GSA wants agencies to communicate better with public

The General Services Administration intends to further develop a program that speeds up federal agencies’ contact center services, according to a Feb. 23 Federal Business Opportunities notice.For the past three years, GSA has worked on the USA Services E-Government Initiative, one of the Bush administration’s e-government initiatives. USA Services’ overall mission is making the government more citizen-centric and helping agencies improve interaction with the public.GSA wants to give agencies quality, cost-effective contact center solutions. It has developed requirements to provide several channels by which the public and agencies could communicate, such as telephone, e-mail, fax, Internet and postal services, the notice states.USA Services aims to build faster, smarter services centers that are less expensive than a center an agency could run using its own resources. It plans to do this through multiple indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, the notice states.The center would help agencies answer inquiries about programs, policies and information sources from the public, Congress, businesses and the media, the notice states.GSA wants feedback on the program. It will host a pre-solicitation conference March 5 at the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C., to let industry and agencies comment on the draft requirements, according to the notice.