TESTIMONY
Joe Morrisroe, Deputy Commissioner of NYC 311 within the Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) on NYC 311 Operations and Legislation Affecting the Service
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18 min
Joe Morrisroe testifies about the comprehensive roles and operations of NYC 311, including providing 24/7 access to city services through multiple channels, its evolution into a national leader, and high customer satisfaction ratings.
- He addresses legislative proposals related to NYC 311, such as service request categories for noise from sirens, rooftop activity, and human translations for the NYC 311 app.
- He discusses NYC 311's compliance with Local Law Thirty for language services and challenges posed by certain proposals to operational capabilities and service delivery.
- He encourages council members to discuss service request gaps with OTI to explore implementation without legislation, underscoring NYC 311's commitment to improvement and customer satisfaction.
Joe Morrisroe
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Good morning, Jerry.
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Good to hear us.
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And also, counsel, number Delharosa, customer by Holden, and members of the City Council Committee on Technology.
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My name is Joe Maris Ro, and I am the deputy commissioner of New York City 311.
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Known as NYC 311 under the Office of Technology And Innovation.
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Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on NYC 311 Operations And with me today is Melissa Guillaume, OTI General Counsel.
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As New York City 311's deputy commissioner since 2008, I oversee all aspects of 311 from the operation of the most familiar component, the call center, to the creation and implementation of multiple customer facing channels performance results and quality control measures, interaction with city agencies and data collection.
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When Mayor Adams Executive Order 3 consolidated the city's technology agencies under OTI in January 2022, the NYC 311 team was also united within this single office.
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The new organizational structure strengthens and supports continual evolution and enhancements to service delivery and customer experience.
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As you all know, New York City 311 delivers fast and easy access government services and information to all New Yorkers.
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NYC 311 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and through multiple channels, including the call center, an online portal, text, mobile application, and social media.
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Originally launched as a call center, New York City 301 has evolved into the most comprehensive municipal government service platform in the nation.
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NYC 311 received 37,000,000 customer contacts in 2023, and on an annual basis receives more calls than all other US City 311 call centers combined.
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I'm also pleased to share with the council a recent report by an independent third party on the public satisfaction with New York City 311.
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Call center representatives received a customer satisfaction rating of 94% positioning NYC 311 in the top 10% outperforming even private sector companies.
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This level of public satisfaction is a testament to the dedication and commitment of the NYC 311 team that serves their fellow New Yorkers each and every day.
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It is important to note that NYC 311 serves as the platform to provide information and services to the public.
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With few exceptions, public interactions with NYC 311 result in one of the following outcomes.
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An information request, which is the most popular, such as when is my trash my trash pickup day, a referral to an external entity such as a transfer to the New York State Department of Labor or a referral to the FCC and a service request such as sub any gay ticket.
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We rely on our collaborative relationships with each agency to build out the service request forms and information pages, which are also known as knowledge articles.
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That properly reflect the mission and services for each agency or office.
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With respect to service requests, specifically, NYC 311 does not create them in a vacuum.
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There must be an agency that will accept the request, investigate, and if applicable, enforce.
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When an agency decides that adding a new service request is necessary, it contacts NYC 311 to create, test, and deploy a complaint form.
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There are various bills we will discuss today that propose the creation of a new or modified service request, some of which are in production today.
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Would like to invite any council member to reach out to OTI with gaps in service requests so NYC 311 can loop in the potential responding agencies to see if a service request can be implemented without the need for import without the need for legislation.
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I will now turn to the pieces of legislation associated with this hearing.
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Alright.
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Okay.
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Intro 131 relates to creating a New York CITY 301 service request category from noise from sirens.
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As the committee is aware, noise complaints are among the top service request types NYC 311 intakes year after year.
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The NYC 301 service request has a closed loop process where NYC 311 is responsible for the triage and intake of the service request information, and the agency is responsible for investigating, responding and updating the status of the service request once the agencies have investigated.
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This is the closed loop process customers expect when filing a service request with NYC 311.
