Motorola upset about Harris radio award

[prcguy]

Motorola asks why bid for Monroe County communications system lost even though they were the lower bidder over Harris.


Motorola asks why lower bid for Monroe County communications system lost | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle

prcguy

 

[RayAir]

EDACS, P25, or Open Sky?

 

[Jay911]

(a) Is there a law that you have to choose the bid that comes in at a lower initial cost?

(2) As a responder I am OK with spending a few more bucks on my virtual lifeline.

 

[ILMRadioMan]

(a) Is there a law that you have to choose the bid that comes in at a lower initial cost?

(2) As a responder I am OK with spending a few more bucks on my virtual lifeline.

When you set up a company specifically for the purpose of finding the most cost effective radio system.

And there is a difference between "a few more bucks" and 12 million tax payer dollars.

 

[jshg46]

Sounds like someone is getting a kickback off that bid, That should be reviewed by the county before just paying a company 12 million more for probably the same equipment.

 

[Squad10]

Sounds like someone is getting a kickback off that bid, That should be reviewed by the county before just paying a company 12 million more for probably the same equipment.

Maybe somebody should remind Mo that they BID on an Out-of- Illinois system. Harris has not filed a complaint that they have been virtually locked out by IL state law. My money is that Motorola will file a complaint with Monroe. Been there, did that, and Mo lost.

http://forums.radioreference.com/co...-introduces-anti-rebroadcast-legislation.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/ch...dupage-co-etsb-sole-source-motorola-sc21.html

 

[GTO_04]

I hope they have better luck with Harris than we've had in Hamilton County, IN. It took them almost a year longer than planned to finish a simple analog reband, and still they cannot get the EDACS simulcast system to work right. It still sounds like garbage half the time!

GTO_04

 

[Squad10]

Although County Executive Maggie Brooks has ordered Monroe Security and Safety Systems LDC to follow state laws regarding open meetings and public records, the companies that the LDC hires to perform work are not required to do so.

The situation is complicated but it's a common one among LDCs, many of which do not have paid staff and are governed by a volunteer board that contracts the work out to private companies.

In this case, the contract for the communications system was awarded by a private company, NaviChase, that works with another private company, Navitech, that has a contract with the LDC.

Mmmmm. No chance for finger pointing.

 

[w2csx]

Harris Awarded $30M Public-Safety Contract in New York County (7/12/10)
Harris received a $30 million contract to deploy a Project 25 (P25) trunked emergency radio communications system and terminal equipment to support up to 25,000 public service and public-safety users in Monroe County, N.Y. The contract was approved by Monroe County and released by NaviChase under the county's local development corporation. Harris Public Safety and Professional Communications, a business unit of Harris RF Communications, will perform the project.

The Harris Voice, Interoperability, Data and Access (VIDA) network platform will provide Monroe County with a unified IP-based voice and data communications system based on APCO P25 industry standards.

"This project ultimately will unite all of Monroe County's public service and safety agencies under a single, modern digital communication system built on our powerful Harris VIDA network," said Dana Mehnert, group president, Harris RF Communications. "The selection of Harris P25 trunking technology, as well as the market-leading Unity radio for seamless interoperability, demonstrates the county's commitment to improved communications quality and a safer community."

http://mccmag.com/newsArticle.cfm?news_id=5875

 

[DaveNF2G]

There are laws that say the process is supposed to be open and accountable. The county and the vendor have attempted (successfully so far) to circumvent these laws by forming a special corporation to ensure the local vendor got the contract.

 

[911rapidresponse]

edac vs p25

I work in two counties one with the harris edac and the other with the p25 motorola. The Harris system is horrible. there are many times you cant hear anything, words are all marbled together or it just makes a modem noise. They said the system would be up and running sometime in the 2006 area. It is now 2010 and we are using it. The other county uses the p25, they advised when it would be up and running and they were right on their date. Its being used for about 6 months now and its flawless to responders on the field. Very very clear, awesome connections, hardly any dead spots even in parking garages. Thumbs up for p25, edac you need to figure out what you are doing wrong.

 

[IceBlueEyes579]

A followup article of this story....

This was posted in the Democrat and Chronicle yesterday.......

