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CALLING 3-1-1Columbia’s 3-1-1 Non-Emergency Call Center
The City of Columbia,
South Carolina, launched its 3-1-1 Call Center in August 2002 as a division of
the Columbia-Richland Communications Center. After conducting a feasibility
study, Columbia’s city leaders decided to invest in a call center dedicated to
addressing quality-of-life issues for this historic, metropolitan city and state
capital. Columbia’s 3-1-1 Call Center, the first in the Carolinas, functions as
a gateway to information for residents and visitors to this
diverse community. The center serves to enhance and support all city departments
by relieving them from answering frequently asked questions about city
activities and events, and also by serving as the clearinghouse for request for
service
Identifying the Problems and Changing PerceptionsHaving worked in 9-1-1 communications for more than twenty-five years, I know that on a daily basis, citizens unnecessarily dial 9-1-1 when they do not know who or what city department to call for service, or, simply are not getting the response they expect when they do call. This ties up 9-1-1 lines dedicated to responding to critical emergencies. From the onset, it was made clear that the 3-1-1 Call Center was a non-emergency service request system.
Columbia’s leaders also wanted to dispel any perception that the city government was out-of-reach and unfriendly, or didn’t care about meeting citizens’ needs. It’s important that we, the government, get it when it comes to improving customer service! People want their government to be attentive and responsive to their needs. The 3-1-1 Call Center primarily serves the residents of Columbia, but encompasses almost the entirety of Richland County, the county in which Columbia resides. Through 3-1-1, citizens now only have to dial a single number to reach any city department, eliminating frustrating transfers, misdials, or having to look-up the number in the phone book!
Providing callers with accurate, timely information is a huge success within itself. Helping our citizens to connect to the various city service departments is the focus of the Call Center.
How 3-1-1 Works Call takers are prepared to handle all types of calls that come into the 3-1-1 Call Center, from the routine to the unusual. They are trained to handle calls for all city departments, to include some 9-1-1 calls. Most calls are requests for information about ongoing or seasonal special events. Call takers are prepared to handle these routine questions by supplying the answers. Other calls with questions about city issues such as, code enforcement, zoning, or reporting a streetlight out, are forwarded to the appropriate department. Call takers enter the callers concerns and location into our online service request system, VC3 GovHost Service Request System. The request is routed automatically to the appropriate department or division. Each department has a designated person, responsible for receiving, disseminating, and responding to the citizen’s request or concern. Citizens can also directly access the Service Request System online. The Service Request System provides follow up and status reports to the Call Center, which functions as a quality control agent by holding city employees accountable for prompt service.
Goals and Benefits of 3-1-1 The goal of the center is to provide Columbia residents and visitors easier access to non-emergency city services. Some of the benefits of the 3-1-1 Call Center are:
· Reduces citizens’ frustration by providing immediate contact with a person to answer their questions or concerns.· Improves efficiencies by processing service requests and forwarding them to the appropriate departments. · Acts as an internal audit by monitoring departments’ responses. · Reduces complaints about lack of response or concern from city departments. · Provides easier access to information and services for targeted groups, such as senior citizens or those without Internet access. · Has reduced non-emergency calls to 9-1-1 by 25%.
The 3-1-1 Call Center, in many ways like accreditation, holds city departments to a higher standard of service. Some see 3-1-1 as just another information system, but I see it as the management tool that helps makes Columbia a better place to live.
[The Columbia-Richland Communications Center received its initial Public Safety Communications Accreditation award in November 2003, the first communications center in the state of South Carolina to be CALEA Accredited.]
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