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Intro 131 asks that a service request be taken for siren noise But we are unaware of any city agency that would accept such a request, making the closed loop process that customers come to expect from NYC 311 impossible.
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At this time, implementation of this legislation would not be possible.
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Intro422 relates to creating a separate NYC 311 category for rooftop activity, service request, and to produce an annual report.
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NYC 311 agrees with the intent of the legislation.
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However, cannot meet the requirements as written because they currently do not align with the city's service request structure and process.
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The bill would require that rooftop activity be the complaint such as the problem name, and the type of issues such as noise or exceeding authorized rooftop occupancy be a subcategory and then route to the appropriate agency for response.
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The 311 service request model cannot support this data hierarchy structure.
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There is also a requirement to create a subcategory for public safety complaints.
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This subcategory is too vague and any public safety issue call has to be triaged for potential emergency response.
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However, NYC 311 is already in conversations with agencies that would receive these complaints to figure out how we can create or code rooftop activity complaints within the existing service request framework.
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This approach will also allow the data to be available in NYC open data.
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Intro461 relates to creating human translations for the NYC 311 app.
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Local Law Thirty requires covered agencies to appoint language access coordinators translate commonly distributed documents into the 10 designated languages, provide telephonic interpretation in at least 100 languages, and develop a language access implementation plan among other requirements.
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NYC 311 is in compliance with this law.
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NYC 301 provides telephonic interpretation and translation services for up to 175 languages through a 3rd party vendor, LanguageLine.
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LanguageLine is available for free to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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NYC 311 provides options for customers who speak a language other than English or maybe limited English proficient.
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For the phone channel, a customer can access announcements and messages in the integrated voice response system in the 10 designated city wide languages.
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Spanish language customers can be assisted by an NYC 301 customer service representative who speak Spanish.
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Annually, New York City 311 services approximately 1,000,000 calls in languages other than English and has provided service in 133 non English languages over the years.
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The NYC 311 mobile app allows customers to connect with an agent and our vendor partner language line for human translation.
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NYC 311 has over 2000 discrete content items called knowledge articles, and it performs thousands of edits annually as well as revising content for readability on a consistent basis.
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Certain content changes require in the moment creation and modification such as during emergencies.
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Intro461 would require a human translated version of the NYC 311 mobile application.
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To do so would require would require significant additional support resources so that OTI's ability to create and maintain the up to date content meet NYC 311 standards for customer satisfaction and service delivery.
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Intro485 relates to the NYC 311 customer service center providing assistance related to affordable Internet programs.
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We are aware that the FCC announced the winding down of the federally funded affordable connectivity program ACP.
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NYC 311 is monitoring the program and will update the content as appropriate should Congress act to restore funding.
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As the ACP winds down, OTI continues to provide opportunities for all New Yorkers, particularly those who are historically vulnerable to being on the wrong side of digital divide to access the Internet and digital and education resources.
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The mayor's big Apple Connect program is now employed at all eligible Nitra Developments and provides Nitra Residence with free, reliable, and safe broadband Internet and basic cable TV.
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Since the initiative launched in September 2022, 121,702 households have been enrolled in the program and 80% enrollment across the city.
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We also provide information on additional access points in the city.
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If the council is aware of programs not part of the current NYC 311 content, we would be happy to discuss further and update where appropriate.
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Intro 582 relates to creating a mobile application to support the efficient handling of NYC 311 service request by city employees.
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As we understand intro 582, we do not believe there is a need for an application for agencies to to receive service request data.
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NYC 311 coordinates with service request agencies to ensure they receive the service request information in real time in a way that best suits their their business need workflow.
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Many agencies have their own applications they use for handling service requests.
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The NYC 311 application already allows service requests to be viewed by a mobile device if an agency opts in for that specific functionality.
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Intro 583 relates to requiring the NYC 311 customer service center to provide live chat functionality.
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NYC 311 already offers real time text capability through the 311-692 SMS code and through the text 311 option on the mobile app, in addition to the call center representatives that are available 247.
0:26:14
Text agents engaged in synchronous written communication with customers to respond to questions and submit service request using the existing enterprise service request format to submit to agencies.