NaviChase explains choice of Harris over Motorola for communications system | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle

It reads:

A company working on behalf of Monroe County on Thursday defended its $30 million contract with Harris Corp. for a new public safety communications system. During a meeting with project planners, a NaviChase official said that Harris was chosen in part because it could offer financing for the project.
Monroe Security and Safety Systems, a county-created local development corporation charged with overseeing a $224 million, 20-year remaking of public service and security communications for the county and the Monroe County Water Authority, learned more about one of the biggest contracts to be awarded during the project. Harris was awarded the contract, though a competing bidder, Motorola, offered a proposal that was $11 million lower. "It's not an apple-to-apples comparison," said Jeff Maurer, senior project manager for NaviChase, the limited liability company that issued the request for proposals.
Motorola's proposal did not have the right specifications, did not include console replacement costs, and was only for 1,000 users, though the total project will need to accommodate 25,000 users, Maurer said.
Maurer met with Motorola in late March to discuss those issues, and then met with Harris, which presented a more comprehensive proposal, he said. Since Harris was awarded the bid, Motorola has sent two letters to NaviChase, one asking that the bids be thrown out and the process be restarted, and another asking NaviChase for a meeting to find out where it went wrong. When both proposals were compared, Harris' willingness to finance part of the deal made it more appealing, as it allowed the LDC to borrow less money, Maurer said. Harris offered favorable financing, according to information from NaviChase when the contract was announced in May. Motorola offers financing for its customers, but it isn't clear what financing terms, if any, were offered in this case. Motorola did not respond to a request for comment. The LDC also borrowed $59 million in May, less than the $75 million it was expecting to borrow. After closing costs, about $55 million was available to the LDC to help get its work started. The LDC is a nonprofit corporation that is governed by a volunteer board and was created in September by the County Legislature at the direction of County Executive Maggie Brooks. It did not have to officially sign off on the Harris contract because the contract was awarded by NaviChase, one of its contractors' subcontractors. At Thursday's meeting, the LDC also explained why it has not filed its budget documents with the state's independent Authorities Budget Office. Rochester lawyer Richard Bell, who works for the LDC, said that the LDC had not raised or spent money in time for the filing and would comply with future deadlines.


Andrew

 

[Squad10]

I'd like to see the Harris and Motorola proposals, anybody know where to look?

 

[W2NJS]

Jay 911 asked:

"Is there a law that you have to choose the bid that comes in at a lower initial cost?"

Probably not but so often the authority with jurisdiction uses price as the unarguable excuse for accepting lowest-price bids, especially when there's a technical project being bid and they have no way of understanding the pros and cons of each proposal. The real question with a tech-heavy radio system is why the locality buys the low bid, and as we all know, in a few months they find the system is crap because the bid only covered, say, two towers instead of the four that were recommended by the engineer for the job, but the vendor told them, "Aw, you can do it with only two towers and just look at the money you'll save!" Sound familiar? It does to me. I'm not talking about Monroe County but rather the sad way these systems all too often get bought and "installed."

 

[w2csx]

It's not unlike Motorola to bid under and get contracts, but when you read about the system being put in they almost always go over budget.

 

[IceBlueEyes579]

I'd like to see the Harris and Motorola proposals, anybody know where to look?

I think everyone would like to see them but......I yet have me or anyone else find them.

Andrew

 

[jim202]

It looks like this is the normal play that Motorola uses when it doesn't get a contract. They are a sore,
looser, like to make a bunch of threats and typically their bid is always lacking some of the important
details.

My cut on this is that the bid was done correctly, the agency took the best deal for a complete system.
Motorola will just have to put their tail between their cheeks and go about their normal hard way of
working with customers.

 

[ILMRadioMan]

It looks like this is the normal play that Motorola uses when it doesn't get a contract. They are a sore,
looser, like to make a bunch of threats and typically their bid is always lacking some of the important
details.

My cut on this is that the bid was done correctly, the agency took the best deal for a complete system.
Motorola will just have to put their tail between their cheeks and go about their normal hard way of
working with customers.

Jim,

I think people (including myself) would normally be inclined to agree with you.

However, the biggest sign here is the $11 million gap.

Trust me on this...when Motorola underbids, they dont underbid by $11 million.

Why would Motorola only bid out 1000 users? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

This has gone "transformers" on us.

 

[TexScan780D]

I thought that the State of New York junked a state wide radio system developed by Harris Radio because the radio system had so many problems. Is Monroe County making the same mistake?

 

[Jay911]

I thought that the State of New York junked a state wide radio system developed by Harris Radio because the radio system had so many problems. Is Monroe County making the same mistake?

IIRC, that train wreck was inherited by Harris; it was a M/A-COM or Tyco disaster. People might be interested in giving Harris a shot.

If anyone goes OpenSky at this point, though, I would be absolutely floored.