One-Year Anniversary of 311 Service in New York City

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) Commissioner Gino P. Menchini marked the one-year anniversary of the 311 Citizen Service Hotline on Tuesday. The 311 Hotline received 6,542,240 calls during its first year in operation and dramatically improved the oversight and tracking capabilities of city agencies. 311 is available 24 hours day, seven days a week, and can translate calls in more than 170 different languages. A number of officials joined the mayor at the 311 Citizen Service Center for the announcement.

"Over the past year, New Yorkers have used an amazing tool to get information and request city services -- 311," said Bloomberg. "Finally New Yorkers don't have to search through a phone book or experience the frustration of being bounced around from one agency to the next as they try to find the service they need. And 311 doesn't just let us respond better, we use what we learn here so we can manage better."

Over the next year, the 311 service will be improved to include:

• 311 will be able to take complaints and deliver information through the city's Web site;



• Operators will be able to find city facilities such as pools, parks, health clinics, libraries and neighborhood payment centers, based on the proximity of the caller's home or office;



• 311 and the city's Web site will be releasing an events calendar that contains information on events hosted by city agencies; and



• Operators will soon be able to e-mail documents immediately to those who request them instead of callers having to wait for the documents to arrive in the mail.

"The 311 Citizen Service Hotline has changed forever the way New Yorkers interact with their government," said Menchini. "I would like to thank the staff at 311 who worked tirelessly over the past year providing the highest level of citizen service to New Yorkers. Over the next year, we will build on our successes by bringing many of 311's most popular features to the city's Web site."