{ "uri": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/api/1.0/ocdsRecordPackages/ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "publisher": { "name": "Cabinet Office", "scheme": "GB-GOR", "uid": "D2", "uri": "https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office" }, "publishedDate": "2026-11-11T16:47:18Z", "license": "http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/", "publicationPolicy": "https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-contracting", "version": "1.1", "extensions": [ "https://standard.open-contracting.org/profiles/eu/latest/en/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-contracting-extensions/ocds_amendment_rationale_classifications_extension/master/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-contracting-extensions/ocds_budget_breakdown_extension/master/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-contracting-extensions/ocds_contract_completion_extension/master/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-contracting-extensions/ocds_documentation_extension/master/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-contracting-extensions/ocds_pagination_extension/master/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-contracting-extensions/ocds_suitability_extension/master/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/portaledcahn/ocds_Links_extension/main/extension.json", "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cabinetoffice/ocds_uk_extension/main/extension.json" ], "packages": [ "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/api/1.0/ocdsRecordPackages/ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3" ], "records": [ { "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "releases": [ { "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "id": "072318-2026", "date": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "tag": [ "planning" ], "description": "Critical Compliance and Equal Treatment Notice:\nThis exercise is not a call for competition, and no contract will be awarded directly from this PIN. A separate Contract Notice will be published on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) at a future date to initiate the formal procurement process.\nTo ensure compliance with Regulation 41 (Prior involvement of candidates or tenderers) and Regulation 19 (Principles of procurement) of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015:\n-\tNon-Discriminatory Specifications: Information, feedback and technical ideas captured through the questionnaire and Microsoft Teams briefings will be used solely to inform and refine Link’s requirements. They will not be adopted, drafted or incorporated in a way that creates an unfair advantage or restricts open market competition.\n-\tEqual Information Sharing: Any technical specifications, data, clarification or additional contextual information provided by the Contracting Authority during Microsoft Teams sessions will be documented and, where relevant to the future procurement, made available to all future bidders within the formal Invitation to Tender (ITT) suite. This will help ensure that suppliers invited to market engagement sessions do not receive an unfair advantage over suppliers that were not invited or did not participate.\n-\tNo Competitive Commitment: Participation in this market engagement is entirely voluntary. Non-participation, non-selection for a Microsoft Teams market engagement session, or participation by written questionnaire response only will not prejudice or disqualify any supplier from bidding in any future formal tender. Conversely, participation in this market consultation, including attendance at a Microsoft Teams session, does not grant any special status or advantage in the final evaluation.\n-\tCommercial Confidentiality: The Contracting Authority will safeguard all proprietary or commercially sensitive data provided by suppliers in their questionnaire responses or during the Teams sessions, ensuring it is not disclosed to competing operators.\nNOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=838193.\n(SC Ref:838193)", "initiationType": "tender", "tender": { "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "legalBasis": { "id": "32014L0024", "scheme": "CELEX" }, "title": "Replacement of Corporate Telephony and Contact Centre Environment", "status": "planned", "classification": { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, "mainProcurementCategory": "services", "description": "Link Group, the Contracting Authority, is seeking to modernise its telephony and contact management environment as part of a wider customer experience transformation. The requirement is not limited to a like-for-like telephony replacement. Link is seeking to understand how the market can support a move from fragmented channels and siloed systems towards a single, integrated and insight-led contact management platform.\nThe primary objective is to implement a modern, scalable, cloud-based Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution capable of supporting seamless multi-channel customer engagement across voice, live chat, messaging, social media and future digital channels. Link is particularly interested in solutions that can provide a single view of the customer, intelligent routing based on customer intent and need, real-time operational visibility, workforce engagement capability and data-driven insight across the end-to-end customer journey.\nThis Prior Information Notice (PIN) is issued solely to initiate a Preliminary Market Consultation exercise. The purpose is to test market capability, understand available delivery models, inform Link’s emerging specification and procurement strategy, and explore how suppliers can support both technology replacement and service transformation outcomes, including automation, virtual assistants, AI-assisted colleague support, workforce management and customer journey-led redesign.\nLink’s emerging priorities include reducing repeat contact, redials, avoidable transfers and misdirected queries; improving colleague access to customer history and knowledge prompts; enabling real-time demand management and reporting; increasing digital adoption through automation and self-service; and ensuring that future technology is aligned to priority customer journeys rather than being designed around existing channel structures.", "lots": [ { "id": "1", "description": "Link Group is a group of social enterprise companies and one of Scotland’s largest social landlords. Link Group provides affordable housing, property management, regeneration, advice, financial inclusion, employability, care and support services to a large and diverse customer base across Scotland. Link Group serves more than 20,000 customers and provides housing management services to circa 16,000 tenants in social rented accommodation, including general needs and sheltered housing.\nThe Link Group structure includes a number of related organisations and service areas that collectively deliver housing, property, care, support and community-based services. These include Link Group Ltd, which provides core group functions; Link Group Housing Services, which delivers housing management services for social rented tenants; C~urb, which brings together development, property management, letting, factoring and property maintenance activities; Horizon Housing Association, which provides affordable housing and services that support people with impairments to live independently; Larkfield Housing Association, a community-based Registered Social Landlord in Greenock; LinkLiving, which provides person-centred care, housing support and wellbeing services, and West Highland Housing Association, which provides affordable housing, property management, and maintenance services across the Lorn area and the Inner Hebridean islands of Scotland.\nThe proposed replacement of telephony and contact centre systems is intended to support the wider Link Group operating environment rather than a single isolated service area. The future solution may therefore need to support multiple customer-facing and colleague-facing functions across housing, repairs, property management, factoring, care and support, advice, employability, development and corporate services.