3,500 calls flood new 3-1-1 center

By CATHERINE LUCEY
Philadelphia Daily News

Philly's new 3-1-1 information line received 3,576 calls within its first 24 hours of operation - with public-safety questions topping the list of requests.

The new 3-1-1 nonemergency call line formally kicked off just after 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

"We promised you at the beginning of this year that we'd have 3-1-1 up and running by the end of the year," Nutter said during a news conference. "Now all Philadelphians only need one number."

All nonemergency calls - whether it's an inquiry about your trash day or a request to fill a pothole - should now be made to 3-1-1. A call-taker should be able to provide information, take a request for a city service or forward the call to the right department.

The 3-1-1 service will be available by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or citizens can use a walk-in center in room 167 in City Hall.

"3-1-1 can even say 'God bless you,' " Nutter joked at his announcement after someone sneezed.

Emergency calls for medical help or to report a crime should still be directed to 9-1-1.

During the first hours of 3-1-1, the top calls for information or services were about police, courts, the Streets Department, noncity services - for instance, help with utility bills - and prisons, according to the mayor's press office.

The call center had a "soft start" back in October, when calls to the City Hall switchboard started getting transferred to 3-1-1. The center is staffed with 57 call-takers and seven supervisors, according to Rosetta Carrington Lue, the call center's director, .

Managing Director Camille Barnett - a key architect of the project - said that the city had spent about $890,000 in start-up costs for the center, including software, consulting and training. The annual cost to run the center is estimated to be between $2.3 million and $2.5 million.

The city's initial plans for 3-1-1 had to be scaled back in the fall due to budget constraints.

Plans to buy a $4 million to $8 million custom-designed software system were shelved in favor of a cheaper off-the-rack model. The center is in a backup 9-1-1 emergency-call center, so the $4.2 million in renovations were paid for through 9-1-1 funding.

Improvements are still being made to the 3-1-1 system.

Barnett said that the city wants to enhance online access to 3-1-1, so that computer users can access the database themselves.

And the city eventually wants 3-1-1 to able to resolve most requests for service without transferring calls to other departments. *