HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO 06-21
Report to Council
Report Number: CAO 06-21 Date: October 25, 2021
From: Marisa Carpino
Chief Administrative Officer
Subject: myDurham 311 Project & Re-routing Request -File: A-3100-001
Recommendation:
1. That, as part of the myDurham 311 project, 311 calls made by residents, customers, and
businesses within the City of Pickering telephone exchange be re-routed to the Region of
Durham, subject to being revocable by the City on 60-days notice to the Region;
2. That to the City agree, in principle, to participate in Model 1 of the Municipal Models spectrum;
3. That the appropriate City of Pickering officials be authorized to take the necessary actions as indicated in this report; and,
4. The City Clerk forward a copy of Report Number CAO 06-21 to the Regional Municipality
of Durham.
Executive Summary: The Region of Durham has initiated the development of the myDurham 311 project with the overarching goal of modernizing the customer experience over a 36-month implementation period.
The Region of Durham is moving forward with the implementation of a 311 service as the
primary source of contact for all non-emergency information and service requests including
issue reporting, issue status check and other related inquiries. This will be accomplished by enabling all Durham customers, whether they contact the Region by phone, in person or online, to seamlessly access the information and services they need when they require them.
The program is set up to deliver:
• A fully functional digital experience;
• An omni-channel experience;
• First point of contact resolution;
• A single source of the truth; and,
• A user intuitive customer portal.
Through regional and municipal collaboration, the myDurham 311 project looks to develop a triage system that will resolve calls on the local municipalities’ behalf.
CAO 06-21 October 25, 2021
Subject: myDurham 311 Project & Re-routing Request Page 2
To achieve that end, a Service Durham working group has been formed with representation
from Region of Durham, Town of Ajax, Brock Township, Clarington, City of Oshawa, City of
Pickering, Township of Scugog, Township of Uxbridge and Town of Whitby. Meetings are held quarterly.
At this time, the Region of Durham has requested that Service Durham working group members discuss the myDurham 311 project within their organization. Most notably, at this
early stage of project development and implementation, the Region of Durham has requested
area municipalities to agree that 311 calls made by residents, customers, and businesses within the City of Pickering telephone exchange be re-routed to the Region of Durham. Additionally, the Region of Durham has asked area municipalities to advise where on the Municipal Model Spectrum they intend to participate.
myDurham 311 Municipalities service options on a 3-model system include:
Model 1 – Self Service
• Warm transfer all municipal inquiries (City-to-Region and Region-to-City)
• Redirect to municipal website
• Tag municipality in social media
Model 2 – Partial Service
• Service Durham Agent provides basic information from knowledge base
• Service Durham Agent may take details and warm transfer
• Information available on the self-service kiosk
Model 3 – Full Service
• Service Durham Agent receives and logs service requests in CRM (Customer Relationship Management System)
• Process program registration, and simple purchases such as animal licenses
• Service Durham Agent provides information from knowledge base (i.e. By-law
information)
At this time, City staff recommend that the City agree to re-route 311 calls to the Region of Durham, and commit to Model 1 of the Municipal Model Spectrum. The City of Pickering will
continue its active participation in the Service Durham Community of Practice Municipal
Working Group to follow the progress of the myDurham 311 project.
Financial Implications: The recommendations of this report present no financial
implications to the City.
Discussion: The myDurham 311 project is ambitious in size, scope, and objective.
Namely, the Region of Durham envisions it as a ‘one-stop’ portal for all Durham residents and
businesses where they can access key information on the information and services most important to them. Essentially, it strives to be a mega hub of information for all Durham
CAO 06-21 October 25, 2021
Subject: myDurham 311 Project & Re-routing Request Page 3
municipalities providing seamless customer service whether it’s in person, over the phone,
online, or email.
To optimize success, however, the project would need to have the majority of municipal partners participating and more importantly have a robust, integrated, and seamless customer relationship management (CRM) system and processes in place. Currently, the City of Pickering has a very robust and effective Customer Care Centre program in place. The City of
Pickering’s Customer Care Centre generates thousands of service requests each year in
AMANDA 7 (leading software for digital government) and tracks the progress of each report to ensure the customer is kept apprised of the situation. If the City were to integrate with myDurham 311, it would have to ensure that this degree of tracking and follow up will be maintained. Otherwise, it could result in a decline in the established service levels and
ultimately erode customer satisfaction.
With respect to myDurham 311 ‘omni-channel’ experience, the Customer Care Centre is already set up to provide a “one call to City Hall” concept and offers multiple channels that Pickering residents can connect and engage with staff. These include in-person, telephone, website, email, Live-Chat, mobile app, and an after-hours call centre.
At this time, myDurham 311 cannot provide an estimate of costs and/or cost sharing as it is still
very much in the conceptual stage. As such, it would be difficult to commit to an enhanced level of integration without knowing the financial implications. That said, financial savings could be realized if the Region and all partner municipalities were to cost share an after-hours service provider.
At this time, the Region has not selected a Customer Relations Management (CRM) platform.
As such, it would be difficult to commit to an enhanced partnership with myDurham 311 without knowing whether the Region’s CRM will be compatible with the City’s robust and effective Customer Care Centre system.
