Councillors to review 311 phone service options for London

GlobalNews.ca
July 24, 2017
Travis Dolynny

Three months after rolling out its new phone number for non-emergency services, the City of London is now looking at whether it should add an additional number to streamline access to information.

Back in April, the number 519-661-CITY officially came into use, but a staff report headed to Monday’s strategic priorities and policy committee meeting outlines what it would take to introduce a 311 service.

The staff report outlines the city’s mission statement, “At Your Service: A respected and inspired public service partner, building a better city for all.” According to council’s strategic plan for London, one focus is to deliver excellent service, which includes residents’ telephone experience.

City staff say citizen satisfaction surveys consistently indicate that when contacting the City of London with an inquiry or concern, residents have a strong preference to use the telephone.

The report outlines three main options available for a 311 service. The first uses wire centre boundaries, which means all calls originated in the city’s nine wire centres are routed to 311. The second option is to use postal codes to make sure London’s system only takes London calls, but could cost upwards of $35,000 a year depending on the phone carrier. The third option would be a hybrid of the two.

Staff says all three options would take between a year and 18 months to implement.

The strategic priorities and policy committee meeting starts at 4 p.m. Monday at city hall.