Dallas – Calling on residents to become “311 ambassadors,” Mayor Mike Rawlings today launched a new app that will allow residents to easily submit and track service requests from their smartphones.
The City receives more than 378,000 service requests annually with 40,000 submitted online. Back in 1994 Dallas was the second city in the nation, only after Baltimore, to implement the 311 number as a connection point to City Hall. In 2003 residents were able to submit service requests via the City’s website. Today, residents can report service requests on the go, from their smartphone. The new Dallas 311 app will be available on Apple iPhone and Android platforms and can be downloaded for free by searching for Dallas 311 in the Apple iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store.
“The Dallas 311 app complements our Grow South Initiative and will allow residents to become proactive 311 ambassadors promoting a culture of clean throughout our city,” Mayor Rawlings said. “Using the app and their Smartphones, residents can quickly report common code violations such as high weeds, litter, trash, junk vehicles, graffiti and illegal dumping.”
“With the launch of this app, we’re creating a whole new group of city ambassadors; people who are really the eyes and ears of our communities,” Rawlings said. “When they spot graffiti, high weeds, or other blight in their neighborhoods, they can now quickly report it on their smartphones.”
The most common service request over the past five years has been high weeds, with 34,000 requests submitted, followed by litter, with an average of 19,748 requests submitted annually. Annual service request volume has increased from 336,474 in FY10-11 to 343,575 in FY11-12.
Earlier this month, the city upgraded its 311 system, giving residents the ability to attach photos, videos and documents to their service requests, and the ability to check their request status online. Software improvements also now allow 311 Customer Service Agents to capture caller information faster and more efficiently.
“The app offers one more way users can communicate with the City for non-emergency City services,” said Interim City Manager A.C. Gonzalez. “In addition to being able to talk to a live Customer Service Representative by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the public can now use the mobile Dallas 311 app.”
Download the app at http://www.dallascityhall.com/311App/index.html
Watch video demonstration: https://vimeo.com/7413318
