1. Purpose and Background The purpose of this solicitation is to solicit competitive proposals from contractor who can offer full-service, confidential, statewide, 24 hours per day, 7 days per-week, 365 days per year, including holidays, state-of-the-art, functionally-equivalent telecommunications relay service (TRS) to meet the Arizona Relay Service (AZRS) - Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing’s needs and expectations as described within this RFP, as well as any current or future standards for TRS established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The telecommunications relay service (TRS), collectively known as Arizona Relay Service (AZRS), shall provide for the uniform and coordinated provision of service on a statewide basis. The Agency encourages contractors to be as innovative as possible when submitting proposals in response to this RFP keeping in mind minimum industry standards but striving to exceed them; and to ensure that the provision of AZRS is flexible and responsive to service the demand and is adaptable for implementation of technological advances as they become available. 1.1. AZRS shall be designed to enable persons with a hearing or speech disability, utilizing Functionally Equivalent Communication Devices (FECD) or other means determined to be acceptable by the FCC, to place and receive telephone calls to standard telephone call users and by using the telephone assistance of a communications assistant (CA). TRS shall be available at all times (24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year, including holidays). Arizona citizens shall be able to place relay calls to and receive relay calls from all other persons in Arizona, the nation, and the world. There will be no limit on the number of calls or length of calls. 1.2. In 1986, the State of Arizona legislature established the provision of “a dual Party relay” system making all phases of public telephone service available to persons who are “Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, and persons with Speech/communication disabilities”. The State of Arizona (State) is permitted to establish standards and requirements that exceed the Federal requirements for the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) and does so in some parts of this Request for Proposal (RFP). The State reimburses the TRS Contractor for intrastate relay services and associated outreach/marketing based on contracted rates. (A.R.S. 36-1947)
