Digital Remote Audio and Video Interviewing Software

Description

Summary of the work The Agency requires a SaaS solution that can perform the following tasks: Record and digital video Record and store digital audio Record and store multiple digital signatures for master copy recording Export video and audio recording to physical media Display exhibits listed in evidence pack Provide offline note taking Expected Contract Length Two (2) Years structured as One (1) Year plus One (1) Year. Latest start date Friday 30 September 2022 Budget Range The Agency is unable to provide a budget for this requirement and will look to supplier responses to Stage 1 to understand the costs for these requirements. Why the Work is Being Done The Agency has a need to enhance the capabilities of its Investigation and Enforcement Services (IES) Directorate to be able to conduct and record remote interviews at various different locations which could be Insolvency Services offices, client sites, lawyers offices, etc. Problem to Be Solved Following internal reorganisation and the impact of COVID-19, the Agency now have a requirement to be more flexible with how and where it conducts interviews in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) during its operational activities. Who Are the Users The internal users are investigators from the Criminal Investigation Team but the service may be offered to any other operational colleague which requires access to the service. External users generally speaking are company directors which could be considered to be suspects, as well as witnesses and solicitors, etc. The investigators need to be able to record audio and video interviews under PACE and this may need to be both online and offline where no network is available. The solution should be a SaaS solution however the Agency is not firm on its hosting requirements and would also consider PaaS should this offer a suitable approach. Early Market Engagement Not Applicable. Work Already Done The Agency has undertaken some discovery work and commissioned a Business Analyst to draft functional and non-functional requirements. These have been agreed and signed off internally. Existing Team 1 FTE Project Manager 0.5 FTE Business Analyst 0.25 FTE Commercial Lead The Suppliers will also have access to other stakeholders from the Criminal Investigations Team. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Have 3 years expertise in iteratively prototyping, designing and building services which meet both user needs and the GOV.UK guidelines. • Have 3 years experience in providing Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. • Have 3 years experience of working with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Nice to Haves Evidence previous experience delivering SaaS to Government. Work Location The Criminal Investigation Team are UK wide however the expectation is that the Supplier will work remotely. If there is need to visit Agency sites, the Supplier should note that the Agency's remit is national. Due to Agency security requirements, no offshore resources to be used in either delivery or support of the propose solution. Working Arrangments The Supplier will be expected to work in accordance with the Agency's Working Day, which is 08:00 - 16:00, during the implementation phase. During service delivery, support hours are 07:00 - 19:00 and the Supplier must provide third line support during these hours. Security Clearance Minimum of BPSS. If higher clearance is required, this will be discussed and agreed. Additional T&Cs Not Applicable. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria • Details of approach to designing and delivering remote interviewing solution and how digital standards are being met • Details of proposal for utilising cloud environments to deliver the solution. • Details of approach to quality assuring the solution against the functional and non-functional requirements. • Details of approach to designing and delivering the remote interviewing solution while following the appropriate NCSC Cyber Security Guidance as closely as possible. • Details of proposed delivery plan, roadmap and reporting of ongoing progress. • Details of proposed resource profile for project delivery and project team structure. • Details of approach to training operational staff, handover to technical support and transition to ongoing support. Cultural Fit Criteria • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from mistakes • Encourage collaborative working between the Supplier and the Agency Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. What smart phone infrastructure and MDM does the Agency use within Investigation and Enforcement team? The smartphone is provided by the IT Service Desk, generally models are iPhone 6.The MDM (Mobile Device Management) is provided by the Agency's service desk and uses Microsoft In-Tune company portal as the deployment tool. 2. Why would the Agency need to download to physical media as a capability when it could all be cloud links? A small subset of interviewees do not have access to the internet and the Agency would be required to provide a physical media recording of the interview for example where an interviewee is recorded at a solicitor’s’ office. 3. Does the Agency have any requirements for face to face (F2F) or remote witness statement capability i.e. in the same room or end of a phone or a video conference service? Yes. At present, all interviews are done F2F but in the future there may be a requirement to conduct fully remote interviews. When not done F2F the Agency expects the Solution to record video. 4. What is the scale of the Solution? As in, how many investigators and additional users and what locations would the Agency be operating out of? Approx. maximum 350 internal Agency users. The investigators could be in Agency offices, solicitors’ offices, client sites etc. Additional external users could be solicitors, accountants, and other stakeholders that the interviewee deems necessary. 5. How many case file workers would need access to the material produced from this service? As per Question 4, the Agency expects that the approx. number of investigators is 350 therefore this is the number of Agency users. 6. iPhone 6 is quite an old device, is the Agency still able to support it with security and operational patches? Yes. 7. If the Agency were considering a device refresh would it consider an Android device instead of Apple products? This would be linked to the wider Agency IT strategy which is out of scope for this project. Presently, there is no place to replace the current hardware. 8. Can the Agency confirm approximately how many simultaneous interviews would need to be conducted? No more than 20 simultaneous interviews would be taking place at any one time across the estate. 9. Is there any specific language support criteria? There is no language support requirement for the recording system as if translators, signers, are required, they will be an attendee or support person in the interview. 10. Are there any other recording devices other than an iPhone 6? Windows 10 laptops and iPhone 6’s are the only recording devices. If the solution proposed by the supplier includes additional recording devices, this must be made clear in the subsequent proposals from the supplier and the costs for each clearly stated. 11. Are all of the recording devices digital? All recording devices will need to be digital. 12. Are there any proprietary file formats that come from the recording devices? To be clear, the insolvency service does not currently have a remote interviewing provision. The supplier will be required to propose a solution to deliver this service and as such there are no proprietary file formats or systems. Any existing hardware (Question 10) can be utilised if that forms part of the supplier's solution. 13. What is the max length of a recording? Typical interviews last approximately 60 to 90 minutes on average but this could be extended if required in complex cases. 14. Other than Government Digital Standards, can the Agency confirm if there are any other standards a solution may need to adhere to? As per the advert, the solution must be compliant with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). 15. What is the current and future audio retention policy? Five years after the end of an investigation without conviction, six years if convicted, or six years after the end of a conviction or six years after appeal. 16. Where offline recordings are created, can the device connect to the internet at a later date? Yes, the Agency need the ability to be able to record interviews when offsite and no internet is available. This will then be uploaded to the SaaS Cloud service when back in the office or connected remotely to the internet. 17. Does the Agency require recording devices as part of the approach? The preference and expectation is that the supplier would utilise the existing hardware but this is subject to the supplier's proposal and what is possible. 18. What is the volume of recordings expected per month. Measured by total recording count and total duration? Estimated 100 interviews per month with 60 to 90 minute duration. 19. Does the solution require any advanced analytics e.g. Machine translation? If the supplier is able to include this as an option it may be considered dependant on the price and the quality and accuracy of the transcription however, to be clear, this is not a fundamental requirement and suppliers can still submit should this not be core functionality. 20. Is there a preferred cloud supplier for the SaaS service (application location)? There is no preference as to where the solution is hosted provided it is UK based and all data is onshore if the supplier is to host the solution. If the Agency hosts the solution, it would be in an Azure tenancy.