Secret Service seeks systems advice

The Secret Service is looking for help to design and automate its billing and telecommunications systems.

Even before it knows what it wants, the agency is seeking advice on what it needs. It asked contractors to provide detailed plans of how they would computerize the agency's billing services and enterprisewide telecom services.

The deadline for submitting ideas is Feb. 9.

Robert Petrosky, the Secret Service's contract administrator, said the request gives companies a chance to tell the Secret Service about their services. And it gives the Secret Service an idea of how to structure a solicitation for modernization.

"It's going to cost us money, but hopefully it will pay for itself," Petrosky said.

Petrosky said the Secret Service is looking for companies who have the experience necessary to manage, organize and automate the agency's service agreements and manage the voice and data services provided by a variety of telephone services.

The agency also is looking for ideas on how a company would develop an integrated electronic data-mining and tracking system to manage multiple databases. Currently, such work is done in-house by hand.

Petrosky said the Secret Service expects to issue its request for proposals by late spring.