Jonathon Liedtke – ourWindsor.ca – Feb. 4, 2013
While it’s not as funny as David Letterman’s Top 10 lists, the 311 Call Centre has complied statistics from January – December of 2012 and has comprised their very own Top 10 List.
Ranging from dirty yard and dog complaints to garbage not being collected and tree maintenance requests, the 211/311 Call Centre logged 18,906 total calls regarding the top 10 complaints/requests.
Dirty yards and tree maintenance topped the list of service requests for 2012, while building condition complaints and tax inquiries were at the bottom.
In total, 311 processed 33,438 service requests between January and December, 2012. This number is down 1,510 from 34,948 in comparison to the same period in 2011.
By-Law Enforcement Manager Ann Kalinowski explains, “Typical dirty yard complaints involve things like grass and weeds in excess of 12 inches, garbage and debris, old furniture or household items that are considered discarded or abandoned. When we receive these calls, we send an officer out for inspection and resolution.”
The 211/311 Call Centre provides two different services: 311 deals with municipal requests for service and information, whereas 211 is a provincial service which deals with information and referral on community, government, health and/or social service information.
“During the day [is when they receive] our top call volumes, any time between 8am and 5pm,” explained Alena Sleziak, Manager of the 211/311 Call Centre. “Call volume can vary depending on what’s happening [ie: periods of extreme weather, during tax season, etc] because there’s more people calling for those particular reasons.”
The number of calls and the types of calls that an operator might get during a shift could be quite surprising for residents to learn about, and Sleziak noted that this was because the operators deal “with residential information and requests for services and also social questions. They really have a varied day and I think people might be surprised at the different types of calls they may get.”
While initially the 211/311 Call Centre employed a large media campaign, 311 now is advertised on virtually all city communications (advertisements in the newspaper, billing, etc), and Sleziak believes that the service has been advertised well the community.
“We do find people that aren’t aware of the service, who may have never had an opportunity or need to call, but once they do, they’re pretty committed to it” stated Sleziak.
Service Request Type & Frequency of Service Requests
- Dirty Yard Complaint: 4,542
- Tree Maintenance: 3,497
- Collection Calendar Request 2,048
- Dog Complaint: 1,875
- Downspout Disconnect: 1,643
- Tax Statement Request: 1,458
- Transit Windsor: 1,065
- Garbage Not Collected: 1,020
- Building Condition Complaint: 918
- Tax Inquiry: 840
Jonathon Liedtke is the Features & Opinion Editor for the University of Windsor Lance Campus/Community Newspaper and a reporter for ourWindsor.ca. As a founding member and current Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee, he is committed to representing, connecting, engaging with and advocating for local youth. He is also a member of Windsor’s “Punk with Horns” band The Nefidovs, and as such, is committed to enhancing and sustaining the arts community.
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