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Town of Houston Launches New 311 Platform

New system delivers far more effective services, Houstonians inspired to down load application

July 21, 2021 — The Metropolis of Houston has released an ground breaking 311 platform that tends to make interaction easier, a lot quicker, and additional practical for prospects to ask for data on metropolis companies and report non-emergency concerns.

The 311 Contact Centre receives about 2.2 million contacts and makes roughly 450,000 support requests yearly. The creation of this new system embraces emerging engineering that places the power of scenario generation into the palms of residents by means of a freshly designed Virtual Agent, permitting people to only count on phone centers for the most complex cases, reducing phone volumes and hold out moments.

The cloud-based mostly 311 application fundamentally changes how the Metropolis interacts with the community by providing an innovative, self-service based platform. The new Customer Relations Information and facts Program (CRIS), powered by Microsoft Dynamics, was officially released on June 26. About the earlier several months, the Houston Info Technological innovation Expert services (HITS)  and the Administration and Regulatory Affairs (ARA) teams have worked diligently to stabilize the process as the metropolis transferred above 10 a long time of facts into the new technique.

“The new, progressive process is a substantial accomplishment for the Town of Houston. Past fiscal 12 months, we prioritized the advancement of a new 311 technique by funding it via the CIP course of action. In nine shorter months, HITS and ARA had been equipped to acquire that financial commitment and establish a 311 technique that modernizes 20-calendar year-old technologies and creates a platform that equips the Metropolis to superior manage amplified need,” reported Mayor Sylvester Turner.

3-1-1 Portal in Desktop View

There are now a few ways in which to build a services ask for: by good cellular phone application (Apple and Google), web portal by way of the Digital Agent, and as a result of connect with taker in the 311-connect with middle.

Illustrations of some of the new functionality consist of:

  • A shopper self-services portal with a virtual agent, permitting inhabitants to develop company requests on their have
  • The capacity to re-classify a situation in its place of having to shut it and develop yet another 1
  • Situations getting routed to a group, rather of an personal minimizing situation inactivity thanks to employees becoming out of place of work
  • Instances established by way of web portal, application, or call taker all have the same provider ask for figures and, when not confidential, are searchable on all platforms
  • Prior to provider requests getting produced, there will be a proximity search performed to make sure no duplication of scenarios made (e.g., pothole circumstances staying flagged as 1000 Primary St. and at the corner of Primary St. and Texas St.)

“Not only will this minimize hold out situations for individuals who will need to phone 311 rather of developing a services request on our app or website portal, this expenditure and up grade in our technologies will get ready us for the following 20 years of demand from customers,” stated ARA Director Tina Paez.

“By acquiring this new technique we are also streamlining our technological innovation to be hosted by the same Microsoft platforms, maximizing the interoperability of all those system and offering a far better top quality service to the community,” explained HITS Director Lisa Kent.

The new 311-substitute job is one particular of the most impactful technological know-how assignments in the earlier ten years and will be an increased asset to all Houstonians. Although 311 is the way in which the community can notify the Town of worries with day-to-day providers, it is also a critically important tool during crisis response.

In the course of the Tax Working day Flood, Hurricane Harvey, and Winter season Storm Uri, the 311-web portal, application, and phone centers were vital factors of info gathering and distribute throughout these times of crisis. With this program upgrade there will be an improvement to connect with centre wait around times and self-service abilities throughout normal instances, and an increased capacity to be additional responsive and lessen wait situations for the duration of periods of crisis.

“The new system is another case in point of how Houston is making a Sensible City of the long run. This new 311 system has the prospective to be the system that connects all Metropolis departments and programs to each other making certain a clean and seamless knowledge for constituents,” mentioned Mayor Turner.

3-1-1 Portal in Mobile Device View