Windsor unveils new technology to streamline 311 service requests
The City of Windsor unveiled its new 311 service app Friday — allowing residents to make requests at the tip of their fingers. Windsor311 is available to download now in mobile app stores. The latest development for 311 is in addition to the call centre, email, texting and online communication tools already available. “There seems to be a growing adversity to wanting to pick up the phone and actually have a hu- man phone call,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said. “They would prefer to send a text message or do something via an app and with this new technology that we’re implementing into our 311 call centre, Windsor311, folks do just that.” The 311 call centre consistently receives a high volume of calls. Last year it had requests from more than 140,000 residents.
“We’ve received over two million calls, emails, texts and online submissions in the 13 years we’ve been running the 311 call centre,” Dilkens said. “We know Stats Canada tells us they predict in this coming year 30.6 million Canadians will be on mobile technology — and that’s why today and now is the right time to implement Windsor311.”
The app likely will not reduce call volume significantly as there are limited service requests available through the app and many calls to the centre are more complicated. But the addition will allow another convenient 24/7 channel for requests — especially for a younger demographic. Windsor311 has seven common service request categories for users including animals, graffiti, streets and sidewalks, and the option to “report a concern not listed,” with more to be added in the future. Another feature allows residents to upload a photo of their request at the scene — such as a pothole — and will automatically include the location of the complaint. “The photos are really extremely helpful for us as well because it helps the department to really assess the priority of the issue,” said Alena Sleziak 311 call centre manager.
Once a request is filed, users can choose whether to make it public so others can see it, as well as check other complaints in-process. Status updates are also available through a banner next to the request, allowing users to track their complaints.
“If you enable notification devices on the app you can actually get a notification that will come up and say ‘your request has been completed and is now closed’,” Sleziak said “People can always call the centre if they want more information. They can call 311 and we can give them more details.” The app development comes at no extra costs to the city. It’s an added feature to the city’s existing customer service software program — a part of its annual $300,000 contract with Motorola. Windsor311 has been in development for about a year and in a live environment for a few months as a soft-launch for testing. It is expected to grow over the next year with the city looking to add more parks and other additional service requests.