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Home My WebLink AboutIR 24-1838INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 24-1838 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 30, 2024 Page 1 of 4 Y * r rn SUBJECT: CALL CENTER 1234 TO 3-1-1 The purpose of this Informal Report is to tell the City of Fort Worth's journey to acquire the 311 number to access city services. 311 The Federal government ruled the 311 number could not be charged for mobile services. This change now allows the City of Fort Worth to add 311 to our City Call Center. Residents will be able to call 311, dial our 10-digit numbers (817-392-1234), use MyFW app to reach city services. There is now no cost for mobile services. The main providers of the cell towers have set up 311 service inside the City of Fort Worth. The minor providers will also use these towers to carry their service. Thus, the Communications and Public Engagement department (CPE) is ready to let our residents know, call 311 from your cell phone to request city services. CPE has developed an informational and marketing plan, as well as collateral to let residents know of the service, which will be launched soon. History of 311's Journey In 2009, the Solid Waste call center added multiple departments and staff to their call center to answer calls. The departments added were Code Enforcement, Animal Control, Transportation and Public Works and the Action Center and a call center in the City Manager's Office that took calls from the city's main number. It was at that time the center was renamed to City Call Center. One Call Project In 2012, the City hired Heights Consulting to evaluate what it would take to implement a 311 center in Fort Worth. Working with all departments, Code Compliance led the project. The multiple -departmental committee completed two phases of the project over three years. • The project evaluated the then, seven separate Fort Worth call centers identified by accessing a phone system using queue management to receive calls. These centers were: • City Call Center o Development Services o Municipal Courts Phone Room o Municipal Courts Warrants o Non -Emergency Police o Emergency Police o Water The project reviewed multiple vendors for a single city services entry point for residents. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 24-1838 jj%Ttt,0,.To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 30, 2024 Page 2 of 4 Y * r rn SUBJECT: CALL CENTER 1234 TO 3-1-1 • Also, there was a review of 311 centers among our Texas municipal peers to understand what services were received in the 311 center, software/equipment, staffing, and space requirements. The cities reviewed were: o Dallas o Austin • San Antonio • Lastly, there were multiple Departmental meetings to present and gather information on divisions, performed work and how calls were handled within the different departments. Outcome In 2015, the consultant presented a detailed, phased, plan to implement a single access point for residents to request services including costs to consolidate centers. Due to cost, the City did not see the need to combine well -functioning call centers who performed activities outside of typical residential calls. These included activities such as creating permits in Development Service, fielding billing requests in Water, or handling sensitive information in Municipal Courts Warrants or Police Emergency. The city had a well -functioning multiple departments call center which mirrors other 311 city call centers. Also, at the time, the 311 number cost 5 cents per call to implement the 311 number from each service provider. The city decided to stay with the 10-digit number of 817-392-1234. Opportunity What the city didn't have was one single point of entry system. The City of Fort Worth had over 11 different work order systems. The work order systems did not transfer any data between the departments or divisions working on resident requests. In 2016, a comprehensive RFP to purchase one centralized Customer Relationship Management system was released. The goal was for all residents to be able to request services on multiple platforms, to connect with all departments within the city. The multiple department committee chose Motorola PremierOne CSR software with funding coming from the General Fund and Solid Waste Fund. Since 2017, Code Compliance has led the configuration team comprised of Sharon Gamble, James West, Erica Burns and Heather Milligan. In partnership with ITS, the system was implemented in three phases with multiple sections in each phase. The first phase was completed in 2017, Phase two in 2019 and Phase three completed in 2020. 38 Divisions 12 connections in MyFW system connected to either a workorder system or channel. 7 Workorder Systems in MyFW 5 Channels (Core, Web Intake, Worker App, Citizen App, Texting) ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 24-1838 jj%Ttt,0,.To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 30, 2024 Page 3 of 4 Y * r rn SUBJECT: CALL CENTER 1234 TO 3-1-1 City Call Center Growth Simultaneously, when MyFW was implemented, divisions started using the City Call Center as their call center. By 2023, we have added 8 areas — Forestry, Contract Mowing, Graffiti, City Manager's Office, Mayor's Office, and Council Districts 6, 8 and 10. The center is also a backup for all of District Directors when they need assistance, such as time off. The City Call Center continued to enhance the center's software to improve their service for the residents of Fort Worth. The systems added were: • Recording all calls and screen captures to aid in training the representatives. • Voice Analytics to flag calls for language use and tone to aid in training. • Automation of "Place in Line" for residents to receive a call back instead of waiting on hold. (Residents have conveyed their wait isn't long at all to receive the call). • Chat features so residents who wish to use the chat instead of phone, can receive service. • Third -party monitoring of our calls to grade the soft skills of our representatives in addition to supervisor evaluations. • Workforce management software to schedule City Call Center staff, which now interfaces with the representatives' timesheets for a single entry. • After call and after chat surveys to evaluate the representative on their service. Recognition: The City Call Center regularly compares best practices and competes and wins awards against other 311 centers and private sector call centers. Award of Excellence in 2024 from CS Week* Trail Blazer Award in 2023 from Nice** Award of Excellence in 2020 from CS Week* * CS Week is the leading yearly conference for utility professionals in North America and globally, offering education and customer service. The CS Week Award of Excellence 311 is an international prize that recognizes outstanding customer service and engagement among contact centers worldwide. **NICE is a global leader in contact center software, empowering organizations to meet modern consumer and employee demands with seamless, tailored digital experiences. The Trail Blazer Award is an international competition celebrating innovative technology deployments demonstrating improvement in the contact center performance. Questions about this IR can be directed to Sharon Gamble, Customer Service Administrator, Communications & Public Engagement Department, at Sharon.gamble(o-)fortworthtexas.gov. David Cooke City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 24-1838 %0- To the Mayor and Members of the City Council i a i7 Y * r rn SUBJECT: CALL CENTER 1234 TO 3-1-1 the 3-1'1 l WhatS worths withFort3-1-1 NFW Fri -a April 30, 2024 Page 4 of 4 311 2 3 ABC DEF JJKL 5 6 MNO jTUV) 9 WXYZ ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS