Development and Deployment of a Live Agent Call Centre for the MINCH 6768 Platform

1. Introduction and Background

Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD) is an Ethiopian Development Organization established in 2005 and reregistered by the Agency for Civil Society Organizations as an Ethiopian Development Organization with a Certificate № 0321 under the Proclamation № 1113/2019. ECDD is working with other organizations to promote and facilitate the inclusion of persons with disabilities and disability issues in mainstream service delivery and development programs envisioning an Inclusive Ethiopia where persons with disabilities exercise the same rights and have access to the same services and opportunities enjoyed by other citizens.

With the financial support of GIZ, ECDD is implementing a Livelihood project titled “I-BPO: Upskilling and Employing Persons with Disabilities through an Inclusive BPO Ecosystem in Ethiopia.” This project aims to realize a functioning disability-inclusive BPO ecosystem to be modeled where persons with disabilities are equipped with foundational skills, employers are committed to disability inclusion, and national institutions are aligned to sustain and expand opportunities.

As part of its commitment to using digital solutions to improve access to information and services for persons with disabilities, ECDD has developed and deployed MINCH Multimedia telephone platform and mobile application to provide disability-related information. The platform is accessible via toll-free number 6768 and through the mobile app, which disseminates short videos and audio content with sign language and captions. Through MINCH, persons with disabilities, their families, caregivers and service providers access thematic audio content on disability rights, health, education and livelihoods, and may record questions which are answered asynchronously by ECDD responders through the Help Desk module. The asynchronous Help Desk has proved valuable but has an inherent limitation: a caller with an urgent or complex question must record it and wait for a recorded reply. Callers frequently need to speak to a person, ask follow-up questions and be guided in real time.

As part of the I-BPO Project, ECDD intends to add a live agent call center capability to the existing MINCH platform so that a caller may be connected directly to the expert during service hours.

ECDD therefore invites qualified and experienced technology companies to submit proposals for the design, development, integration, deployment and support of a live agent call center capability for the MINCH 6768 Platform. The assignment will ensure that persons with disabilities can connect directly with thematic agents in real time, strengthening access to information, advocacy, and inclusive service delivery.

2. Objectives

General Objective

Design, develop, deploy, and commission a live agent call center within the MINCH 6768 platform, enabling callers to connect directly to thematic agents during service hours, with all conversations recorded.

Specific Objectives

• Assess the existing MINCH 6768 platform and its technical architecture and determine the requirements for live-agent integration.
• Design and develop a robust live agent/call center module appropriate to MINCH’s current and anticipated user volume.
• Integrate the call center capability with the existing MINCH 6768 platform and relevant communication channels with five thematic options (Disability Rights, Health, Education, Livelihood, General Information).
• Establish thematic agent routing, call queuing, escalation and referral mechanisms with bilingual announcements.
• Record and securely store all live conversations.
• Capture call details for reporting and analytics.
• Divert unserved calls to the existing Help Desk flow.
• Provide appropriate dashboards and reporting functionality for monitoring calls, enquiries, referrals and service performance.
• Ensure that the solution is accessible and usable by persons with different types of disabilities.
• Test, deploy and provide technical support for the solution.
• Train designated ECDD staff and administrators to operate and manage the system.
• Provide documentation and knowledge transfer to enable ECDD to manage the system effectively.

3. Scope of Work

The service provider shall deliver:

• Conduct technical assessment and requirements analysis
• Design, develop and configure a reliable and scalable live agent call center solution.
• Establish agent registration, availability/status management, call queuing, routing, transfer, and escalation functions with SIP extensions.
• Configure thematic/skill-based routing so users can be connected to appropriate agents.
• Integrate the live agent capability with the existing MINCH 6768 platform and relevant communication channels.
• Ensure interoperability with existing and potential future MINCH channels, including IVR, SMS, USSD, mobile and web-based services.
• Incorporate appropriate accessibility features and inclusive communication mechanisms.
• Establish role-based access, authentication, secure data storage, backup and recovery mechanisms.
• Develop dashboards and reports covering call volume, users, response time, enquiries, referrals, resolution and other agreed performance indicators.
• Ensure ECDD can access and use relevant data for monitoring, learning, service improvement and advocacy.
• Call recording, indexing, retrieval, and secure storage.
• Call detail capture and reporting integrated into the MINCH web application.
• Handling of unserved calls via Help Desk.
• Agent endpoints setup with SIP softphones.

Key Deliverables

The selected company is expected to deliver:

• Inception/technical assessment report and agreed requirements specification.
• Solution architecture and technical design document.
• Developed and configured live agent call center capability.
• Integration with the MINCH 6768 Platform.
• Configured agent management, call routing, escalation and referral functions.
• Monitoring, dashboard and reporting functionality.
• Accessibility and security testing report.
• Deployed and operational live agent call center system.
• Training and knowledge-transfer sessions for ECDD staff.
• User, administrator, and technical documentation.
• Source code/configuration and relevant technical assets
• Post-deployment warranty/support and maintenance plan.

4. Implementation Approach & Duration

The assignment shall be completed within six (6) weeks from contract effectiveness, covering inception, voice content production, IVR/routing, queueing, recording/reporting, and testing/go-live phases. The bidder should provide a detailed implementation schedule indicating key milestones, deliverables, and expected completion dates.

5. Institutional Arrangements

ECDD Responsibilities:

• Provide focal person, confirm thematic areas, supply agents and smartphones, ensure telecom capacity, and conduct acceptance testing.

Service Provider Responsibilities:

• Deliver full scope, assign qualified team (solution architect, VoIP engineer, software engineer), report progress weekly, ensure confidentiality, and correct defects during support period.

Qualifications & Experience

• A legally registered firm in Ethiopia with a valid trade license and tax registration.
• Demonstrated experience delivering IVR and call center systems, evidenced by at least two comparable assignments with contactable references.
• Demonstrated capability in the technology stack on which MINCH is built, including open-source telephony platforms (Freeswitch and Adhersion), and prior working knowledge of the MINCH platform or a documented plan to acquire it without cost to ECDD.
• Proven experience producing bilingual Amharic and Afan Oromo voice content.
• A team including a solution architect, a VoIP/telephony engineer, a software engineer and a quality assurance engineer, with curricula vitae submitted.
• Demonstrated understanding of disability inclusion and of the sensitivity of the caller data handled by MINCH.

7. Warranty and Support

• A warranty period starting from the date of final acceptance, covering correction of any defect in the delivered scope at no additional charge.
• Support shall be provided during ECDD working hours via telephone, email, remote access, and in‑person assistance when required.
• Configuration changes requested by ECDD during the warranty period shall be carried out at no additional charge.
• Bidders shall quote separately, as an option, for annual support and maintenance services after the expiry of the warranty.

8. Payment Schedule

Payment shall be made against the milestones below, on submission of an invoice and ECDD’s written confirmation that the milestone has been met. Invoices shall be settled within fifteen (15) working days. Applicable taxes shall be handled in accordance with Ethiopian tax law, and withholding tax shall be deducted at source with a certificate issued to the Service Provider.