201 S. Anaheim Blvd.
Suite #1101
Anaheim, CA 92805
Tel: (714) 765-5173
www.anaheim.net
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
City of Anaheim
PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
DATE: SEPTEMBER 10, 2024
FROM: PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: AGREEMENTS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE TELEPHONE AND
INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE SOFTWARE SYSTEM
UPGRADE
ATTACHMENT (Y/N): YES ITEM # 11
GOVERNMENT CODE § 84308 APPLIES: YES
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council, by Motion:
1) Approve an agreement with Inoria Inc. (License and Services Agreement) for a five (5) year and four (4) month term for a Contact Center software system that includes telephone and interactive voice response license subscriptions, telephone carrier, and support services in amounts not to exceed an annual average of $260,000, an annual contingency of 20%, an annual allowance not to exceed $75,000 for as-needed professional services, allowing unused annual allowance to carry over to the following year, and authorize the Public Utilities General Manager, or designees, to extend the agreement up to five (5) one-year extensions, as long as costs do not exceed 5% over the prior year’s costs; 2) Approve an agreement with Carahsoft Corporation (Carahsoft) (Implementation Services Agreement) to upgrade the Customer Service Contact Center solution at no cost; and
3) Authorize the Public Utilities General Manager or designees, on behalf of the City of Anaheim (City), to execute any and all related documents and take such actions as are necessary or advisable to implement, fund, administer agreements and orders, and extend licenses and services.
DISCUSSION:
At its meeting on August 28, 2024, the Public Utilities Board recommended that the City Council approve the agreements for the customer service Contact Center solution upgrade.
Anaheim Public Utilities (APU) utilizes a Contact Center software system that supports queuing of telephone calls and interactive voice response (IVR) services. The current system has come to the end of life and will not be supported by the vendor in the future, and APU is therefore recommending upgrading to the latest version.
Agreements for Customer Service Telephone and Interactive Voice Response Software System Upgrade September 10, 2024
The Contact Center solution enables customers to call or chat with APU customer service representatives to request and update municipal services (electric, water, solid waste, sewer, street sweeping, and paramedic services), answer questions about utility bills, enroll customers in bill assistance programs, respond to general City 311 calls, and other inquiries. Customers can access their account and pay their bill over the telephone using the IVR anytime, including evenings and weekends. The solution is also used by operations staff for enhanced telephone service.
After a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process in 2018, the City Council approved an agreement with Packet Fusion, Inc. (PFI) to provide and implement a Contact Center solution hosted by Genesys Cloud Services, Inc. (Genesys) using a Software as a Service (SaaS) licensing model. The solution handles, on average, approximately 1,100 calls including 430 payment transactions per day.
The current Genesys solution will no longer be supported by the vendor and APU therefore conducted an assessment to determine if upgrading or changing to a different provider is more beneficial. Although there are other Contact Center solutions in the market, upgrading Genesys would retain similar functionality and avoid implementation costs that are estimated to be over $200,000. The upgraded system is referred to as the Genesys Cloud platform, which is also a hosted service and has added functionality in terms of automating common functions, security, and improved data analytics. Genesys Cloud is used by over 4,500 call centers worldwide, including Sacramento Municipal Utility District, East Bay Utility District, and the District of Columbia Water.
In order to upgrade to the Genesys Cloud platform, license subscriptions, telephone carrier services, and support services are required to be procured through a qualified third-party. On July 5, 2024, APU issued a RFP for Genesys Cloud services and seven (7) firms submitted proposals. In accordance with Council Policy 4.1, the proposals were evaluated and ranked as follows based on firms’ ability to perform the requested services, qualifications, reasonableness of fees, demonstrated record of success, and the methods and techniques employed. The firms are ranked as follows:
Firm Rank
Inoria Inc. 1
TTEC Government Solutions 2
Voxai Solutions, Inc. 3
Voice Data Systems, LLC 4
Skylux Inc 5
Waterfield Technologies 6
ConvergeOne, Inc. 7
Inoria Inc. (Inoria) was ranked the highest and is the recommended firm for providing Genesys Cloud license subscriptions, carrier services, and support services. Inoria is a Agreements for Customer Service Telephone and Interactive Voice Response Software System Upgrade September 10, 2024
certified Genesys gold level partner with 15 years of experience providing and supporting Genesys contact center solutions across North America. Their proposal was cost competitive, with pricing similar to the 2018 agreement.
The License and Services Agreement will provide the required license subscriptions, telephone carrier and support services over a five (5) year and four (4) month term in an amount not-to-exceed an annual average of $260,000, an annual contingency of 20%, and an annual allowance not to exceed $75,000 for as needed professional services, and allow unused annual allowance to carry over to the following year. The agreement includes five (5) optional one-year extensions as long as total costs do not exceed 5% over the prior year’s total costs.
To support the upgrade to the new platform, Genesys offered to upgrade APU to Genesys Cloud through its exclusive distributor, Carahsoft, at no cost for implementation services. The Implementation Services Agreement with Carahsoft facilitates accelerating the upgrade as APU is one of the last agencies still using the current platform and Genesys seeks to decommission the legacy system.
The implementation timeframe is expected to be approximately three months. During the migration, APU will work with the respective vendors to facilitate a seamless transition for customers.
The proposed agreements support the 2023-24 Strategic Plan, Goal D – Foster a High- Performing Organization, Strategy 7 – Assess current technology to identify gaps and needs within City operations to better serve the community.
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
Sufficient funds are included in APU’s Fiscal Year 2024/25 restricted Utility Fund budget, and future years will be subject to City Council’s approval of budget appropriations.
Respectfully submitted,
Dukku Lee
Public Utilities General Manager
Attachments:
1. License and Services Agreement with Inoria Inc.
2. Implementation Services Agreement with Carahsoft Corporation