\nThe Customer Service Centre (CSC) acts as a primary customer contact function, managing enquiries across housing, repairs, income, complaints and related services. Link also operates specialist customer-facing teams, including services supporting housing applications, registrations, lettings, responsive repairs, planned maintenance, compliance activities and property-related enquiries. These teams collectively support high-volume contact across a broad range of customer journeys. For market-sizing purposes, Link currently anticipates a future licence requirement in the region of 250–500 user licences across the Group, subject to confirmation through future operating model development, service design and multi-skilling activity.\nGiven the scale and breadth of these services, effective contact management is central to Link’s ability to provide responsive, accessible and joined-up services to tenants, owners, applicants, private rented sector customers, supported people, partners and other stakeholders.\nThis group-wide context is important because suppliers may be required to demonstrate how their proposed solution can support different operating models, service hours, customer journeys, user groups, reporting requirements, call flows, contact channels and integration needs across Link Group. Link is therefore seeking market insight into solutions that can provide scalable, resilient and configurable contact management capability across the full breadth of the group, while enabling consistent customer experience, improved colleague access to information and better operational insight. Additional information: See Attached Document", "status": "planned" } ], "items": [ { "id": "1", "additionalClassifications": [ { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "32500000", "description": "Telecommunications equipment and supplies" } ], "deliveryAddresses": [ { "region": "UKM75" } ], "deliveryLocation": { "description": "Link House, 2C New Mart Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RL" }, "relatedLot": "1" } ], "communication": { "futureNoticeDate": "2026-10-02T00:00:00+01:00", "atypicalToolUrl": "http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk" } }, "parties": [ { "name": "Link Group", "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "identifier": { "legalName": "Link Group" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "2c New Mart Road", "locality": "Edinburgh", "region": "UK", "postalCode": "EH14 1RL", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "contactPoint": { "telephone": "+44 3303030124", "email": "linkprocurement@linkgroup.org.uk" }, "roles": [ "buyer" ], "details": { "url": "https://linkhousing.org.uk", "buyerProfile": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA12842", "classifications": [ { "scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE", "id": "BODY_PUBLIC", "description": "Body governed by public law" }, { "scheme": "COFOG", "id": "06", "description": "Housing and community amenities" } ] } } ], "buyer": { "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "name": "Link Group" }, "links": [ { "rel": "canonical", "href": "https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000838193" } ], "language": "en" }, { "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "id": "105513-2026", "date": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "tag": [ "tender" ], "description": "Tenderers should note that all communication relating to this procurement, including clarification questions and tender submissions, must be undertaken through Public Contracts Scotland/PCS-Tender in accordance with the procurement documents.\nLink Group reserves the right not to award a contract as a result of this procurement process and will not be liable for any costs incurred by tenderers in participating in the process.\nTenderers should ensure they review all procurement documents and any subsequent clarifications or amendments issued during the procurement process.\nThe contract will be subject to Scots law.\nLink Group reserves the right to require the successful tenderer to provide the supporting evidence necessary to verify statements and declarations made during the procurement process.\nNOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=846722.\nThe buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.\nSuppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.\n(SC Ref:846722)\nDownload the ESPD document here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=846722", "initiationType": "tender", "tender": { "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "legalBasis": { "id": "32014L0024", "scheme": "CELEX" }, "title": "Replacement of Corporate Telephony and Contact Centre Environment", "status": "active", "classification": { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, "mainProcurementCategory": "services", "description": "Link Group is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified supplier to provide, implement and support a modern, secure and resilient corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution. The contract will include cloud telephony, omnichannel contact handling, intelligent routing, workforce management, call recording, quality management, reporting and analytics, PCI-compliant payment handling, integration capabilities, migration, implementation, training and ongoing support. The solution will support customer-facing and colleague-facing services across Link Group and will be delivered through a phased approach.", "value": { "amount": 1500000, "currency": "GBP" }, "lots": [ { "id": "1", "description": "Link Group is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced supplier to provide, implement, migrate, configure and support a modern, secure, resilient and scalable corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution.\nThe procurement will deliver a group-wide, cloud-based platform supporting customer-facing and colleague-facing services. The future solution must provide an integrated, journey-led and omnichannel contact management capability, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), automation and advanced analytics as fundamental components of the target platform.\nThe scope includes corporate telephony; voice, email, webchat and digital contact channels; intelligent, intent-led and skills-based routing; IVR, queues, callbacks and voicemail; workforce management; interaction recording; quality management; PCI-compliant payment handling; operational reporting and analytics; integrations; migration; implementation; training; service management and ongoing support.\nThe solution must provide advanced AI and interaction analytics capabilities including speech-to-text transcription, conversational and speech analytics, automated interaction categorisation and summarisation, customer intent and topic identification, sentiment analysis and the ability to identify changes in sentiment throughout an interaction. Link Group also requires the ability to identify trends, emerging issues, repeat contact, customer effort, vulnerability indicators, service quality concerns and potential compliance issues across interactions and customer journeys.\nAI capabilities should support colleagues through real-time or context-sensitive guidance, knowledge recommendations, automated summaries, suggested actions and other appropriate forms of advisor assistance. The platform must also support automated quality management and analytics across interactions, reducing reliance on small manually selected samples and enabling supervisors to identify opportunities for coaching, improvement and intervention.\nThe solution should support conversational AI and appropriate customer self-service while enabling effective transfer to a human adviser, with relevant customer context and interaction history retained.\nAI and automated capabilities must be subject to appropriate governance, security, auditability and human oversight. Suppliers will be expected to explain how AI services operate, how customer information is processed and protected, and how accuracy, privacy, bias, transparency, data residency and regulatory requirements are addressed.\nThe platform must integrate with Link Group's existing and evolving technology landscape, including Microsoft 365, business applications, customer and housing systems, knowledge services, payment services and data/reporting platforms, using appropriate APIs and integration services.