Intent to Sole Source: Court Reporter Hardware

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE NOTICE CAREFULLY AS IT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY NOTICE THAT WILL BE ISSUED. In accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(13) the Pre-solicitation Synopsis for this requirement is waived. The solicitation, W912LD25Q0004, is released and attached. This announcement will be open for less than 30 days, in accordance with FAR 5.203(b).

The Rhode Island Army National Guard (RIARNG) requires supplemental court reporting equipment which possesses capabilities to produce legal transcripts in a complete, end-to-end solution that converts speech to text in real-time with or without continuous commercial internet connection.

The equipment must be in compliance with Army Regulation 27-10 (AR 27-10), which prescribes the policies and procedures pertaining to the administration of military justice and implements the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), United States, 2024, and the rules for courtsmartial (RCMs) contained in the MCM.

To support this initiative, The Rhode Island Army National Guard (RIARNG) requires the purchase of court reporting equipment, specifically known as Eclipse Vox Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) System (EVAS) which is proprietary to the company EVerbatim, Inc. RIARNG intends to award a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) purchase order on a sole source basis to the EVerbatim, Inc. (CAGE Code: 1HLK8). EVAS has capabilities currently not found on other court reporting equipment.

EVAS has the capabilities to produce legal transcripts in a complete, end-to-end solution that converts speech to text in real-time with or without continuous commercial Internet connection, making it easily deployable to combat locations. EVAS has the ability to produce near real-time transcripts of recorded audio with a 90-95% accuracy rate. The system permits users to edit transcripts and redact both the audio and the written transcript simultaneously.

EVAS is currently the only court reporting system that offers an integrated solution that unifies all hardware and software components necessary to deliver a complete and turnkey court reporting system. EVAS is comprised of software that unifies professionalgrade computer and audio components and unidirectional-wireless digital microphones for the purpose of producing automated legal transcript.

EVAS also meets the mandatory requirements of Army Regulation 27-10 (AR 27-10), which stipulates the minimum characteristics required for Army Court Reporting equipment. Eclipse software is one of those mandatory characteristics. The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) / software developers of Eclipse confirmed EVerbatim Inc. is the sole source provider of Eclipse software to the US Armed Forces. Additionally, EVAS is proprietary to EVerbatim Inc., who does not have any resellers.

The Army National Guard currently either utilizes a local court reporting service resource, which is not cost effective, or records the transcript manually which takes 3 months to complete and is not efficient. EVAS offers expedited court reporting capabilities, a high rate of accuracy, mobility and the ability to operate without internet making it deployable, as well as the convenience of having all parts sourced from one vendor ensuring compatibility issues are avoided.

Currently, EVAS is the only court reporting equipment that meets the AR 27-10 requirements and offers the capabilities required by the Rhode Island Army National Guard. Therefore, EVerbatim Inc. is the only venue able to meet all of the necessary criteria for this requirement. This requirement is being solicited on a sole source basis to EVerbatim Inc., as concurred with by the RIARNG Office of Small Business Programs. This notice is not a request for competitive quotes.

All responsible sources may submit a capability statement which will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to complete this acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.