HomeMy WebLinkAboutcover memoCITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
CA.18
INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Honore Mayornd
n Mem rs of the Couny?•mmission
FROM
Joe Arriola
Chief Administrator
DATE :
DEC - 3 2003
SUBJECT : Resolution Authorizing the City
Manager to enter into an inter -local
Agreement with Miami -Dade County
REFERENCES :for implementation of the County/City
311 Call Center
ENCLOSURES:
FILE
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully requested that the commission adopt the attached resolution authorizing the
City Manager to enter into an inter -local agreement with Miami -Dade County to implement a
single consolidated County/City wide 311 Call Center that will provide citizens with a
simplified way to access County and City information and services.
BACKGROUND
On February 19, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission announced the
reservation of the 311 number to be used as a nationwide Non -emergency abbreviated
number for citizens to dial to contact their municipal government. A main objective of this
effort was to off load the 911 system from the daily non -emergency calls they receive. The
plan allows only one 311 number to be assigned to a jurisdiction such as a county area.
In 1997 the Miami Police Department started a process that eventually secured the
exclusive use of the 311 number for this area. They also applied for and were granted a
Federal Community Policing Services Program (COPS) Grant of $423,737 to launch a 311
service for the City residents. The original concept was for the City to run its' own call center.
The 2003 budget included $1.8 Million for the first phase of funding for this plan.
The County had also been pursuing a 311 type service using a 7 digit number and had
approached the City in the past with a plan to join forces and share the 311 number. It was
not until earlier this year that an agreement in principal was reached between the County
and the City to set up a single consolidated call center that is designed to eliminate the extra
cost, confusion and call transferring that would follow if the County and the City attempted to
advertise and run competing facilities.
The inter -local agreement with the County requires them to establish, equip, staff, operate,
manage and maintain a consolidated City/County 311 call center for the duration of this
agreement in exchange for exclusive use of the City's 311 number and any unused COPS
grant $ that will not be used by the City during 311 implementation. This agreement also
contains an Exhibit A which establishes a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that defines the
quality of service to be delivered to our citizens by the County staffed and operated 311 call
center.
The 311 Center will be staffed with a universal call taker that will act as a single point of
contact for citizens requesting information and services from either the County or the City.
The call taker will be able to identify the correct jurisdiction and format a response to the
citizen based on the business processes identified by the municipality involved and it can
provide the citizen with a tracking number to follow up on open requests for service.
The citizen's request for service will be tracked through the 311 CSR (Customer Service
Request) system that will interface to the appropriate City/County backend operational
process. The system will also contain information to handle frequently asked questions on
City events, department procedures/ordinances and referrals to other governmental
agencies and will significantly reduce the number of calls of this type currently handled by
various City and County departments and 911 centers. The 311 Center will be tri-lingual,
and will improve service delivery and increase customer satisfaction through the
implementation of quality assurance processes that will allow the City to track the number of
requests for service received and how fast they are closed out.
There are no outlays of City funds required to support this undertaking and the project
should generate headcount savings as each department's phone inquires decline as
implementation proceeds.
FISCAL IMPACT
NONE
JAILS/DR „i_