New York City implemented a city service type 311 non-emergency telephone number in 2002, with the intention of consolidating the various call centers of its public works and service agencies, and increasing accountability for the resolution of problems reported by citizens. Here are the facts and figures:

• consolidated 40 separate centers, and 14 pages of contact telephone numbers into one location and phone number
• the center is 45,000 square feet
• project cost $25 million
• the 311 center is staffed by 200 operators, who have language translation service available
• the center handles up to 15,000 calls a day, or 8 million calls a year
• performance goal: answer 80% of calls within 5 seconds
• 6,000 items of information stored in an on-line database for calltakers to access
• uses Siebel's software for call center management, Genesys Telecommunications software for telephone call handli, Interwoven software for content management, and a Nortel PBX.
• calls are handled by operators in "tiers"-- first-level opeators handle general questions, and if the caller needs more help, the call is handed off to a specialist operator, who may enter a call-for-service for a specific agency.
• All calls are tracked, and they can be analyzed by time-of-day, agency and other criteria to help spot trends
• If a call results in an incident entry, the caller is given a tracking number for their call, and are told they can call back later for a disposition, which is entered by the handling agency.
• The police department's 122 precincts are linked to the 311 system so they can monitor so-called "quality of life" incidents, and which might be handled by another agency, but have a criminal connection.

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