Lethbridge 311 goes live on March 11th

“We’ve acquired new technology, trained staff, and worked closely with each City department to bring them on board to this new system. We’re creating a corporate-wide effort to be able to provide citywide services through one point of contact. We’ve spent a lot of time with all of the departments putting together all of the pieces and gathering all of the information so that we know what they need to be able to answer when someone calls,” Kaun said.

Lethbridge 311 will streamline customer service for residents and provide a more coordinated response from the City.

“It makes it easier for the public to access these kinds of services from the City. What we’re able to do is – by having all the information in one place – we can answer their questions, or we can initiate a service request on their behalf, or we can get them in touch with a subject matter expert if that’s required.”

The 311 number will officially launch on Mar. 11, and it will operate Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Outside of those hours, an after-hours trouble line will also be available at the same number, but the City asks residents to always call 911 for emergencies.

With Lethbridge growing as a city, and with a population of close to 100,000, Mayor Chris Spearman says they knew it was time to develop a simpler way of providing customer service.

“The 311 number is easy to remember and directly connects residents to staff trained to answer their questions. Gone are the days of searching for department numbers and not knowing where to call. Now the answer is contacting 311.”

In addition to providing a central place to get information and request services, the new Lethbridge 311 system can also give feedback to residents on the status of their request. When a service request is submitted through 311, residents can subscribe to the request which will send them updates on that work order via email.

Councillor Joe Mauro, who originally brought the resolution for 311 forward back in 2013, explains the fact they will now be able to close the loop with residents so that they know when the work has been done is a huge step forward.

“This integrated customer service system is something I have seen firsthand in Oshawa and it’s successful in many other municipalities as well. I’m extremely pleased that we’ve been able to bring this high level of service here to the City of Lethbridge.”

Even though it was Mauro who brought the resolution to council after his experience, which then received widespread support, he wasn’t taking any credit for it on Friday, Mar. 1.

“Council supported this, council as a whole believed in it and we spent a lot of money on it because we all heard it’s a good way to serve the community,” Mauro continued. “Council as a whole thought that this would be the right thing to do, and that the timing was right.

“We were able to find money, and it didn’t come cheap, but we believed it was the right thing to do. Now we’re moving forward, the city is growing and there’s going to be more calls to the City. This is going to be able to handle those calls in a timely, effective manner and that’s our goal.”

A 311 service is something provided in many other cities across Canada, including in Calgary and Edmonton.

In addition to the phone number, a new online customer service portal will also launch at 311.lethbridge.ca. The portal will act as a 24/7, self-serve option for residents.

This mobile responsive site will provide easy access to information and the ability to submit service requests when required.

2019 is going to be a busy year for Lethbridge, and Kaun says it was important that they had 311 operational for things like the roll-out of curbside recycling.

“Our staff are looking forward to helping our residents with all of their City information and service inquiries this year and into the future. What you’ll find now is a lot of the directory numbers are going away,” Kaun stated, adding instead of having to look up a number, now people just have to dial 311 and they’ll get put in touch with the right person if it’s something staffers can’t handle themselves.

The 311 system is integrated with other City technology to easily log customer inquiries and issue service requests to the appropriate department when needed. Data from the new system will support decision making and improvements in the city.

Additionally, Lethbridge 311 will also provide additional capacity for connecting with residents during big events or emergency situations.

“What we’ve done over the past couple of years now is we’ve been working with each department to understand what it is that people contact them about and understand their businesses. We’ve consolidated all of that information into a knowledge base that we make available to the staff here that gives them not only how to answer questions, but who the experts in the City are,” Kaun said.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Lethbridge 311 goes live on March 11th

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