Accessing and Viewing Solicitations FAQs

• Does VSS post any Federal solicitations?
  No, VSS does not post any Federal solicitations.

• What types of solicitations am I able to see in VSS?

Most State Agencies, the Colorado Community College System, and the Department of Education.

• Does ColoradoVSS allow me to view solicitations for different cities and counties?

No, VSS will not house any solicitations for different city and county departments. 

• Are there some Universities and Colleges that do not post on ColoradoVSS, and if so, where can I find their solicitations?

There won't be any solicitations for the following institutions:

• Western State University of Colorado

• Colorado Mesa University

• Colorado School of Mines

• Colorado State University

• Fort Lewis College

• Adam State University

• To view Good and Services solicitations for these schools, you will want to navigate to Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System.

• How do I locate CDOT solicitations?

CDOT solicitations are not housed on the ColoradoVSS website. To view CDOT Goods and Services Solicitations, you will want to visit the CDOT Business Center.  To view CDOT Bridge and Highway Construction Solicitations you will want to visit CDOT Construction Bidding.\For more information on where to locate solicitations for different State Departments, you will want to visit: https://www.colorado.gov/osc/solicitations.  

The VSS Support Center provides technical support and instructions related to the system issues with the ColoradoVSS system only.  

• Is there a way to bookmark a solicitation, instead of having to search for it?

If you are a registered vendor on the ColoradoVSS, you can save your Solicitations using the My Watchlist function so you won't have to look for them every time you check-in.

• What solicitations can I bookmark on My Watchlist?

You will only be able to add published solicitations to your Watchlist. 

• What is the purpose of the Purchase History link on a solicitation?

When you select the Purchase History link on a solicitation, it is not department specific.  It is providing you with information about the purchase history of the commodity code that was used in the publish solicitation with the State of Colorado.  Vendors may find this helpful when seeing how often an organization (i.e. the State of Colorado) is purchasing specific commodity codes and for how much, however, this purchase price does not show the complete agreement of the entire purchase.  There could have been other price adjustments for purchasing in bulk or multiple items from the vendor.  

Using the Purchase History as a tool to select a commodity code may help vendors see the demand and not have to go through all the commodity codes available, therefore, prompting vendors to tie that commodity code to their profile.  

• How can I access a solicitation, if the link provided in the solicitation notification email is not working?

You will want to navigate directly to colorado.gov/vss and select the View Public Solicitations button to access published solicitations.]

• Do I have to be registered in order to view published solicitations on the VSS website?

No, you can view solicitations by navigating directly to the VSS site colorado.gov/vss and selecting the View Published Solicitations button to access published solicitations. 

• Who do I contact for more information about a solicitation?

If you have any inquiries about the business details related to the solicitation, you should get in touch with the department that published it.  

• If I use the Public Access link, will I still have access to my VSS account information?

The account information is not available if you have entered VSS as a Guest using the View Published Solicitations link.  To view your account information, you will need to login VSS using your login credentials.

• I have specific questions about a solicitation, who do I contact?

You will want to contact the Buyer that is listed on the solicitation, they will be able to assist you further.

• Do I need to be logged into my VSS Account in order to submit a question about a solicitation I am interested in?

No, you should still be able to submit your question to the Buyer without logging into your VSS account.  Be sure to download all attachments associated with the solicitation to locate instructions and the Buyer's contact information.  

• Where can I find solicitation Buyer information?

There is more than one way to locate the buyer information for a solicitation so that you can ask the department any questions: 

• After finding the solicitation you're interested in and clicking the Solicitation Number link, download any relevant attachments and search for the contact details.

• Look for the Buyer Information on the General Information header.

• How will I know if a specific solicitation has been published and released on ColoradoVSS?

There are multiple ways to check if a specific solicitation has been published on the VSS website.  

• • Email notifications

    • To receive email notifications, you will want to create and register a VSS account and set up commodity codes.

  • Browsing solicitations by logging into a registered VSS account

    • If you do not have a VSS account, you can browse solicitations by using the View Published Solicitations link.