\nDelivery will be phased, allowing Link Group to establish core telephony and CCaaS capabilities while progressively developing its omnichannel, automation, AI and analytics capabilities. The successful supplier will provide implementation, configuration, integration, migration, testing, training and transition services and ongoing operational and technical support.\nBidders must clearly identify where functionality is native to the proposed platform, provided through third parties, separately licensed or consumption-based, or dependent upon future product development or roadmap delivery.", "contractPeriod": { "durationInDays": 1080 }, "hasRenewal": true, "renewal": { "description": "The contract has an initial 36-month term. Link Group may, at its sole discretion, extend the contract by up to five further 12-month periods, giving a maximum duration of eight years. Extensions are subject to satisfactory performance, business need and affordability. Tender pricing will be evaluated over the full eight-year period." }, "submissionTerms": { "variantPolicy": "notAllowed" }, "hasOptions": false, "status": "active" } ], "items": [ { "id": "1", "additionalClassifications": [ { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "32500000", "description": "Telecommunications equipment and supplies" } ], "deliveryAddresses": [ { "region": "UKM75" } ], "deliveryLocation": { "description": "Link House, 2C New Mart Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RL" }, "relatedLot": "1" } ], "submissionMethod": [ "electronicSubmission" ], "submissionMethodDetails": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk", "communication": { "atypicalToolUrl": "http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk" }, "selectionCriteria": { "criteria": [ { "type": "economic", "description": "Bidders must demonstrate that they have sufficient economic and financial standing to undertake the contract and to continue to provide the required services throughout the contract term.\nLink Group reserves the right to undertake appropriate financial viability and credit checks on bidders, including consideration of annual accounts, turnover, profitability, liquidity, credit standing and other relevant financial information.\nBidders must hold, or commit to obtain prior to contract commencement, appropriate levels of insurance relevant to the services being provided, including Employers' Liability, Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance.\nWhere a bidder relies upon the financial standing of a parent company, consortium member or other entity, Link Group may require appropriate evidence of that entity's commitment and, where appropriate, a parent company guarantee or equivalent security.\nFurther details of the minimum requirements and evidence required are set out in the procurement documents.", "minimum": "The bidder's average annual turnover for the most recent three financial years must be at least twice the estimated average annual value of the contract.\nEmployers Liability GBP 10 million\nPublic and Product Liability GBP 5 million\nProfessional Indemnity GBP 5 million\nCyber Liability Insurance = GBP 1 million", "appliesTo": [ "supplier" ] }, { "type": "technical", "description": "Bidders must demonstrate that they have the technical and professional capability, capacity and experience necessary to successfully implement, transition and support the services required under this contract.\nAs a minimum, bidders will be expected to demonstrate:\nrelevant and recent experience of successfully implementing and supporting cloud-based corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solutions of comparable scale, scope and complexity;\nexperience of implementing omnichannel contact centre capabilities incorporating voice and digital channels, intelligent routing, workforce management, interaction recording, quality management, reporting and analytics;\nexperience and capability in the implementation and support of artificial intelligence, automation and advanced interaction analytics, including capabilities such as speech-to-text transcription, sentiment and topic analysis, automated summarisation, conversational analytics, advisor assistance, automated quality management and conversational AI;\nappropriate technical resources, skills, implementation methodologies, project management and service management capabilities to design, configure, integrate, migrate, test, transition and support the proposed solution;\nexperience of integrating CCaaS solutions with enterprise applications, Microsoft technologies, CRM and line-of-business systems, data and reporting platforms, knowledge services and payment services using appropriate APIs and integration technologies;\nappropriate information security, cyber security, data protection, business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements applicable to the delivery of the services;\ncapability to securely process and manage customer interactions, recordings, transcripts and other personal or sensitive information, including appropriate controls relating to AI-enabled processing;\nappropriate arrangements for the management of subcontractors and third-party technology providers forming part of the proposed solution; and\nsufficient suitably qualified and experienced personnel and resources to deliver the implementation and provide ongoing support throughout the contract term.\nBidders may be required to provide details of relevant contracts delivered during the previous three years, including client references, together with evidence of appropriate technical capability, certifications, accreditations and resources.\nWhere a bidder relies upon the technical or professional capacity of another organisation, the bidder must demonstrate that the necessary resources will be available for the delivery of the contract.\nFurther details of the minimum selection requirements, evidence requirements and any mandatory technical criteria are set out in the procurement documents.", "appliesTo": [ "supplier" ] } ] }, "contractTerms": { "performanceTerms": "The successful supplier will be required to comply with all contract terms and conditions and requirements set out in the procurement documents throughout the contract term. These will include requirements relating to implementation and transition, service levels and performance, information and cyber security, data protection and UK GDPR, business continuity and disaster recovery, accessibility, regulatory compliance, responsible use of AI, service and incident management, subcontractor management, support, continuous improvement and exit/transition. The supplier must maintain all applicable insurance, certifications and security controls throughout the relevant period of the contract. Performance will be managed through agreed SLAs, KPIs, reporting and service reviews.", "hasElectronicOrdering": true, "electronicInvoicingPolicy": "allowed", "hasElectronicPayment": true }, "procurementMethod": "open", "procurementMethodDetails": "Open procedure", "coveredBy": [ "GPA" ], "tenderPeriod": { "endDate": "2026-11-23T12:00:00Z" }, "submissionTerms": { "languages": [ "en" ], "bidValidityPeriod": { "durationInDays": 120 } }, "awardPeriod": { "startDate": "2026-11-23T12:30:00Z" }, "bidOpening": { "date": "2026-11-23T12:30:00Z", "address": { "streetAddress": "Electronically via Public Contracts Scotland." }, "description": "Tenders will be opened electronically following expiry of the submission deadline. The opening will be undertaken by authorised representatives of Link Group. Tenderers will not be permitted to attend the opening." }, "hasRecurrence": false, "reviewDetails": "An economic operator that suffers, or risks suffering, loss or damage as a consequence of a breach of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 may bring proceedings in accordance with the provisions of those Regulations. Tenderers should seek independent legal advice regarding applicable review procedures and time limits." }, "parties": [ { "name": "Link Group", "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "identifier": { "legalName": "Link Group" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "2c