Reminder -- 311 really works

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

I called 311 last Friday after almost bottoming out my car in a big old sinkhole on my regular route home from work.  The woman who took my call told me she would submit a work order.  I figured it couldn't be the first thing the DPW guys had on their to-do list, but by Tuesday it was filled. 

Next time you see something that needs to be addressed* and don't know WHO to call, try 311.

* I mean, within the limits of what the city CAN address you smart-alecks!

Comments

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

DPW's FY2008 policy guideline is to clear pothole work orders within 48 hours. So far, they're meeting that timetable (and in most cases getting the work done even sooner).

Potholes are time sensitive not only because they're safety hazards but also because the longer they remain unattended the bigger they can get.

311 Works

[masswich.livejournal.com]

I agree that it generally works fairly well (although the newest web-based system for entering requests has some problems - for example I find that every time I try to log in I can only get in if I tell it I lost my password and need a new one, then log in with the new one.) One overall comment about 311, however, is the need for it. In some other communities I am familiar with, people call departments directly, get answers or leave voicemails and get responses, all without the need for 311. Here, I find that if I call departments directly its real hit-or-miss. For example, I got a mailing that I needed to upgrade my water meter. No problem. I called the number on the mailing and left a message for the "super", who never called me back. I tried again- same result. A third time - same result. I have now given up getting a new water meter - and ironically it wasn't even my idea! The crowning glory was the mailing I got with my latest bill saying they were "updating their records" and could I call to arrange to have someone read my meter? I used to get a green card in the mail to do a self-reading every year or so, and then I would send it back to them and everything worked fine. I guess I need to call 311 to work this issue out!

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

Is there a way to dial 311 from a cell phone?

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

(617) 666-3311

[jspazzer.livejournal.com]

Yes, you press the '3' button, then the '1' button, then the '1' button. Voila, you have dialed 311!

Do they have the 4th of July in England?

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

311 does NOT work from a cellphone.
Just like dialing 911 from a cellphone does not get you the local city emergency dispatch, but the statewide one.

And, yes, they DO have the 4th of July in England.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Thank you. That's good to know. It's sort of unrelated, but is there a similar way to directly call the Somerville 911 from a cell phone? I have had to call 911 twice from a cell phone, and the experience has been frightening to say the least.

311 + Cell Phone

[resistat.livejournal.com]

Actually, if you dial 3-1-1 from a cell phone within Somerville, it does work! The system figures it out based on the location of the tower your phone connects to. I don't know how reliable that is if you're on a City border, though. You only need the (617) 666-3311 number if calling from outside the City.

As mentioned above, you can also make a request or look up information on the web interface (http://faqs.somervillema.intelligovsoftware.com/home.aspx), which can be handy if you want to go back and check on the status of your requests, or even upload a digital photo of whatever your request is about.

Re: 311 Works

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

The whole point of 311 is to end the all-too-common experience in many communities of ending up with voice mail, lost in a menu system, or simply getting played by the "transfer shuffle."

Somerville was one of the first U.S. communities of its size to have a true 311 service, so the way it was implemented was in many ways unique. In New York or Baltimore, for example, every city department was included in the roll-out, and contributed personnel to the call center. These and other large cities all used a Motorola system that cost them several million dollars each.

Somerville developed its own systems from scratch, and due to budget constraints, began with a "soft launch" in December 2005 that encompassed only DPW calls, adding general information calls in January.

Over time, Somerville's 311 operation has added staff, added language capability (Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian Creole), added range (every landline and cell tower within the city limits), and added departments for which it handles calls.

Per Masswich's comment, please note that -- unlike calls to DPW and Traffic and Parking -- calls to the Water Department are not yet automatically routed through 311. Eventually, all city calls to departmental main numbers will be going through the 311 center, but achieving that goal will take time.

Still, no matter what service or information you need, it's always a good idea to START with 311, since the Constituent Service Reps can handle many requests themselves, but, when other departments must get involved, they'll help you find the right person and make sure your request gets through.

Routing calls through 311 also means that your request is logged for statistical purposes and tracked to make sure it is resolved.

Finally, as noted below, you can dial 311 on any and all cellular phone services in the city and, as long as you're call gets bounced off a cellular repeater inside the city limits, it will go straight to our center.

Since Somerville is so compact, however, and since cell phones seek more distant towers when the local towers are saturated, there will be times that your call won't through on the first -- or even the second -- try. In any case, the 617-666-3311 number works from anywhere in North America, so you can easily reach us when you're out of the city.

311 users from other cities occasionally call us on their cell phones when in the Boston area on business, and are always surprised. for some reason, they assume that only their city has 311, and that calling 311 here will connect them directly to their home towns. Some callers ask us to transfer them to Baltimore or Phoenix or wherever. Go figure.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Re: 311 + Cell Phone

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

I have tried dialing 311 from my cell phone (Somerville resident/phone number for 7+ years) and nothing happens.

[cowsandmilk.livejournal.com]

if you want the police,I would call 617-776-7210, which is the number the police list as the crime tip/gang/drug/everything else hotline. When you call 911, that's probably where people in Somerville get directed. As for other emergencies like ambulances and fires, that I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same number worked.

(I'm basing this on what the police in my hometown told us in high school about how to make sure we ended up talking to the right police on our cell phones)

It even works over the internet :)

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say, I reported a pothole over the web and it was fixed the very next day! Amazing! After all the complaining I do when the gov't does something I don't like, I figured I should give them props when I do like something. (Although I am curious about why they passed several obvious potholes on their way to fix only the *one* you reported...)