Staff recognize that one of the key advantages of myDurham and its 311 exchange is the
provision and marketing of an easy-to-remember phone number for Durham residents to call in
with their questions, complaints, and service requests.
While this is a very compelling feature, it should be noted that the Customer Care Centre averages around 70,000 touchpoints with residents/customers each year. In 2020, there were 41,378 phone calls, 703 counter visits (artificially low due to COVID restrictions and closures),
21,093 Amanda interactions based on approximately 4,831 individual service requests, 533
Live Chats, 4,125 Customer Care web emails, 414 Pingstreet mobile app service requests, and 1,519 After Hours calls. Considering this data, it is clear that residents/customers do not have any difficulty in connecting with the Customer Care Centre using its existing communications infrastructure.
Therefore, it is the recommendation of staff that the City remain open minded and amenable to
a potential integration with myDurham 311, but withhold from fully committing until costing, CRM compatibility, and full implementation and testing of the Regional systems and processes have been resolved.
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Subject: myDurham 311 Project & Re-routing Request Page 4
As a preliminary step, the City can lend its support to the project by agreeing to have all 311
calls made in Pickering be re-routed to the Region of Durham, subject to being revocable by
the City on 60-days notice to the Region.
Additionally, the City should agree, in principle, to participate in Model 1 of the Municipal
Models Spectrum, which involves warm transfer of all municipal inquiries, redirecting queries to
the respective municipal websites, and tagging municipalities in social media. This would
require the execution of a Service Level Agreement between the City and the Region, which
will be subject to the approval of Council.
Attachment:
1.August 11, 2021 Durham Region 311 Letter of Request
Prepared/Approved/Endorsed By:
Original Signed By:
Mark Guinto Division Head, Public Affairs
& Corporate Communications
MG:jh
Recommended for the consideration of Pickering City Council
Original Signed By:
Marisa Carpino, M.A. Chief Administrative Officer
Attachment #1 to CAO 06-21
Sent via e-mail
The Regional Municipality of Durham
Office of the CAO
605 Rossland Rd. E. Level 5 PO Box 623 Whitby, ON L1N 6A3 Canada
905-668-77111-800-372-1102Fax: 905-668-5831
durham.ca
Elaine Baxter-Trahair Chief Administrative Officer
August 11, 2021
Marisa Carpino
Chief Administrative Officer City of Pickering One The Esplanade Pickering, ON L1V 6K7
Dear Ms. Carpino:
RE: Request for Resolution related to 311 calls using the City of Pickering Telephone Exchange
Purpose:
The Regional Municipality of Durham would like to request a
resolution to allow 311 calls made by its customers, residents, and
businesses within the City of Pickering telephone exchange to be re-routed to the appropriate zone (Durham Region) for a 311 number to be generated by Bell Canada.
Overview:
The Region of Durham is moving forward with the implementation of a 311 service as the primary source of contact for all non-emergency information and service requests including issue reporting, issue status check and other related inquiries.
As advised by Bell Canada, the Bell exchange boundaries are not precisely in-line with the actual municipal boundaries. As shown in the attached map provided by Bell Canada, there is always a
common overlap in terms of 311 call routing. This means that callers
located between the Bell exchange boundaries for Durham Region and the City of Pickering who dial 311 can be erroneously connected to either municipal service centre.
If you require this information in an accessible format, please call 1-800-372-1102 extension 2103
The interim resolution will be for the Service Durham contact centre agent to immediately warm transfer the caller to the appropriate municipality. Conversely, calls erroneously connected to the City of
Pickering would be warm transferred by the municipality to Durham
Region. Also, in accordance with CRTC regulation, call routing arrangements will be negotiated and approved prior to implementation by impacted local municipalities, towns, counties, and cities based on the exchange boundaries.
Therefore, it is recommended that the City of Pickering determine and provide a telephone number to re-direct all erroneous calls. Equally, if there are any erroneous calls in the overlap, meant for the Region of Durham, please forward those calls to: 906-668-7711 (toll-
free 1-800-372-1102).
Cost Implication:
There is currently no cost implication for any of the impacted local municipalities, towns, counties, or cities.
Recommendation for Resolution:
That the council of the City of Pickering agree that there shall be no objection to the routing of 311 dialed calls originating from the overlap that exists between the City of Pickering and the
geographical area of the Regional Municipality of Durham, on an
understanding that where callers (customers, residents, and businesses) of the Region of Durham dial 311 erroneously from within these exchanges, they will be given an option of being transferred to the contact centre of the municipality, town or county in
which they reside.
An approval and sign-off document will be required from every town, county, or municipality to move forward with the Region’s 311 Implementation Initiative. We kindly request a response by
October 1, 2021.
Sincerely,
Elaine Baxter-Trahair
Chief Administrative Officer
If you require this information in an accessible format, please call 1-800-372-1102 extension 2103
See Appendix 1: Bell Exchange Boundary Area Map for 311 Coverage for the Region of Durham.
Appendix 1 -Bell Exchange Boundary Area Map for 311 Coverage for the Region of Durham
If you require this information in an accessible format, please call 1-800-372-1102 extension 2103