As the biggest and most populated city in the United States, New York has one of the nation's largest and most complex city governments. More than 50 agencies provide over 900 different services to eight million residents.
When Michael Bloomberg became mayor, one of his priorities was to offer New Yorkers an improved level of government service, including systems and processes through which residents could easily interact with city agencies to receive information, file complaints and resolve issues. As it was, citizens looking for government assistance were confronted with more than 4,000 entries on 14 pages of the NYC telephone book, and more than 40 resource-intensive call centers were required to direct inquiries to the right City offices. The Mayor's vision was that of a high-performance, centralized, all-purpose call facility – accessible through the simple-to-remember 3-1-1 phone number – that would be answered by a live operator who would quickly direct callers to the information or resources they needed, anytime of the day or night. This single, integrated communication channel would manage all of the city's non-emergency service and information requests.
For help in designing, developing and launching the "3-1-1 Citizen Service Center" - the first major initiative of the Bloomberg administration and one of the most ambitious and comprehensive citizen service centers ever developed by a government organization - the city needed to team with a lead resource that had deep customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities, solid large-scale integration experience and the ability to deliver an ambitious solution within a short timeframe. Accenture was the city's choice based on its reputation as a leading global management consulting and technology services and outsourcing company with the skills, the resources and the experience to oversee and deliver the highly visible NYC 3-1-1 project quickly and with minimal risk. Additionally, Accenture had a hands-on understanding of the city's technology infrastructure and an excellent track record of working with New York on important technology projects.
Working closely with the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunication (DoITT) and multiple hardware and software vendors, Accenture initiated four teams of professionals from both Accenture and the DoITT to quickly and efficiently build and launch the new Citizen Service Center and 3-1-1 hotline. These teams were charged with:
With Accenture's help, the city of New York has applied best practices in customer relationship management to transform the way it delivers services to its citizens and to fbecome a high-performance organization. Today, city residents can dial 3-1-1 anytime, day or night, and speak with a live Citizen Service representative who can assist them with a wide range of service requests and information in 171 languages from Amharic to Zulu. The integrated system provides callers with more personalized service, faster problem resolution and easier access to knowledgeable help. A full 85% of 3-1-1 callers have their inquiry resolved during their initial call.
With Accenture still onboard providing application development, maintenance, and system support, the ultimate test of the new 3-1-1 system came in August 2003 when a major US power outage brought the City to a virtual standstill. 3-1-1 received more than 150,000 calls in less than two days. Even so, the technical infrastructure ran without interruption. And because the 3-1-1 system is highly flexible, the Accenture team was able to immediately establish an emergency bank of auxiliary call takers to triage the incoming volume. The city has already saved money from the consolidation of agency call centers. Over the longer run, the city expects to save millions more. The new service has resulted in the first decrease in 911 calls to the New York Police Department in 13 years.
The 3-1-1 project represents a revolutionary change in government. It has changed the way the public and the Mayor hold agencies accountable. It has transformed the manner in which New Yorkers contact government and how agencies operate. For example, a funding review for the city's Parks Department was prompted by more than 24,000 inquiries.
"It's not just a citizen service hotline, it is the most powerful management tool ever developed for New York City government," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "I can't imagine running the city without it."
According to Gino Menchini, former commissioner of DoITT and chief information officer of New York City, "We now have access to new data that enables us to make better management decisions and allocate our resources more efficiently, which translates into cost savings to the city.” He cited Accenture’s role as an integral teaming partner in driving the successful launch of the 3-1-1 program.” Armed with a unique understanding of the city's technology infrastructure, Accenture was able to quickly and deftly assemble all the moving parts of a complicated new system, which included introducing many new processes, applications and technologies - and making them work together seamlessly,” said Menchini.
Speed to value was another important benefit. Accenture was able to help launch the ambitious Citizen Service program just nine months after the mayor announced his vision for a more accessible government. Since its launch, 3-1-1 has received more than 44 million calls, making it one of the largest and most sophisticated Citizen Service systems in the world. On an average weekday, more than 45,000 callers dial 3-1-1, and the majority of calls are handled in three minutes or less. Accenture continues to be involved in further improving the city's ability to deliver Citizen Services, and is currently responsible for assisting the city in supporting and enhancing the infrastructure and applications for the 3-1-1 call center. To assess the impact of 3-1-1, DoITT initiated a survey of residents that yielded these results:
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