Pam Roberts works Friday, June 17, 2016 at Chattanooga's 311 facility.Mayor Andy Berke wants the city government to take customer service to a new level.
To that end, the 2017 budget proposal includes a new digital platform to make it easier for citizens to access services through web-based and mobile applications. It also calls for a staffing boost to Chattanooga's 311 call center, which handles information and requests for all manner of city services, including picking up garbage and brush and dealing with complaints about abandoned vehicles and overgrown property. The measures amount to $121,000 in additional annual costs.
During a recent Times Free Press tour of the 311 call center, Chattanooga Deputy Chief of Operations David Carmody said improvements will cut down the number of service-related phone calls, increase first-call problem resolutions and avoid duplication of service requests.
"We want excellent customer service, and one of the main ways to do that is through these improvements," Berke said after the tour. "It is a way of providing better service while at the same time increasing our workload."
If approved, the call center will add two full-time representatives to the current staff of nine, who each take an average of 124 calls a day, said Liz Henley, call center supervisor. That number is 25-30 calls more than the national average for call center representatives, she said.
The salary and benefits costs for the two new representatives amount to $47,000 each.
Carmody said the proposal also calls for the city to adopt Public Stuff, one of a number of software programs for enhancing municipal customer service. The Public Stuff subscription costs $27,000 per year, he said.
Mayor Andy Berke, right, answers calls, while Jodi Pierce assists him at Chattanooga's 3-1-1 Call Center on the forst floor of the City Hall Annex in June 2013. Pierce is a costumer service representative for the 3-1-1 Call Center.The software has the ability to let users upload photographs and geographic map coordinates with their service requests, Carmody said. Public Stuff allows users to submit service requests so that they can viewed privately or publicly, and all can be tracked to completion in real time.
If funded, the program's projected roll-out should occur by late summer or early fall, Carmody said.
The new software also offers the benefit of allowing call center representatives to track requests to their resolution, instead of having to research an issue once they hand it off to the proper department, Henley said.
Henley said that with an expected reduction in call volume after the adoption of Public Stuff, call center representatives can devote more time to complicated problems, such as sewer billing issues.
Despite the high call volume and myriad types of requests for information and service, the call center has very little turnover, Henley said.
"We have the best team in the city," she said.
It comes down to the representatives developing relationships with all the city's departments and each other, Henley said.
While call center training includes some classroom time, much of it occurs through mentoring and hands-on learning, she said. Training also requires representatives to see other departments in action so they may gain an understanding of how the city's various processes work.
Henley, a longtime call center professional, has served in the 311 call center since its creation in 2002. The center opened for business in 2003.
"The best thing about the job is being able to fix problems," she said. "If I can turn an upset caller into a happy one, then I've done my job and I'm happy with that."
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@times freepress.com. Follow on Twitter @pleach_tfp.