Mayor Ras J. Baraka, Chief Information Officer Seth Wainer, and Non-Emergency Call Center Manager James Bennett announced the overhaul of the City’s 4311 Non-emergency Call Center system at a City Hall news conference yesterday.
The Administration is responding to complaints of slow responses and unanswered phone calls to the 4311 line by bringing in 21st-century technology, additional staff, and expanding the center’s hours, which are now 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday. Newarkers will learn about the new Newark 4311 through a media campaign with the slogan “One Call to City Hall.” employing social media, press, the city’s website and e-newsletter, flyers, signs and bus stop shelter posters.
“Our focus is on customer service, accuracy, timeliness and completeness. The updated 4311 is a giant step toward achieving ‘Newark 3.0,’ a city and its government in the forefront of using the newest, best, and fastest technology to connect residents and businesses, get results, and transform Newark into a world leader in the new economy,” said Mayor Baraka.
Newark has totally reorganized and updated 4311 to make it work as intended and add new functionality. The revamped system provides city employees in the field with new technology to receive and interact directly with the dispatch center. It now identifies the city employees responsible for fixing a problem and holds them accountable for the speed and quality of their response.
When a caller dials (973) 733-4311 during the hours of operation, a service agent will answer the call. The call will be assigned a service request identification number to be used for subsequent calls and to let the caller know the status of the request upon call back. The caller has the option of remaining anonymous.
In September 2008, Newark launched a consolidated call center to provide residents with one telephone number for quick, reliable, non-emergency access to city services, but the 4311 service has never reached its full potential.
The system also responds to alternate inputs including email, twitter, Next Door and the My Newark app. And more staff has been added to meet the demands of residents. The staff now includes not only generalists but also specialists on the city’s different departments and divisions. Electronic workflow across all services will speed and track response to requests for service. Some requests require a response by multiple departments and the new system facilitates collaboration between different offices.
Residents can request all city services including but not limited to: garbage and bulk trash pickups, housing inspections, street repairing, snow plowing, and vacant lot cleanups. They can report concerns such as housing code violations, illegal dumping, potholes, and problems with street lights, suspicious or annoying behavior by individuals or groups. The system can also provide general information – calls that do not require a service request or city personnel to perform an action. It also provides directory information – calls that ask for a phone number or transfer to a specific department.
“By leveraging technology to get the job done, we can work smarter and provide a faster response to issues throughout the City,” said Mr. Wainer. “The Mayor is creating a more accountable and more responsive organization.”
Photos courtesy of the City of Newark Press Office
