Pittsburgh's push to boost constituent services is in full swing as the city's 311 Response Center undergoes significant transformation. Pegged as the heart of the Gainey Administration's mission to modernize customer service, the spotlight shines on the people operating this vital line of communication during National Customer Service Week, as reported by the City of Pittsburgh.
Since taking office, Mayor Ed Gainey has led the push for improved services, recognizing the community's needs. With input from both his administration and 311 staff, the 311 center has been restructured into the Office of Neighborhood Services. According to the City of Pittsburgh, this change is intended to address the issues that previously hindered efficient response and consistency.
The relocation of 311 into the Mayor's Office has been a strategic leap towards swifter service times and crafting Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that promise to elevate customer satisfaction through transparency and managed expectations. “Transitioning to the Mayor's Office has been instrumental in improving response time, and establishing SLAs will take us to the next level of customer satisfaction by providing transparency and realistic expectations,” 311 Manager Wendy Urbanic told the City of Pittsburgh.
Marching towards progress, Pittsburgh's forward-thinking Customer Service Modernization initiative breaks ground with the development of a Salesforce-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, slated for launch in the first quarter of 2025. The collaboration with Accenture, resulting from a rigorous bid process, promises a new citizen mobile app among its offerings. In preparation, the city beckons its residents to partake in early user testing set for late 2024, details of which the Office of Neighborhood Services plans to disclose on their EngagePGH Hub.
