When global studies senior Niki Capestany wanted more information on Tempe’s rewards program for recycling, she called the city’s new 311 information line to get involved.
A city employee at the Tempe 311 customer relations center entered her question into a database to quickly find an answer.
Capestany learned specifics about the pilot program and was given a website for more information. With the 311 phone line, her request was resolved with one call to one operator.
“The idea is to have one call to City Hall, where the operators know how to route you to the appropriate information,” Tempe Councilwoman Onnie Shekerjian said. “We want to be responsive to citizens and increase our customer service and effectiveness.”
Tempe 311 is an information line that organizes service calls in a database run by the technology and media company Active Network, project manager Shauna Warner said.
Once the system is fully operational, residents will be able to dial 311 for information or to report service issues, such as loss of water service, illegal dumping, stray animals and potholes.
The system will provide operators with a scripted response to deliver the same experience to all callers, Warner said.
Service requests will be assigned a tracking number with an expected completion date, which can be viewed on the website or emailed to the resident for their records.
“We want to focus on a single point of contact resolution without the need to transfer calls,” Warner said.
Under the old system, a caller might have been transferred from person to person, and records of service requests were not kept to determine if issues were resolved.
A soft roll-out of the program began in November, and the 311 service has taken a total of 12,615 calls, resulting in 1,463 public works service requests.
Similar to Capestany’s call, Warner said 85 to 90 percent of people call just to get information relating to the community.
Tempe 311 will be available to all residents in multiple platforms, such as calling 311 by phone or entering a service request on the Internet or mobile phone application.
“The mobile phone component will make it easier for residents to quickly report problems,” Wagner said. “Someone could take a picture of graffiti and send in the request before they walk away and forget about it.”
The system costs about $173,000 a year, which Warner said is fairly affordable.
“Even in tough budget times, this new system actually creates efficiencies. It was all done with our existing staff. They handled 12,615 calls that would have gone to other individuals,” Warner said.
Tempe 311 would be the first in the Valley, although Pinal County started testing a 311 system as well, but neither are live yet, Warner said.
“Because it’s a brand-new program and nobody else in the Valley is doing the citywide approach to 311 yet, we have some challenges to work out before we are up and running,” Community Relations Department Manager Shelley Hearn said.
Baltimore implemented the first 311 system in 1996, right after the Federal Communications Commission reserved the use of the 311 number for national non-emergency use.
The pilot Tempe 311 number is 480-350-4311.
Reach the reporter at lfach@asu.edu