New Mart Road", "locality": "Edinburgh", "region": "UK", "postalCode": "EH14 1RL", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "contactPoint": { "telephone": "+44 3303030124", "email": "linkprocurement@linkgroup.org.uk", "url": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk" }, "roles": [ "buyer", "centralPurchasingBody" ], "details": { "url": "https://linkhousing.org.uk", "buyerProfile": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA12842", "classifications": [ { "scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE", "id": "BODY_PUBLIC", "description": "Body governed by public law" }, { "scheme": "COFOG", "id": "06", "description": "Housing and community amenities" } ] } }, { "name": "Edinburgh Sheriff Court", "id": "GB-FTS-404", "identifier": { "legalName": "Edinburgh Sheriff Court" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "27 Chambers Street", "locality": "Edinburgh", "postalCode": "EH1 1LB", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "roles": [ "reviewBody" ] }, { "name": "Link Group Ltd", "id": "GB-FTS-188220", "identifier": { "legalName": "Link Group Ltd" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "2c New Mart Rd", "locality": "Edinburgh", "postalCode": "EH14 1RL", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "roles": [ "reviewContactPoint" ] } ], "buyer": { "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "name": "Link Group" }, "links": [ { "rel": "canonical", "href": "https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000838193" } ], "language": "en" }, { "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "id": "107286-2026", "date": "2026-11-11T16:47:14Z", "tag": [ "tenderUpdate" ], "initiationType": "tender", "tender": { "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "legalBasis": { "id": "32014L0024", "scheme": "CELEX" }, "title": "Replacement of Corporate Telephony and Contact Centre Environment", "classification": { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, "mainProcurementCategory": "services", "description": "Link Group is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified supplier to provide, implement and support a modern, secure and resilient corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution. The contract will include cloud telephony, omnichannel contact handling, intelligent routing, workforce management, call recording, quality management, reporting and analytics, PCI-compliant payment handling, integration capabilities, migration, implementation, training and ongoing support. The solution will support customer-facing and colleague-facing services across Link Group and will be delivered through a phased approach.", "amendments": [ { "id": "1", "unstructuredChanges": [ { "oldValue": { "date": "2026-11-23T12:00:00Z" }, "newValue": { "date": "2026-11-30T12:00:00Z" }, "where": { "section": "IV.2.2", "label": "Time limit" } }, { "oldValue": { "date": "2026-11-23T12:30:00Z" }, "newValue": { "date": "2026-11-30T12:30:00Z" }, "where": { "section": "IV.2.7", "label": "Conditions for opening of tenders" } } ], "description": "To provide bidders an additional week to complete their responses." } ] }, "parties": [ { "name": "Link Group", "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "identifier": { "legalName": "Link Group" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "2c New Mart Road", "locality": "Edinburgh", "region": "UK", "postalCode": "EH14 1RL", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "contactPoint": { "telephone": "+44 3303030124", "email": "linkprocurement@linkgroup.org.uk" }, "roles": [ "buyer" ], "details": { "url": "https://linkhousing.org.uk", "buyerProfile": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA12842" } } ], "buyer": { "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "name": "Link Group" }, "links": [ { "rel": "canonical", "href": "https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000846722" } ], "language": "en" } ], "compiledRelease": { "tag": [ "compiled" ], "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3-2026-11-11T16:47:14Z", "date": "2026-11-11T16:47:14Z", "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "description": "Tenderers should note that all communication relating to this procurement, including clarification questions and tender submissions, must be undertaken through Public Contracts Scotland/PCS-Tender in accordance with the procurement documents.\nLink Group reserves the right not to award a contract as a result of this procurement process and will not be liable for any costs incurred by tenderers in participating in the process.\nTenderers should ensure they review all procurement documents and any subsequent clarifications or amendments issued during the procurement process.\nThe contract will be subject to Scots law.\nLink Group reserves the right to require the successful tenderer to provide the supporting evidence necessary to verify statements and declarations made during the procurement process.\nNOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=846722.\nThe buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.\nSuppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.\n(SC Ref:846722)\nDownload the ESPD document here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=846722", "initiationType": "tender", "tender": { "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "legalBasis": { "id": "32014L0024", "scheme": "CELEX" }, "title": "Replacement of Corporate Telephony and Contact Centre Environment", "status": "active", "classification": { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, "mainProcurementCategory": "services", "description": "Link Group is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified supplier to provide, implement and support a modern, secure and resilient corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution. The contract will include cloud telephony, omnichannel contact handling, intelligent routing, workforce management, call recording, quality management, reporting and analytics, PCI-compliant payment handling, integration capabilities, migration, implementation, training and ongoing support. The solution will support customer-facing and colleague-facing services across Link Group and will be delivered through a phased approach.", "lots": [ { "id": "1", "description": "Link Group is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced supplier to provide, implement, migrate, configure and support a modern, secure, resilient and scalable corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution.\nThe procurement will deliver a group-wide, cloud-based platform supporting customer-facing and colleague-facing services. The future solution must provide an integrated, journey-led and omnichannel contact management capability, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), automation and advanced analytics as fundamental components of the target platform.\nThe scope includes corporate telephony; voice, email, webchat and digital contact channels; intelligent, intent-led and skills-based routing; IVR, queues, callbacks and voicemail; workforce management; interaction recording; quality management; PCI-compliant payment handling; operational reporting and analytics; integrations; migration; implementation; training; service management and ongoing support.\nThe solution must provide advanced AI and interaction analytics capabilities including speech-to-text transcription, conversational and speech analytics, automated interaction categorisation and summarisation, customer intent and topic identification, sentiment analysis and the ability to identify changes in sentiment throughout an interaction. Link Group also requires the ability to identify trends, emerging issues, repeat contact, customer effort, vulnerability indicators, service quality concerns and potential compliance issues across interactions and customer journeys.\nAI capabilities should support colleagues through real-time or context-sensitive guidance, knowledge recommendations, automated summaries, suggested actions and other appropriate forms of advisor assistance. The platform must also support automated quality management and analytics across interactions, reducing reliance on small manually selected samples and enabling supervisors to identify opportunities for coaching, improvement and intervention.