SYDNEY, N.S. — The Cape Breton Regional Muncipality's new 311 phone service is expected to be up and running by next spring.
According to municipality technology director John MacKinnon, the information delivery initiative that has been in the works for the past 18 months will have a “soft launch” on April 15 with full implementation set for May 15.
The municipality began looking into setting up the 311 service in 2018 in an effort to improve the relationship between city hall and CBRM residents.
“We want to make sure that our information services can be easily and effectively accessed — we want to make sure our callers get accurate answers quickly and easily, that their needs are being met and that their voices are being heard,” said MacKinnon.
“Hopefully we can up our game as it relates to the quality of service we are providing — speed and accuracy are key.”
The 311 service is one of several N11 service codes used in Canada that also includes the 211 public information number, the 411 local directory assistance, 811 non-urgent health-care triage and the 911 emergency number.
According to MacKinnon, the 311-implementation takes time because of the number of players, such as communication service providers, and because of its regulation by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
He said the project is now somewhere between the second and third phase. The first part of the initiative included the hiring of a 311 manager. That turned out to be Christa Dicks, who is also responsible for the management of the municipality’s 911 service.
MacKinnon also said the new service will help CBRM staff and council stay better connected with the issues and concerns of the public.
“With a system like this we will be able to tell you what they are calling about, what the state of affairs is in the CBRM — we will have numbers to say there are this many calls about potholes or that many about the water system on a particular street,” he said.
“The 311 phone service will complement existing phone services — we will give out information and act as a referral agency.”
The service is also being welcomed by council members like Kendra Coombes and Darren Bruckschwaiger.
“That will help us a lot in our delivery of services and in understanding where our gaps are on those issues, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this comes about because I think it can something that’s a useful tool for staff and a useful tool for council in understanding particular issues in different areas and how we can fix — it kind of gives us a centralization of information,” said Coombes, whose District 11 includes New Waterford and area.
Added District 10 councillor Bruckschwaiger: “We’ve got a pile of numbers in the directory, and sometimes when people call up the person they need just isn’t there for any number of reasons — the complaint I hear the most is that people sometimes can’t get a voice on the other end of the line, so this is their chance to get that voice on the other end of the phone.”
Twenty Canadian municipalities presently use 311, including Halifax (since 2012) and St. John’s, N.L. (since 2006).
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