Integrator Insider

By Nick Wakeman

IRS Seeks Videoconferencing Support: The Internal Revenue Service is considering improving its videoconferencing facilities. The agency has 86 "room" systems around the country that are equipped for videoconferencing, and it wants to upgrade these rooms to have asynchronous transfer mode capabilities.

IRS officials don't want to let a new contract if they don't have to. The agency is encouraging companies with a contract vehicle or a General Services Administration schedule with ATM and videoconferencing services to respond to the IRS request for information. Responses to the IRS notice, published in Commerce Business Daily, are due Nov. 7.

GSA Looks for NT Migration Help: The Sacramento, Calif., field office of the General Services Administration needs help migrating an in-house database to Windows NT. The database, called the Field Office Information System Tracker, is used by the Public Building Service. It contains information such as procurement, lease administration, service calls, project management and control and project cost accounting.

GSA wants to improve the database coding and give it networking capability. GSA estimates it will take about 178 hours to complete the conversion work. The award will be based on price, past performance and technical capabilities.

FBI Directs Contract to Nichols: The FBI is directing a sole source contract to Nichols Research Corp. of Huntsville, Ala., to continue technical services support for the DrugFire system. That system links firearms evidence with shooting investigations around the country. The FBI wants Nichols to continue the work started by Washington-based Mnemonic Systems Inc., which Nichols bought in April for $12 million.

National Lab Building Certification Center: Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico plans to build a Model Validation and Systems Certification Test Center in Albuquerque. The lab estimates the project to be worth more than $12 million, and related follow-on work is possible.

The winning contractor will handle programming, design, equipment procurement, construction, systems integration and documentation. The lab has a 16,000-square-foot building it wants remodeled for the center.

Remodeling will include building a high-speed communications infrastructure linking the center to remote sites. The contractor must also build a network interface that accesses test and simulation data over Sandia's internal network.