\nThe solution should support conversational AI and appropriate customer self-service while enabling effective transfer to a human adviser, with relevant customer context and interaction history retained.\nAI and automated capabilities must be subject to appropriate governance, security, auditability and human oversight. Suppliers will be expected to explain how AI services operate, how customer information is processed and protected, and how accuracy, privacy, bias, transparency, data residency and regulatory requirements are addressed.\nThe platform must integrate with Link Group's existing and evolving technology landscape, including Microsoft 365, business applications, customer and housing systems, knowledge services, payment services and data/reporting platforms, using appropriate APIs and integration services.\nDelivery will be phased, allowing Link Group to establish core telephony and CCaaS capabilities while progressively developing its omnichannel, automation, AI and analytics capabilities. The successful supplier will provide implementation, configuration, integration, migration, testing, training and transition services and ongoing operational and technical support.\nBidders must clearly identify where functionality is native to the proposed platform, provided through third parties, separately licensed or consumption-based, or dependent upon future product development or roadmap delivery.", "status": "active", "contractPeriod": { "durationInDays": 1080 }, "hasRenewal": true, "renewal": { "description": "The contract has an initial 36-month term. Link Group may, at its sole discretion, extend the contract by up to five further 12-month periods, giving a maximum duration of eight years. Extensions are subject to satisfactory performance, business need and affordability. Tender pricing will be evaluated over the full eight-year period." }, "submissionTerms": { "variantPolicy": "notAllowed" }, "hasOptions": false } ], "items": [ { "id": "1", "additionalClassifications": [ { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "32500000", "description": "Telecommunications equipment and supplies" } ], "deliveryAddresses": [ { "region": "UKM75" }, { "region": "UKM75" } ], "deliveryLocation": { "description": "Link House, 2C New Mart Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RL" }, "relatedLot": "1" } ], "communication": { "futureNoticeDate": "2026-10-02T00:00:00+01:00", "atypicalToolUrl": "http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk" }, "value": { "amount": 1500000, "currency": "GBP" }, "submissionMethod": [ "electronicSubmission" ], "submissionMethodDetails": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk", "selectionCriteria": { "criteria": [ { "type": "economic", "description": "Bidders must demonstrate that they have sufficient economic and financial standing to undertake the contract and to continue to provide the required services throughout the contract term.\nLink Group reserves the right to undertake appropriate financial viability and credit checks on bidders, including consideration of annual accounts, turnover, profitability, liquidity, credit standing and other relevant financial information.\nBidders must hold, or commit to obtain prior to contract commencement, appropriate levels of insurance relevant to the services being provided, including Employers' Liability, Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance.\nWhere a bidder relies upon the financial standing of a parent company, consortium member or other entity, Link Group may require appropriate evidence of that entity's commitment and, where appropriate, a parent company guarantee or equivalent security.\nFurther details of the minimum requirements and evidence required are set out in the procurement documents.", "minimum": "The bidder's average annual turnover for the most recent three financial years must be at least twice the estimated average annual value of the contract.\nEmployers Liability GBP 10 million\nPublic and Product Liability GBP 5 million\nProfessional Indemnity GBP 5 million\nCyber Liability Insurance = GBP 1 million", "appliesTo": [ "supplier" ] }, { "type": "technical", "description": "Bidders must demonstrate that they have the technical and professional capability, capacity and experience necessary to successfully implement, transition and support the services required under this contract.\nAs a minimum, bidders will be expected to demonstrate:\nrelevant and recent experience of successfully implementing and supporting cloud-based corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solutions of comparable scale, scope and complexity;\nexperience of implementing omnichannel contact centre capabilities incorporating voice and digital channels, intelligent routing, workforce management, interaction recording, quality management, reporting and analytics;\nexperience and capability in the implementation and support of artificial intelligence, automation and advanced interaction analytics, including capabilities such as speech-to-text transcription, sentiment and topic analysis, automated summarisation, conversational analytics, advisor assistance, automated quality management and conversational AI;\nappropriate technical resources, skills, implementation methodologies, project management and service management capabilities to design, configure, integrate, migrate, test, transition and support the proposed solution;\nexperience of integrating CCaaS solutions with enterprise applications, Microsoft technologies, CRM and line-of-business systems, data and reporting platforms, knowledge services and payment services using appropriate APIs and integration technologies;\nappropriate information security, cyber security, data protection, business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements applicable to the delivery of the services;\ncapability to securely process and manage customer interactions, recordings, transcripts and other personal or sensitive information, including appropriate controls relating to AI-enabled processing;\nappropriate arrangements for the management of subcontractors and third-party technology providers forming part of the proposed solution; and\nsufficient suitably qualified and experienced personnel and resources to deliver the implementation and provide ongoing support throughout the contract term.\nBidders may be required to provide details of relevant contracts delivered during the previous three years, including client references, together with evidence of appropriate technical capability, certifications, accreditations and resources.\nWhere a bidder relies upon the technical or professional capacity of another organisation, the bidder must demonstrate that the necessary resources will be available for the delivery of the contract.\nFurther details of the minimum selection requirements, evidence requirements and any mandatory technical criteria are set out in the procurement documents.", "appliesTo": [ "supplier" ] } ] }, "contractTerms": { "performanceTerms": "The successful supplier will be required to comply with all contract terms and conditions and requirements set out in the procurement documents throughout the contract term. These will include requirements relating to implementation and transition, service levels and performance, information and cyber security, data protection and UK GDPR, business continuity and disaster recovery, accessibility, regulatory compliance, responsible use of AI, service and incident management, subcontractor management, support, continuous improvement and exit/transition. The supplier must maintain all applicable insurance, certifications and security controls throughout the relevant period of the contract. Performance will be managed through agreed SLAs, KPIs, reporting and service reviews.", "hasElectronicOrdering": true, "electronicInvoicingPolicy": "allowed", "hasElectronicPayment": true }, "procurementMethod": "open", "procurementMethodDetails": "Open procedure", "coveredBy": [ "GPA" ], "tenderPeriod": { "endDate": "2026-11-23T12:00:00Z" }, "submissionTerms": { "languages": [ "en" ], "bidValidityPeriod": { "durationInDays": 120 } }, "awardPeriod": { "startDate": "2026-11-23T12:30:00Z" }, "bidOpening": { "date": "2026-11-23T12:30:00Z", "address": { "streetAddress": "Electronically