311: The Number that Guides to the Right Door【2】

Joe Morrisroe is the Executive Director at New York 311. Photo taken by Xiaole Dong/ People's Daily Online

All kinds of inquiries and complaints are welcome, ranging from issues such as whether you need to pay parking meters today; bed bugs problem; landlord maintenance complaint; yellow taxi refusing a pick-up; noise from neighbor, and heat complaint.

Operated around the clock throughout the week, 311 is known as “the agency that never sleeps”. With over 400 employees and a majority of them are customer services representatives in the front line, 311 receives around 53,000 calls on average per day. Last year, the hotline, which has over 50 languages available, had over 22 million calls and 2 million people visited its website.

Depending on the time of the year, Mr. Morrisroe said that lack of heat or hot water complaint is the most common in winter. During summer will be mostly about noise complaints.

311 also serves as a critical arm for the city’s recovering and restoration in the aftermath of Sandy. The government agency helps people access their damages to their homes and find them shelters. When Hurricane Sandy slammed New York at the end of October, 311 receives thousands of calls. “They call for a lot of different reasons,” Mr. Morrisroe said. “They want to report their power is out. They want to report a fallen tree. They want to get information about transportation, as the City’s transit system had shut down.”

New York City is not the only city in the U.S. that has 311 hotline. Every major city nationwide has a 311 system. Although they are not affiliated, they perform similar functions and services.

Many other countries would like to learn from 311, Mr. Morrisroe said. Over the years, 311 in the New York City has hosted more than 50 delegates from countries such as China, Germany, Canada, and Demark, who visited the agency to see how they operate. Many of them were government officials looking to establish their own version of 311.

“Whatever the number maybe, the idea is the same: they set up an information line for public to get all the information and assistance they need,” Mr. Morrisroe said.

“I am a big fan of 311, and I think other countries should be doing it as well,” he added.