R408--MAIL MANAGEMENT SERVICES ANSWERING VENDOR QUESTIONS

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS) DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Mail Management Services Date: June 22, 2026 Task Order PWS Version Number: 1.0 draft Contents 1.0 Background 1 2.0 Applicable Documents 3 3.0 Scope of Work 5 3.1 Order Type 6 4.0 Performance Details 7 4.1 Performance Period 7 4.2 Place of Performance 7 4.3 Travel or Special Requirements 8 4.4 Contract Management 8 4.5 Security and Privacy 9 4.5.1 Information Security and Privacy Security Requirements 9 4.5.2 Personnel Security Requirements 9 4.5.3 Position Sensitivity 12 5.0 Tasks and Deliverables 14 5.1 Project Management 14 5.1.1 Contractor Project Management Plan (PMP) 14 5.1.2 Technical Kickoff Meeting 14 5.1.3 Weekly/Biweekly Meeting 15 5.1.4 Progress Reports and Reviews 16 5.1.5 Change Control Support 17 5.1.6 Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)/Disaster Recovery (DR) Plans 18 5.2 Mail Receipt 19 5.2.1 Post Office Box (PO Box) 21 5.2.1.1 New PO Box Setup (Recurring Optional Task) 23 5.2.2 Bulk Mail Receipt 23 5.2.3 Digital Mail Receipt 24 5.2.3.1 Facsimiles (Faxes) 24 5.2.3.1.1 Existing Fax Line Transfer/Redirect or New Fax Line Setup (Recurring Optional Task) 25 5.2.3.2 Transfer to EC Fax (Optional Task) 26 5.2.3.3 Direct Upload (Optional Task) 26 5.2.3.3.1 Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) 27 5.2.3.3.2 Integration with VA APIs and Web Services 27 5.2.3.3.3 Direct eFolder Upload Capability 28 5.2.3.3.4 Limited Automated Processing 28 5.2.3.3.5. Federated Upload Experience on VA.gov 28 5.2.3.3.6 VA.gov Design Standards & Accessibility Compliance 28 5.2.3.3.7 Submission Status Updates on VA.gov 28 5.2.3.3.8 Direct Upload Deprecation 29 5.2.3.4 Inbound Application Program Interface (API) 29 5.2.3.4.2 New Inbound API Setup (Recurring Optional Task) 29 5.2.3.5 New Outbound API Setup (Recurring Optional Task) 30 5.2.3.6 Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) 30 5.2.3.6.2 New SFTP Setup (Recurring Optional Task) 31 5.2.3.7 National Call Center (NCC) Service 31 5.2.3.8 Bulk Upload Matching Service 31 5.2.3.9 VA.gov Forms Maintenance and Enhancement (Optional Task) 32 5.2.3.9.2 GitHub Usage, Documentation, and Ownership 33 5.2.3.9.3 Sustainment, Monitoring, and Security 34 5.2.3.9.4 Analytics, User Feedback, and Continuous Improvement 35 5.2.3.9.5 Development Practices, Testing, and Collaboration 35 5.2.3.9.6 Metrics, Reporting, and Risk Management 36 5.2.3.9.7 Defect Priority Classification 36 5.2.3.9.8 Enhancements Identification and Documentation 37 5.3 Mail Custodial Requirements 38 5.3.3 Mail Handling 38 5.3.4 Source Material Tracking Service (SMTS) 39 5.3.4.3 SMTS User Administration 40 5.4 Mail Preparation 40 5.4.3 Paper Mail Preparation 40 5.4.4 Electronic Mail Preparation 41 5.4.5 Handling of Unscannable Mail 41 5.5 Mail Conversion 42 5.6 Indexing 43 5.6.3 Barcode/ QR Code Routing 44 5.7 Extraction 44 5.7.3 New Data Extraction Forms and Fields (Recurring Optional Task) 44 5.8 Post-Conversion De-Preparation (De-Prep) 44 5.9 Post-Conversion Retention 44 5.10 Post-Conversion Transfer to Long-Term Storage 45 5.11 Source Material Disposition (Optional Task) 46 5.12 Digitized Mail Handling Service (DMHS) (Optional Task) 47 5.12.3 DMHS User Administration 49 5.12.4 Special Record Access Controls 49 5.12.5 Unidentifiable Mail (UM) 49 5.12.6 Rescan Requests and Traceability 49 5.12.7 DMHS Access Point (Optional Subtask) 50 5.13 Mail Packet Routing Service 50 5.13.3 Mail Packet Routing to the Digitized Mail Handling Service (DMHS) 51 5.13.4 Mail Packet Routing to the Paper Mail Conversion and Management Services Legacy DMHS (Optional Task) 51 5.13.5 Mail Packet Content Exchanges with External Private Medical Records (PMR) Vendor(s) 52 5.13.6 Mail Packet/Mail Packet Content Routing to External Vendors (Recurring Optional Task) 54 5.14 Mail Packet Processing Services 54 5.14.3 1 Mail Packet Processor Corrective Action Requirements 55 5.14.4 Mail Packet Processing for Other Entities (Recurring Optional Task) 56 5.15 Upload Services 56 5.15.3 Upload Service to VBMS 56 5.15.4 Upload Service to non-VBMS Repositories (Recurring Optional Task) 57 5.16 Post-Upload Metadata Transfer to Records Management Services (RMS) 57 5.17 Integration/Setup/Test/Validation 58 5.17.3 Setup, Test, and Validation of Mail Management Services 59 5.17.4 Integration, Setup, Test, and Validation with PMR Vendor 59 5.17.5 Integration, Setup, Test, and Validation with VBMS 59 5.17.6 Integration, Setup, Test, and Validation with RMS Vendors 60 5.17.7 Integration, Setup, Test, and Validation with Mail Automation Services (MAS) Contractor 60 5.17.8 Integration, Setup, Test, and Validation with Automated Decision Support (ADS) Vendor (Optional Task) 61 5.17.9 Integration, Setup, Test, and Validation with Other Government and Contractor Systems (Recurring Optional Task) 61 5.18 Configuration Management Services 62 5.19 Service Updates 62 5.20 Service Enhancements (Recurring Optional Task) 63 5.21 Training 64 5.22 Data Access Service (DAS) (Optional Task) 65 5.23 Transfer of Data to Government Vendor (Recurring Optional Task) 65 5.24 Transition of Historical Data 66 5.24.3 Transition-In 66 5.24.3.3 Transition-In SMTS Historical Data from Paper Mail Conversion and Management Services Vendors 66 5.24.3.4 Transition-In SMTS Historical Data from Electronic Mail Management Services Vendor 66 5.24.3.5 Transition-In DMHS Historical Data from Paper Mail Conversion and Management Services Vendors’ DMHS 67 5.24.3.6 Transition-in Other (Recurring Optional Task) 67 5.24.4 Transition – Out (Optional Task) 67 5.25 Graphical Self-Service Report Generation Capability 67 5.26 Electronic Communications Service (Optional Task) 86 5.27 ATO Security Package Artifact Assistance 87 5.28 Option Periods 88 5.29 Helpdesk Support Services 88 5.30 Communication Requirements 89 5.31 Program Health Dashboard 90 5.32 Data…