via Public Contracts Scotland." }, "description": "Tenders will be opened electronically following expiry of the submission deadline. The opening will be undertaken by authorised representatives of Link Group. Tenderers will not be permitted to attend the opening." }, "hasRecurrence": false, "reviewDetails": "An economic operator that suffers, or risks suffering, loss or damage as a consequence of a breach of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 may bring proceedings in accordance with the provisions of those Regulations. Tenderers should seek independent legal advice regarding applicable review procedures and time limits.", "amendments": [ { "id": "1", "unstructuredChanges": [ { "oldValue": { "date": "2026-11-23T12:00:00Z" }, "newValue": { "date": "2026-11-30T12:00:00Z" }, "where": { "section": "IV.2.2", "label": "Time limit" } }, { "oldValue": { "date": "2026-11-23T12:30:00Z" }, "newValue": { "date": "2026-11-30T12:30:00Z" }, "where": { "section": "IV.2.7", "label": "Conditions for opening of tenders" } } ], "description": "To provide bidders an additional week to complete their responses." } ] }, "parties": [ { "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "name": "Link Group", "identifier": { "legalName": "Link Group" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "2c New Mart Road", "locality": "Edinburgh", "region": "UK", "postalCode": "EH14 1RL", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "contactPoint": { "telephone": "+44 3303030124", "email": "linkprocurement@linkgroup.org.uk", "url": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk" }, "roles": [ "buyer" ], "details": { "url": "https://linkhousing.org.uk", "buyerProfile": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA12842", "classifications": [ { "scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE", "id": "BODY_PUBLIC", "description": "Body governed by public law" }, { "scheme": "COFOG", "id": "06", "description": "Housing and community amenities" } ] } }, { "id": "GB-FTS-404", "name": "Edinburgh Sheriff Court", "identifier": { "legalName": "Edinburgh Sheriff Court" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "27 Chambers Street", "locality": "Edinburgh", "postalCode": "EH1 1LB", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "roles": [ "reviewBody" ] }, { "id": "GB-FTS-188220", "name": "Link Group Ltd", "identifier": { "legalName": "Link Group Ltd" }, "address": { "streetAddress": "2c New Mart Rd", "locality": "Edinburgh", "postalCode": "EH14 1RL", "countryName": "United Kingdom" }, "roles": [ "reviewContactPoint" ] } ], "buyer": { "id": "GB-FTS-2026", "name": "Link Group" }, "links": [ { "rel": "canonical", "href": "https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000846722" } ], "language": "en" }, "versionedRelease": { "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3", "description": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "Critical Compliance and Equal Treatment Notice:\nThis exercise is not a call for competition, and no contract will be awarded directly from this PIN. A separate Contract Notice will be published on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) at a future date to initiate the formal procurement process.\nTo ensure compliance with Regulation 41 (Prior involvement of candidates or tenderers) and Regulation 19 (Principles of procurement) of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015:\n-\tNon-Discriminatory Specifications: Information, feedback and technical ideas captured through the questionnaire and Microsoft Teams briefings will be used solely to inform and refine Link’s requirements. They will not be adopted, drafted or incorporated in a way that creates an unfair advantage or restricts open market competition.\n-\tEqual Information Sharing: Any technical specifications, data, clarification or additional contextual information provided by the Contracting Authority during Microsoft Teams sessions will be documented and, where relevant to the future procurement, made available to all future bidders within the formal Invitation to Tender (ITT) suite. This will help ensure that suppliers invited to market engagement sessions do not receive an unfair advantage over suppliers that were not invited or did not participate.\n-\tNo Competitive Commitment: Participation in this market engagement is entirely voluntary. Non-participation, non-selection for a Microsoft Teams market engagement session, or participation by written questionnaire response only will not prejudice or disqualify any supplier from bidding in any future formal tender. Conversely, participation in this market consultation, including attendance at a Microsoft Teams session, does not grant any special status or advantage in the final evaluation.\n-\tCommercial Confidentiality: The Contracting Authority will safeguard all proprietary or commercially sensitive data provided by suppliers in their questionnaire responses or during the Teams sessions, ensuring it is not disclosed to competing operators.\nNOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=838193.\n(SC Ref:838193)" }, { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "Tenderers should note that all communication relating to this procurement, including clarification questions and tender submissions, must be undertaken through Public Contracts Scotland/PCS-Tender in accordance with the procurement documents.\nLink Group reserves the right not to award a contract as a result of this procurement process and will not be liable for any costs incurred by tenderers in participating in the process.\nTenderers should ensure they review all procurement documents and any subsequent clarifications or amendments issued during the procurement process.\nThe contract will be subject to Scots law.\nLink Group reserves the right to require the successful tenderer to provide the supporting evidence necessary to verify statements and declarations made during the procurement process.\nNOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=846722.\nThe buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.\nSuppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the closing time to avoid any last minute problems.\n(SC Ref:846722)\nDownload the ESPD document here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ESPD/ESPD_Download.aspx?id=846722" } ], "initiationType": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "tender" } ], "tender": { "id": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d7f3" } ], "legalBasis": { "id": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "32014L0024" } ], "scheme": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "CELEX" } ] }, "title": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "Replacement of Corporate Telephony and Contact Centre Environment" } ], "status": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "planned" }, { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "active" } ], "classification": { "scheme": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "CPV" } ], "id": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "64210000" } ], "description": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "Telephone and data transmission services" } ] }, "mainProcurementCategory": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "services" } ], "description": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "Link Group, the Contracting Authority, is seeking to modernise its telephony and contact management environment as part of a wider customer experience transformation. The requirement is not limited to a like-for-like telephony replacement. Link is seeking to understand how the market can support a move from fragmented channels and siloed systems towards a single, integrated and insight-led contact management platform.\nThe primary objective is to implement a modern, scalable, cloud-based Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution capable of supporting seamless multi-channel customer engagement across voice, live chat, messaging, social media and future digital channels. Link is particularly interested in solutions that can provide a single view of the customer, intelligent routing based on customer intent and need, real-time operational visibility, workforce engagement capability and data-driven insight across the end-to-end customer journey.