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Vancouver launches "311" service

 
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Hephaestion
Deeply Shallow


Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 24243
Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:35 am    Post subject: Vancouver launches "311" service Reply with quote
Hotline is intended to cut through "red tape" for citizens

Quote:
The City of Vancouver has launched a quick-dial information service in an attempt to help people cut through the red tape and get the answers they need.

Dialling 311, according to the City of Vancouver's website, will "provide citizens with ready access to most City information and non-emergency services by phone." The line will operate seven days a week, 24-hours a day and language translation services will be available.

The "soft launch" of the system took place in February, with 12 agents answering calls. That number was boosted to between 30 and 35 agents in June, and is expected to expand to 40 agents by June 2010.

The 311 service was approved by city council in November 2006.

According to Barbara Pearce, a business consultant with the city, Vancouver City Hall received more than a million phone calls from the public in 2008, and more than 100,000 of them were lost in the bureaucratic maze.

Pearce also said city employees spend too much of their time answering calls, rather than working on city business.


city employees spend too much of their time answering calls, rather than working on city business...? Really? Are they serious?! Any time I've tried calling any government office larger than our local village office, I've had to plan on sitting there for a minimum of 15-20 minutes, fuming while I poke numbers on my phone in response to a thoroughly aggravating recorded voice mail system. Don't try to tell me the City of Vancouver actually has human beings answering the telephone....?!?!
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Tehanu
More or less, more or less


Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 17648
Location: Seceded from the Ford Nation
PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
These community hotlines get mixed reviews. Toronto's launching a 311 number this summer ... we'll see how it works out.

I realize not everyone has internet access or is familiar with search tools, but for routine questions sometimes a good Google is a helluva lot faster than waiting on a phone line. Mind you, I've emailed the City of Toronto a few times and it's like sending a message into a black hole.
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