Alexandria Launches "Call.Click.Connect." Initiative
New online platform and hotline aims to help the city respond more efficiently to requests for information and services.
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Alexandria launched a new customer service initiative called “Call.Click.Connect.” on Monday designed to help the city respond more efficiently to requests for information and services from residents and the public.
At the base of the initiative is a new online system that can be used to enter, track and resolve service requests for reporting things like potholes and filing complaints about trash service.
Residents can search for their service request by keyword, category or department on the city’s website. They will be asked to enter the location of a pothole or incident, verify its location, describe the request and enter contact information.
Users will then receive verification that their request was recorded with an estimated response time. They will also be able to check on the status of their requests with a ticket number.
To access the new system, citizens can click on the new “Call.Click.Connect.” link near the top-right corner of the city’s website.
Residents can also now call the city’s staffed contact center at 703-746-HELP for all customer requests and inquiries. In the past, residents may have been shuffled to multiple departments before getting to the person or information that they needed.
Mayor Bill Euille said oftentimes he and other council members would receive requests from citizens and then ask the appropriate member of city staff to address the issue.
“Officials used to have to follow up,” Euille said. “We don’t have to do that anymore.”
Euille said he looked at several customer service initiatives in other municipalities in recent years, including the 311 system that was introduced in Baltimore when Gov. Martin O’Malley was mayor of the city.
“Not only as mayor but as a longtime citizen, I have been an advocate for many years that we have the latest technologies available [to respond to citizens],” Euille said.
City Manager Rashad Young said the system is similar to a one-number hotline that became available in Greensboro, N.C., when he worked as that city’s manager. He told Patch “Call.Click.Connect.” is “just the tip of the iceberg.”
“We’re going to start with this and then simplify,” Young said. “We’re going to hopefully build up a robust database.”
The city will be able to track and document information on service requests to improve delivery and make better-informed policy decisions, Young said.
Click here to access “Call.Click.Connect.” on the city’s website.
amy lu
10:37 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Call.Click.Connect does little to overcome an inherent problem with the previous complaints system which is, the customer must have more than a rudimentary understanding of which Category is appropriate or which Department is ultimately responsible.
E.g. I may have a complaint about a taxi company or driver. I look at the Categories list; there are 3 that MIGHT be the correct agency. I look at the Departments list; there are 5 that MIGHT be the correct Department.
The "new" system is not an improvement from a customer pov. In this case the customer still must know that there is: a) the Hack Office (antiquated name) and, b) the Hack Office is within the Police Department.
Let's create another example for you to solve. Your car is towed, possibly wrongfully. Who do you contact? Departments: The Police Dept, Emergency Communications, Transportation & Environmental Services, the City Attorney, the Commonwealth Attorney? Categories: Parking, Transportation & Vehicles, Public Safety, Sidewalks & Streets?
Tony Castrilli
3:02 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Amy: Thanks for your comment. We designed Call.Click.Connect. to offer a variety of ways to find what you need. When you first go to Call.Click.Connect, you can enter a word or phrase in the search box. In this case, if you enter “taxi,” you’ll immediately get the listings for taxicab information and complaints. You can also click the “A-Z” tab, which lists the taxi items as well. As you noted, we also offer listings by category and department, in case those approaches work better for a particular user. We’ll be making many improvements to the system over time, as we received more feedback from users. Please keep using Call.Click.Connect. and letting us know what you think.
Tony Castrilli
Director Office of Communications & Public Information
City of Alexandria, Virginia
tony.castrilli@alexandriav.gov
703-746-3958