etc.) or are there more complex job requirements?
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  A: We foresee the need for at least six fields. These details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: Match process:
  First, can you briefly describe the process of a match?
  Do workers need to bid on a specific job or can they leave a bid “open” for any job that matches their abilities/profile?
  Is the match fully automated (the system can determine who gets the match) or do employers get to review prospective matches and select among them?
  How would overtime controls be factored in?
  It would appear that to do this Roll Call would have to have knowledge of workers’ hours worked, potentially even outside of hours successfully bid on the platform. Is that what you are expecting?
  To take seniority into account it would appear that Roll Call would have to have pre-loaded knowledge of all potential union employees.
  Is migrating this information into the Roll Call platform part of the project?
  How would updates of this information be handled?
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  A: These details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: What is the content that administrators need to be able to “post, modify, and customize”? Is this job posting content? Is it content around how to use the system?
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  A: Administrators need access to modify and customize the information on the database. HTA IT personnel needs IT capabilities including backend access of the database and customizations.
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• Q: How much latitude is there on the budget? The $70K budget for all of the requirements A-D seems tight. It would be good to know if this is a hard ceiling.
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  A: Flexibility in the budget will be considered when reviewing responses to the RFP based on the rubric outlined in the RFP Section VII.
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• Q: Similarly what is the latitude on launch timeline? Without getting into details on the functional requirements it’s difficult to definitively say that the timeline is too aggressive, but it would be good to have a sense for any external factors related to the deadlines put forth
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  A: Flexibility in the timeline will be considered when reviewing responses to the RFP based on the rubric outlined in the RFP Section VII.

Updated 1/12/18

• Q: I’m requesting you to suggest me if we can be eligible to bid on this project, being an Indian App development company?
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  A: The Hospitality Training Academy is seeking a qualified and experienced organization to design, develop, and deploy a Web-Based/Mobile App-Based Roll Call System for Hotel Room Attendants in connection with its High Road to Hospitality Project. The project is funded by the State of California High Road Training Partnership (HRTP), an initiative of the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB), which is supported by its Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Governor’s Discretionary grants. Eligible bidders are required to submit a United States Federal Tax Identification Number.
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• Q: As per our understanding the project will have three types of users, the Administrator (Owner), Employers and Employees/Workers. Android App, iOS App and a website which will be implemented for Employers and Workers. However, only a browser based secure admin panel will be implemented for the Administrator/Owner. Is this correct?
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  A: We foresee the need for at least four types of users: employer-user, employee-user, admin-user, IT-user. The details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: Employers and Workers will register themselves via the app & website. During the registration process, workers will provide their personal information, education qualification, availability scheduling etc.
  – After login employers will post open jobs.
  – After login Workers will search available jobs based on their qualifications and availability. The system will match a list of jobs to display. Workers can then apply to the matched job and once they have applied to the job, employers will receive notifications of registered applicants.
  Through the admin panel, the administrator can add Employers, Workers and Jobs, and also generate different reports. Is this assumption correct?
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  A: After login employers will post open jobs. Workers will search available jobs through the app/website. The administrator and IT users will be able to add and edit employers, workers, and job profiles, and generate reports. Any further details of the will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: In regards to >>> Ensure that the matching process follows rules/logic, including but not limited to the following factors: availability scheduling, overtime controls, qualifications, restrictions, seniority controls, work opportunities, and operational needs. <<<## What are the form fields that workers are required to complete during registration and what fields are employers required to fill while posting a job? Will it be similar to the other job seeking websites/apps? Or will there be additional fields and requirements, such as uploading documents and other material?
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  A: These details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: In regard to >>> Provide roll call processing, assignment confirmations, and texting capabilities. <<<
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  ## As per our understanding, workers roll call/attendance will take place, if so, who will process the attendance and at what periods during the day/night?
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  A: These details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: in regards to >>> assignment confirmations <<<
  ## Who will assign assignments to the Workers? Admin or employers? What will be the different fields of assignment?
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  A: After login employers will post open jobs. Workers will search available jobs through the app/website. The administrator and IT users will be able to add and edit employers, workers, and job profiles, and generate reports. Any further details of the will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: In regards to >>> texting capabilities <<<## As per our understanding while taking attendance, the person in charge can post remarks along with present/absent marking, correct?
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  A: These details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: In regards to >>> Participate in weekly calls, as needed, to identify any issues and address user adoption, system maintenance, and ongoing training. <<< # Will you accept a system maintenance cost as an hourly based rate and not a flat rate?
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  A: Hourly based rates as well as flat rates will be considered when reviewing responses to the RFP based on the rubric outlined in the RFP Section VII. These rates should be included in the “Deliver Customer Service/Troubleshooting Support for 150 Days Following Successful Launch of the Roll Call System” part of Proposed Fixed Fees (Exhibit 3).

Updated 1/17/18

• Q: What are the texting capabilities that you envision? Is it outbound notification only? In which scenarios? (Job match confirmed? matching job available? Other?) Or is there inbound processing capability – i.e., text to confirm match.
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  A: We foresee the need for outbound texting capabilities only to alert users of new job postings and confirmations.
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• Q: What aspects of the UI / UX design have already been done, and which should be in scope for this RFP? For example: User interviews,User journeys, UX design, typography selection, color palette selection.
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  A: We will provide the basic aspects of the UI / UX design including typography selection and color palette selection to the successful bidder. Further details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: Is there a need for ARIA implementation in the site too?
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  A: We do not foresee the need for ARIA implementation in the site/mobile apps.
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• Q: Hi, I was wondering if this offer was still active?
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  A: Responses to this Request for Proposal are due no later than 5:00 p.m. (PST) on February 1, 2018. Late applications will not be accepted.
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Updated 1/19/18

• Q: Are prime contractors allowed to use sub-contractors for this project? Are offshore sub-contractors allowed to be used for this project?
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  A: Proposals from bidders that require sub-contractors for the project will be considered when reviewing responses to the RFP based on the rubric outlined in the RFP Section VII. The successful bidder is required to submit a United States Federal Tax Identification Number to be a vendor to HTA. Vendors are responsible to comply with RFP requirements.
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• Q: Is there a requirements document that lists all detailed functionality already or does this definition need to be part of the RFP’s scope?
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  A: These details will be determined during the discovery and planning phase with the successful bidder.
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• Q: Will admin panel be in English and Spanish? Will Employee interface be in English and Spanish? Will Employer interface be in English and Spanish? Will mobile apps have to be in English and Spanish?
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  A: We require the website/mobile apps to be in English and Spanish. The translated Spanish content will be provided.
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• No questions received..

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Updated 1/26/18

• Q: What is the format expected for analytics: Reports or to be seen on a dashboard?
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  A: Reports are sufficient for analytics.
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• Q: Should job postings be auto-translated between Spanish and English?
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  A: We require the website/mobile apps to be in English and Spanish, however the translated Spanish content will be provided. We do not require job postings to be auto-translated.
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• Q: What are the login requirements? Single sign-on? G suite support? Or proprietary (email / password) only?
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  A: The website and app should use a single sign-on login.

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Updated 1/29/18

• Q: Can we consider 3rd party software integrations? If so, how strict are the look-and-feel requirements as we may not have full control over 3rd party software.
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  A: We will consider 3rd party software integration on the administrative and IT sides. The user experience must be uniform to prevent any confusion from the end-user.