After Hours Answering Services

The vendor is required to provide after-hours answering services for after-hours and rollover calls coverage.
- Hours of service
•    The child protection hotline is required 24 hours per day, seven days per week, to provide two levels of answering service as described below.
1. Service level one (after hours)
•    During child protection hotline non-operational hours, vendor services are required Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 7:30 p.m. (PST) through 8:15 a.m. (PST) the next business day and Friday starting 7:30 pm (PST) through Monday morning 8:15 am (PST). 
•    It is estimated that 1,400 after-hours calls will be received per month by the vendor. 
•    On holidays, to include county of Fresno holidays, vendor services are required for continuous 24-hour periods and are to continue until 8:15 a.m. (PST) on the next regular workday. 
•    Refer to exhibit “a” for list of county holidays. 
•    The county of Fresno can add up to five additional days of temporary office closure for all county business offices. 
•    Services are required for continuous 24-hour periods and are to continue until 8:15 a.m. (PST) on the next regular workday.
2. Service level two (rollover calls)
•    During child protection hotline service hours, vendor services are required for overflow calls for the hours between 8:15 a.m. (PST) and 7:30 p.m. (PST) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 
•    It is estimated that 1,100 overflow calls will be received per month by the vendor.
- Phone number
•    CPH: (559) 600-8320
•    CPH office phone (regular business hours): (559) 600-8320
- CPH service - level one procedures for social worker contact
•    Three (3) social workers and one (1) social work supervisor are on duty during the hours the child protection hotline is on the exchange. 
•    These are lead, back-up, and alternate social workers. 
•    A social worker will call the answering service operator each evening with the contact information. 
•    Operators will contact the social worker’s county issued cellular phone unless:
o    The lead social worker has left instructions to be called at home.
•    Contact protocols
o    The operator will call the lead social worker to respond to a caller. 
o    If there is no immediate response, the operator will call the lead social worker every five (5) minutes for a total of 15 minutes.
o    Using the same protocol listed above, the operator can continue to escalate to the next contact level listed below:
1.    Call the lead social worker
2.    Call the back up
3.    Call the alternate
4.    Call the SWS
5.    Call department child welfare division chief (dc)
6.    Call department child welfare deputy director (dd)
•    Operator will place the caller on hold while contacting the social worker. 
•    Background music for "held" calls is prohibited.
•    While on hold, the operator (not a recording) shall check with the caller at least every 60 seconds, informing them of efforts to reach the social worker. 
•    When the social worker is reached, the two parties are connected. 
•    The operator will stay on the line until a clear and audible connection is obtained. 
•    If the caller asked for a return call, became disconnected or did not stay on the line, the caller's name and phone number will be given to the social worker. 
•    Social workers will not be put on "hold."
- Child protection hotline (CPH) service - level two procedures for social worker contact
•    The operator will begin their dialogue with the caller by asking if the purpose of the call is for general information or to make a report of child abuse or neglect.
•    If the purpose of the call is to make a child abuse report, the operator will record the caller’s name, telephone number, caller’s primary language and secondary contact telephone number if possible and advise them that their call will be returned. 
•    If the caller states they are calling for general information or a reason other than making a report, the operator will ask them to call child welfare services reception at (559) 600-6400 during regular business hours.
- Answering a call
•    Operator answers all calls within 30 seconds and follows the attached answering service script
•    Operator obtains the caller’s name, telephone number, caller’s primary language and secondary contact telephone number if possible.
•    Operator will explain that a social worker will contact the caller directly in a short amount of time, and that the social worker will record the child abuse or neglect incident information.
•    Within ten (10) minutes of the call, the operator will write up the information including the caller’s name, telephone number, caller’s primary language, secondary contact telephone number and any other available details and send it to the department of social services
- Service requirements
1. Hours of operation:
•    Peak hours for the child protection hotline are from 8:00 a.m. (PST) to 10:00 p.m. (PST) on weekends. 
•    Hotline telephone equipment is located at city. 
•    Provide appropriate levels of telephone equipment at their own site and location to service the child protection hotline.
2. Service capacity
•    The average number of after-hours calls through the child protective services hotline is estimated to be 2,500 per month
•    Uptime requirement: 99.9% system availability. 
•    Provide a minimum of five (5) phone lines, one of which needs to be a dedicated police emergency line. 
•    If additional phone lines are needed at the vendor’s end, the lines will be added at the vendor’s expense. 
•    Must support simultaneous call handling to manage high call volumes efficiently.
3. Service expectations
•    All calls are to be answered by an operator within 30 seconds. 
•    Use of a recording or artificial intelligence (ai) software will not be accepted. 
•    Vendor must have an automated call rollover system to ensure no missed calls. 
•    If a primary system fails, calls must be rerouted to a secondary system without delay.
•    In the event of equipment or technical difficulties, telephone and utility service outages, departmentwide meetings and training, or other similar situations which prevent staff from answering calls during regular business hours, Monday – Friday, 8:15 am to 7:30 pm, vendor may be requested to provide service level one hotline answering service coverage.
•    Vendor must have means to accommodate Spanish and other language callers.
•    Vendor staff will be available to meet on a monthly basis with department having the option to decrease the frequency.
4. Service quality
•    Description of vendor business operation and capacity to meet the county’s after-hours answering service and rollover call needs.
•    Manage this answering service including how phones lines are staffed and what training is provided to phone line staff.
•    Emergency and fail-safe processes to minimize service interruption.
•    The vendor’s confidentiality and security systems, procedures and policies for their documents and caller personally identifiable information (PII), both internally and against external data breaches or intrusions.
•    Communication and operating software systems and their ability to meet the county’s after-hour answering service and rollover call needs. 
•    Includes any automation or use of AI.
5. Communication and escalation to central it
•    Monitor system performance and report outages immediately to the county's central it team.
•    Provide a real-time dashboard or notification system for central it to track any technical issues. 
•    Have a clear escalation matrix in case of prolonged outages or service disruptions.
•    The vendor agrees to perform a root cause analysis (RCA) regarding system downtime or recurring issues, then submit the findings to the county within 10 days, and implement and document corrective actions.

- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: August 15, 2025