>IMPROVING SERVICE

Calls to 311 run the gamut from complaints about city services to requests for restaurant recommendations and information on how a parent can evict their child. The agency even gets questions such as “I put my chicken in the oven for 30 minutes. When should I take it out?” The agency has made numerous changes to improve service: Water crisis: The agency was flooded with 1,000 additional calls per day during the city’s deep freeze in February 2015, when hundreds of homes lost water after pipes froze. Complaints about burst pipes accounted for 23 per cent of total calls, nearly five times the norm, during that period. Gary Yorke, director of 311, and Toronto Water general manager Lou Di Gironimo created a “SWAT team” of expert staff to deal with the crisis over a three-week period. Yorke is making this a model for other crises, and says a similar dedicated line will be available for questions and complaints during the Pan Am Games.

Interpreters: The hotline has a contract with a translation service that provides access to 180 languages. Interpreters can get on the line when residents don’t speak the same language as the 311 operator. Yorke says city councillors recently became aware of the service and can now use it to speak to residents when there’s a language barrier.

On hold: During the Pan Am Games, callers will no longer be subjected to the typical loop of instrumental music. Instead, Toronto artists will be featured during the Games and for the rest of the year.

Closing the loop: Complaints about potholes are investigated within five days, but there is currently no way for 311 to advise residents automatically on the status of their complaint. Yorke is looking at new software that will allow the agency to notify customers and “close the loop.”

Front of the line: Two councillors and the mayor’s office are part of a pilot project that will move their complaints to the front of the 311 line, instead of putting them in a queue along with everyone else. Yorke says the rationale is that residents have already called in to a councillor, which should escalate the complaint. The project will roll out to the remaining councillors by the end of the year.