Operational Communications Platform (OCP)

Tender description

Transport for London is conducting a preliminary engagement to establish the availability and appetite of the market to improve efficiency and consistency of TfL incident communications. The Operational Communications Platform (OCP) will provide a single portal for sending out bulk communications around ongoing incidents to relevant stakeholders across multiple channels (such as email, SMS and potentially Teams messages). Primary users will be the Surface Control Centre (SCC) and Rail Control Centre (RCC). The platform will provide auditable logging of (and reporting on) communications, and facilitate message creation and distribution (including the use of pre-defined templates, distributions lists, etc.). It is envisioned that the solution will reuse existing enterprise capabilities (including TfL's Azure tenancy for sending emails and teams messages) and potentially integrate with other third-party services for SMS delivery via API (for example, gov.notify). This initiative is essential to simplify and standardise communication across TfL's operational control centres, replacing fragmented and outdated methods with a unified, modern platform. By moving away from a heavy reliance on SMS-based messaging and adopting app-based delivery, the organisation can significantly reduce ongoing communication costs while improving message traceability and user experience. The proposed solution will also enhance operational resilience by supporting full failover capability and off-network access, ensuring continuity of communication during system outages or emergencies. Additionally, the platform will incorporate identity and access management features, including integration with TfL's Directory Management Lifecycle (DML) processes to effectively manage user provisioning, movers, and leavers. This will strengthen security, streamline user administration, and ensure compliance with governance standards. The total estimated contract value is to be confirmed. We are seeking input on initial upfront capital investment and the operational/subscription cost for the first year, and potential future year extensions.