\nThis Prior Information Notice (PIN) is issued solely to initiate a Preliminary Market Consultation exercise. The purpose is to test market capability, understand available delivery models, inform Link’s emerging specification and procurement strategy, and explore how suppliers can support both technology replacement and service transformation outcomes, including automation, virtual assistants, AI-assisted colleague support, workforce management and customer journey-led redesign.\nLink’s emerging priorities include reducing repeat contact, redials, avoidable transfers and misdirected queries; improving colleague access to customer history and knowledge prompts; enabling real-time demand management and reporting; increasing digital adoption through automation and self-service; and ensuring that future technology is aligned to priority customer journeys rather than being designed around existing channel structures." }, { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "Link Group is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified supplier to provide, implement and support a modern, secure and resilient corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution. The contract will include cloud telephony, omnichannel contact handling, intelligent routing, workforce management, call recording, quality management, reporting and analytics, PCI-compliant payment handling, integration capabilities, migration, implementation, training and ongoing support. The solution will support customer-facing and colleague-facing services across Link Group and will be delivered through a phased approach." } ], "lots": [ { "id": "1", "description": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "Link Group is a group of social enterprise companies and one of Scotland’s largest social landlords. Link Group provides affordable housing, property management, regeneration, advice, financial inclusion, employability, care and support services to a large and diverse customer base across Scotland. Link Group serves more than 20,000 customers and provides housing management services to circa 16,000 tenants in social rented accommodation, including general needs and sheltered housing.\nThe Link Group structure includes a number of related organisations and service areas that collectively deliver housing, property, care, support and community-based services. These include Link Group Ltd, which provides core group functions; Link Group Housing Services, which delivers housing management services for social rented tenants; C~urb, which brings together development, property management, letting, factoring and property maintenance activities; Horizon Housing Association, which provides affordable housing and services that support people with impairments to live independently; Larkfield Housing Association, a community-based Registered Social Landlord in Greenock; LinkLiving, which provides person-centred care, housing support and wellbeing services, and West Highland Housing Association, which provides affordable housing, property management, and maintenance services across the Lorn area and the Inner Hebridean islands of Scotland.\nThe proposed replacement of telephony and contact centre systems is intended to support the wider Link Group operating environment rather than a single isolated service area. The future solution may therefore need to support multiple customer-facing and colleague-facing functions across housing, repairs, property management, factoring, care and support, advice, employability, development and corporate services.\nThe Customer Service Centre (CSC) acts as a primary customer contact function, managing enquiries across housing, repairs, income, complaints and related services. Link also operates specialist customer-facing teams, including services supporting housing applications, registrations, lettings, responsive repairs, planned maintenance, compliance activities and property-related enquiries. These teams collectively support high-volume contact across a broad range of customer journeys. For market-sizing purposes, Link currently anticipates a future licence requirement in the region of 250–500 user licences across the Group, subject to confirmation through future operating model development, service design and multi-skilling activity.\nGiven the scale and breadth of these services, effective contact management is central to Link’s ability to provide responsive, accessible and joined-up services to tenants, owners, applicants, private rented sector customers, supported people, partners and other stakeholders.\nThis group-wide context is important because suppliers may be required to demonstrate how their proposed solution can support different operating models, service hours, customer journeys, user groups, reporting requirements, call flows, contact channels and integration needs across Link Group. Link is therefore seeking market insight into solutions that can provide scalable, resilient and configurable contact management capability across the full breadth of the group, while enabling consistent customer experience, improved colleague access to information and better operational insight. Additional information: See Attached Document" }, { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "Link Group is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced supplier to provide, implement, migrate, configure and support a modern, secure, resilient and scalable corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution.\nThe procurement will deliver a group-wide, cloud-based platform supporting customer-facing and colleague-facing services. The future solution must provide an integrated, journey-led and omnichannel contact management capability, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), automation and advanced analytics as fundamental components of the target platform.\nThe scope includes corporate telephony; voice, email, webchat and digital contact channels; intelligent, intent-led and skills-based routing; IVR, queues, callbacks and voicemail; workforce management; interaction recording; quality management; PCI-compliant payment handling; operational reporting and analytics; integrations; migration; implementation; training; service management and ongoing support.\nThe solution must provide advanced AI and interaction analytics capabilities including speech-to-text transcription, conversational and speech analytics, automated interaction categorisation and summarisation, customer intent and topic identification, sentiment analysis and the ability to identify changes in sentiment throughout an interaction. Link Group also requires the ability to identify trends, emerging issues, repeat contact, customer effort, vulnerability indicators, service quality concerns and potential compliance issues across interactions and customer journeys.\nAI capabilities should support colleagues through real-time or context-sensitive guidance, knowledge recommendations, automated summaries, suggested actions and other appropriate forms of advisor assistance. The platform must also support automated quality management and analytics across interactions, reducing reliance on small manually selected samples and enabling supervisors to identify opportunities for coaching, improvement and intervention.\nThe solution should support conversational AI and appropriate customer self-service while enabling effective transfer to a human adviser, with relevant customer context and interaction history retained.\nAI and automated capabilities must be subject to appropriate governance, security, auditability and human oversight. Suppliers will be expected to explain how AI services operate, how customer information is processed and protected, and how accuracy, privacy, bias, transparency, data residency and regulatory requirements are addressed.\nThe platform must integrate with Link Group's existing and evolving technology landscape, including Microsoft 365, business applications, customer and housing systems, knowledge services, payment services and data/reporting platforms, using appropriate APIs and integration services.