Prior to the 311 system, citizens had to navigate an 11-page directory of city government phone numbers and often found it challenging to determine which government agency to contact about a specific matter. The new 311 system provides a single, easy-to-remember number for residents, businesses and visitors to initiate all interactions with the city. In a single call to 311, New Yorkers can reach the right contact among more than 50 city agencies, giving citizens the ability to access a broad range of services and information about topics such as health and public safety, parking, and taxes.
Contact center representatives have a single view into the city's range of citizen services so they can easily direct requests to the appropriate department. This increased efficiency will streamline the city's interactions with citizens, reducing duplication of effort and time spent on administrative tasks. Ultimately, the applications will enable New York City's contact center staff to reduce the time it takes a citizen to complete an interaction with the city, leading to increased citizen satisfaction and cost savings. In the future, the system will also offer similar services via email and the Web.
"Implementing Siebel eGovernment applications to support our 311 system enables us to manage interactions with the public through multiple communications channels, leading to increased constituent satisfaction and government accountability," said Gino Menchini, New York City CIO.
NYC's 311 Citizen Service Management System implementation of will occur over a three-year period and will consolidate 12 call centers in its first phase. Subsequent phases will focus on additional call center consolidations, integrating legacy applications, and extending the multi-channel communications capabilities such as Web and email communications.
