Search E-Rate Opportunities

Search E-Rate Opportunities in Navigator

Learn how to use Edtech Navigator to quickly identify relevant E-Rate opportunities in your defined territory and solutions category. 

Learning Objectives

After reading this article, you’ll be able to:

• Locate E-Rate opportunities within Navigator.
• Use search filters to locate relevant opportunities.
• Use sub-tabs to learn about service provider and market information.
• Turn search results into a proactive email report.

Amongst its available opportunity types, Navigator offers comprehensive E-Rate data to our clients. Navigator is directly linked with the USAC Database and is able to provide up-to-date information on Form 470s and Form 471s from across the country. All of this will be available in the E-RATE tab at the top of the page.

 

Definitions:

• Form 470 (think of this as the RFP)

This is an online form that is generated by the district. It identifies what is being requested and asks for bidders to respond. The request must stay open for a minimum of 28 days. We have historical data going back to 2013.

• Form 471 (think of this as the award)

When the school selects a vendor, it files a Form 471 identifying what is being purchased and for how much. We have historical data from 2016.

 

Locating E-Rate Opportunities

Once in the E-Rate section of Navigator, you’ll be able to use the search filters on the left-hand side of the page to optimize your search results.
 

 
Status:

1. Select Open to filter by open Form 470s.
    
2. Select Closed to view completed Form 470s and Form 471s.
    
3. By selecting Awarded you will only see awarded E-Rate documents and Form 471s.

 
FRN Status:
Navigator allows you to filter by the funding status of existing E-Rate opportunities. Use the filters to select between Funded, Pending, and Denied/canceled Form 471s.
 
 
Service Categories:
Navigator not only allows you to filter between Category One and Category Two E-Rate opportunities, but also the individual elements within them.
 
 
Funding Year:
The Funding Year filter is used to denote what year funding ends. These filters are updated yearly to reflect incoming Form 470s at the start of the net E-Rate season.

• E-Rate funding years run from July 1 to June 30.

 
Jurisdiction Filters:
Allow you to define your territory by states, counties, zip codes or a combination of these. The filters are optional. At any time that you are satisfied with your jurisdiction criteria, click the green "search" button to run your results.
 

1. Locate the jurisdiction filter section towards the middle of the search filter bar.
    
2. Go to geographic region and click the “+” icon. 
    

Filter by State

1. This filter provides results from an entire state.  If you are assigned to specific states, simply select the states that you would like to track.
    
2. Once your selection has been made, select close and continue.

 

Filter by County

1. This filter provides results by the county where the opportunity is located.
    
2. To set territories by county, use the "state" drop-down box, to select the state of interest.
    
3. After selecting the state, begin typing the county to be tracked. There is no limit to the number of counties that can be selected.
    
4. Once your selection has been made, select close and continue.

This filter only works for local governments and educational institutions. By selecting this filter, you will be excluding all opportunities from state level agencies and departments.
 

Filter by Zip Code

1. This will filter the results by the zip code where the opportunity is located. This system supports 4-digit or 5-digit zip code formats.
    
2. Type the zip code to be tracked, and click add.
   
   You can choose to add in your zip codes in bulk. Simply click the "bulk entry” button and paste your zip codes into the input box displayed. This system supports zip code data delimited by tab (copied directly from Excel), comma (,) or bar (|).
    
3. Once your selection has been made, click close and continue.

Filter by Specific Jurisdiction

1. This filter will provide results ONLY from the government(s) or educational institution(s) that you have selected.
    
2. To set territories by a specific jurisdiction, use the “state” drop-down box to select the state of interest.
    
3. Then use the “type” drop-down box to select the type of organization of interest. Begin typing the organization(s) of interest in the "jurisdiction" box. Available options will begin to display after at least three letters have been entered.
    
4. Once your selection has been made, click close and continue.
   
    

Filter by Levels

1. Next go to the levels section and click the “+” icon.
    
2. You can choose to select one or more markets or jurisdiction types between different levels of government and education coverage (dependent on your Navigator license). 
    
3. Once your selection has been made, click close and continue.
    

Filter by Functions

1. Locate functions and click the “+” icon.
    
2. You can choose to select one or more functions of government or agency/department linked to the bids of interest to you.
    
3. Once your selection has been made, click close and continue.
    

Filter by Jurisdiction Size

1. Locate jurisdiction size and click the “+” icon.
    
2. This allows you to set range thresholds based on population, employment and budgetary elements.
    
3. Once your selection has been made, click close and continue.

 
To run the search, click the green "search” button.
 
Insider Tip: To initiate new search results, make sure to click the green search button any time that you adjust your search filters.

 

 
 

View E-Rate Data Trends in Graphical Format

Checking your search results, you may notice that the E-Rate section has several sub-tabs. These will allow you to view E-Rate purchasing history using responsive visual data. The visuals are a graphic representation of your exact Search Criteria. These infographs will change depending on your selected settings.
 
E-Rate Data Trends Tab 
Allows you to size the market using visual data to see spending history and how it divides between service categories. See example below.
 

 
The Service Providers Tab easily shows you who’s been winning the most E-Rate business in the last 12-months. This chart is also responsive to search filters, and you can use different date ranges and territory settings to see who the leading service providers are in a given month, year or state. See example below.

 

Save Your Search for Future Reference

Once you have defined your search filters, click the blue “save” button to open the saved search settings. Here you will be able to title and save your search for future reference.

1. Click the downward facing arrow below to expand and view your previous saved searches.
    
2. Your saved searches are also available to you on the right-hand side of your Navigator homepage.
    

 

Turn Search Results into an Email Report

After you prompt Navigator to save your search, you can opt to select the frequency that you would like Navigator to alert you of new opportunity results in accordance with your saved search parameters.

In order to receive opportunities based on your search criteria, make sure that opportunities is ticked. Users also have the option of receiving E-Rate opportunities and market alerts related to their search criteria.

Navigator will only send you an alert with recent results that match your saved search.  Updates to a previous opportunity will be noted in “red” within your alert.

 

Questions? Please do not hesitate to contact us at memberservices@erepublic.com for assistance. Your state and local sales success is important to us!