\nDelivery will be phased, allowing Link Group to establish core telephony and CCaaS capabilities while progressively developing its omnichannel, automation, AI and analytics capabilities. The successful supplier will provide implementation, configuration, integration, migration, testing, training and transition services and ongoing operational and technical support.\nBidders must clearly identify where functionality is native to the proposed platform, provided through third parties, separately licensed or consumption-based, or dependent upon future product development or roadmap delivery." } ], "status": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "planned" }, { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "active" } ], "contractPeriod": { "durationInDays": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": 1080 } ] }, "hasRenewal": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": true } ], "renewal": { "description": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "The contract has an initial 36-month term. Link Group may, at its sole discretion, extend the contract by up to five further 12-month periods, giving a maximum duration of eight years. Extensions are subject to satisfactory performance, business need and affordability. Tender pricing will be evaluated over the full eight-year period." } ] }, "submissionTerms": { "variantPolicy": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "notAllowed" } ] }, "hasOptions": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": false } ] } ], "items": [ { "id": "1", "additionalClassifications": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": [ { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "64210000", "description": "Telephone and data transmission services" }, { "scheme": "CPV", "id": "32500000", "description": "Telecommunications equipment and supplies" } ] } ], "deliveryAddresses": [ { "region": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "UKM75" } ] }, { "region": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "UKM75" } ] } ], "deliveryLocation": { "description": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "Link House, 2C New Mart Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RL" } ] }, "relatedLot": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "1" } ] } ], "communication": { "futureNoticeDate": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "2026-10-02T00:00:00+01:00" } ], "atypicalToolUrl": [ { "releaseID": "072318-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-30T15:45:11+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "planning" ], "value": "http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk" } ] }, "value": { "amount": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": 1500000 } ], "currency": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "GBP" } ] }, "submissionMethod": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": [ "electronicSubmission" ] } ], "submissionMethodDetails": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk" } ], "selectionCriteria": { "criteria": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": [ { "type": "economic", "description": "Bidders must demonstrate that they have sufficient economic and financial standing to undertake the contract and to continue to provide the required services throughout the contract term.\nLink Group reserves the right to undertake appropriate financial viability and credit checks on bidders, including consideration of annual accounts, turnover, profitability, liquidity, credit standing and other relevant financial information.\nBidders must hold, or commit to obtain prior to contract commencement, appropriate levels of insurance relevant to the services being provided, including Employers' Liability, Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance.\nWhere a bidder relies upon the financial standing of a parent company, consortium member or other entity, Link Group may require appropriate evidence of that entity's commitment and, where appropriate, a parent company guarantee or equivalent security.\nFurther details of the minimum requirements and evidence required are set out in the procurement documents.", "minimum": "The bidder's average annual turnover for the most recent three financial years must be at least twice the estimated average annual value of the contract.\nEmployers Liability GBP 10 million\nPublic and Product Liability GBP 5 million\nProfessional Indemnity GBP 5 million\nCyber Liability Insurance = GBP 1 million", "appliesTo": [ "supplier" ] }, { "type": "technical", "description": "Bidders must demonstrate that they have the technical and professional capability, capacity and experience necessary to successfully implement, transition and support the services required under this contract.\nAs a minimum, bidders will be expected to demonstrate:\nrelevant and recent experience of successfully implementing and supporting cloud-based corporate telephony and Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solutions of comparable scale, scope and complexity;\nexperience of implementing omnichannel contact centre capabilities incorporating voice and digital channels, intelligent routing, workforce management, interaction recording, quality management, reporting and analytics;\nexperience and capability in the implementation and support of artificial intelligence, automation and advanced interaction analytics, including capabilities such as speech-to-text transcription, sentiment and topic analysis, automated summarisation, conversational analytics, advisor assistance, automated quality management and conversational AI;\nappropriate technical resources, skills, implementation methodologies, project management and service management capabilities to design, configure, integrate, migrate, test, transition and support the proposed solution;\nexperience of integrating CCaaS solutions with enterprise applications, Microsoft technologies, CRM and line-of-business systems, data and reporting platforms, knowledge services and payment services using appropriate APIs and integration technologies;\nappropriate information security, cyber security, data protection, business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements applicable to the delivery of the services;\ncapability to securely process and manage customer interactions, recordings, transcripts and other personal or sensitive information, including appropriate controls relating to AI-enabled processing;\nappropriate arrangements for the management of subcontractors and third-party technology providers forming part of the proposed solution; and\nsufficient suitably qualified and experienced personnel and resources to deliver the implementation and provide ongoing support throughout the contract term.\nBidders may be required to provide details of relevant contracts delivered during the previous three years, including client references, together with evidence of appropriate technical capability, certifications, accreditations and resources.\nWhere a bidder relies upon the technical or professional capacity of another organisation, the bidder must demonstrate that the necessary resources will be available for the delivery of the contract.\nFurther details of the minimum selection requirements, evidence requirements and any mandatory technical criteria are set out in the procurement documents.", "appliesTo": [ "supplier" ] } ] } ] }, "contractTerms": { "performanceTerms": [ { "releaseID": "105513-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-11-06T09:22:39Z", "releaseTag": [ "tender" ], "value": "The successful supplier will be required to comply with all contract terms and conditions and requirements set out in the procurement documents throughout the contract term. These will include requirements relating to implementation and transition, service levels and performance, information and cyber security, data protection and UK GDPR, business continuity and disaster recovery, accessibility, regulatory compliance, responsible use of AI, service and incident management, subcontractor management, support, continuous improvement and exit/transition. The supplier must maintain all applicable insurance, certifications and security controls throughout the relevant period of the contract. 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