Market Research Guidelines - Telecommunications products

Corresponding Rule

Case Study #5

1. Description of Requirements
2. Research Methodology
3. Research Results
4. Determination of Findings
5. Forward Recommendations
6. Conclusions

I. Description of Requirements

Statement of Need (SON)

The new telephone system must meet the following requirements:

• TTY capabilities
• Conference capability
• Call forwarding (transfer)
• Volume control
• Speaker
• Support multi-button sets
• Caller ID
• Mute feature
• Redial feature
• Central Unit
• Intercom
• Support for Voice-activated
• Headsets
• Voice mail
• Email
• Facsimile
• Telephone signaling (flashing light)
• Telephone sets (equipment) must be hands-free capable

II. Research Methodology

There are several research methodologies the group used to identify telecommunications vendors. We employed: on-line research and direct contact.

ON-Line Research

The internet provides many web sites that have links to telecommunications product vendors. Here are three of the ones that we investigated.

Yellow Pages

Known Vendors

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)

Direct Contact

Agencies/Institutions

Past Acquisitions

III. Research Results

It is important to maintain accurate documentation to support your Market Research. Vendor-challenges are very common. A good audit trail can prevent the losing vendors from making a case against your agency.

We developed a data matrix (see table below), to record product information. This not only houses the referenced audit trail data but also displays the data in a format that is easy to reference.

IV. Determination of Findings

After we completed our data compilation phase, the data was analyzed and fell into these categories.

Can be met by Commercial Vendor:
When the requirements can be met, we proceed with our acquisition -- if it is not an Undue Burden to do so.

Cannot be met by Commercial Vendor:
When the requirement cannot be met, we determine what cannot be met and make our decision on how to proceed based on the data compiled.

Partially met by Commercial Vendor:
When the requirements can partially be met, we also need to determine what is lacking and how we should proceed.

In all cases we need to make an Undue Burden Assessment before we proceed to procure the most conforming commercial product available that best meets the accessibility needs of the intended end user.

V. Forward Recommendations

All of the Market Research data was organized and entered into the previously described data matrices. These matrices should be forwarded to Acquisitions as part of the Market Research Analysis. Recommendations about the product selection are made based upon the data compiled during the Market Research process.

It is important to work closely with the contracting officer prior to the development of the Market Research file and review the report while it is being developed and prior to submission of the completed report. The contracting officer appends all inputs to the procurement file and proceeds to acquire the desired telecommunication system.

VI. Conclusions

One of the universal truths about the Market Research process is that it is very time consuming. You should remember this and give yourself extra time to accomplish this function. You will be relying heavily on others to provide the data needed in a timely fashion. Others will not treat your need with the same urgency that you do. As a result your schedule can slip significantly during the Market Research process. You can help alleviate this problem by frequently following up on every request.

Your Market Research planning should take into account the tremendous amount of time it takes to compile, organize and analyze the data the vendors submit. This doesn't count all of the useless data you may have to sort through. We recommend building some type of matrix that will provide an automatic order to the collected data.

Do not limit yourself to one or two methods of soliciting the information. Even though the Internet is the most advanced medium an old fashion phone call or personal visit may render the best results. One advantage of the phone call and personal visit is that you can tell immediately if the information is of value. You can also make an immediate adjustment and possibly extract information that you would not get by a less direct method.

If you have prioritized your requirements up front, you will procure the products that come the closest to meeting your desires. You will also have a basis for defending your selection decision if you are ever challenged.

Challenges may come from auditors as losing vendors. Completing an accurate documentation of your entire Market Research process is a must to protect yourself, your contracting officers, and your agency.