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The content on the NYC 311 website and available through the mobile app already provides customers with access to information comparable to what they would receive through a live chat interaction.
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It incorporates user friendly features such as the prompts like need something else.
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And what what do you need?
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In addition to curated sections and links.
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Intro 583 requires an increase in resources beyond current levels to provide services that MIC 311 already offers to the public through its phone, text, mobile, and social media channels.
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At this time, NYC 311 opposes adding incremental resources and will continue to monitor more feedback and industry enhancements in this area.
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Intro 584 released to providing an estimated wait time to NYC 311 call center customers.
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NYC 311 will review queuing system options that provide estimated wait time to customers as a potential enhancement to the high call volume protocol.
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Intro588 relates to NYC 3 11 transmitting image and video data for service requests.
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All NYC 311 service requests already accept image or video except for housing preservation and development and the Department of Homeland Services Services per their request due to privacy concerns.
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Entro 598 relates to creating an NYC 311 service request category for snow or ice on pedestrian bridges.
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It is possible to file a service request today for snow on a pedestrian bridge, but it is limited to the call center.
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NYC 311 is in discussions with the Department of Transportation to streamline the process and make filing a service request for snow our ice on a pedestrian bridge available across all channels for the next snow season.
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Intro602 relates to creating a NYC 301 service request for illegal towing by a tow truck company.
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NYC 311 already accepts these requests, which are routed to the Department of Consumer And Worker Protection.
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Entros 626 relates to the use of global positioning system coordinates for NYC 311 service requests.
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NYC 311 service request collect GPS coordinates such as Latitude And Longitude based on the cus customer enabling location services in the mobile app or on the website, and by the customer confirming the address identified.
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If location services functionality is disabled, NYC 311 collects Latitude And Longitude based on the address entered by the customer.
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NYC 311 is exploring a new geolocator service that will take it a step further and collect latitude and longitude based on a pin drop.
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Then identify the address and the format required by the agency based on the service request, such as address intersection or blockface.
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Funding for the enhanced mapping is being pursued.
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Intro634 relates to NYC 311 transmitting of images or video data for housing service requests.
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As mentioned in my comments for intro 588, All 311 service requests already accept image or video except for housing preservation and development and the Department of Homeland Services per their request due to privacy reasons.
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Intro 640 relates to the NYC 311 customer service center to accept request for services and complaints using video call functionality.
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NYC 311 supports enhancements and service delivery and leveraging technology to improve customer experience when feasible.
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NYC 311 is opposed to elements of this bill that impose additional requirements for functionality and currently exist.
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Specifically, the minimum call taker requirement, and providing recordings or transcripts to relevant agencies.
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The additional element of the proposed solution enabling video call functionality requires commercial grade technology beyond the capabilities of our current platform.
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This includes enhancements in security measures, user authentication, network access and carrier considerations, bandwidth and integration elements.
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In addition, an agnostic video calling platform is necessary to ensure equal access for all potential users.
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At present, we believe it is premature to impose this requirement through legislation, but we'll keep this under review and add this to the NYC 311 service delivery roadmap.
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When implementation is possible.
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Intros 673 relates to creating an NYC 311 service request category for dog runs a public parks.
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It is already possible to file a service request for a New York City Department of Parks Facility.
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NYC 311 is in conversations with the department to see if we can make the process of filing a service request for a dog run more streamlined.
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Entro820 relates to the related relates to the number of steps to submit a service request.
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We understand the desire to streamline the process for submitting complaints.
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And where possible, NYC 311 encourages agencies to collect information in an efficient way to reduce the burden on the customer.
0:32:09
Whenever the service request form is driven by NYC 311, it always takes 4 steps or less to submit the service request.
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For many complaints via the website, NYC 311 presents the 4 step process as a what, where, who, and review cycle.
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This allows for a consistent customer experience across most service requests.
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On mobile, there may be even fewer steps.
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There are circumstances under which an agency's form is used for intake that may not follow the same four step pattern.
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If there are specific complaints that require more than 4 steps, we can take them under review with the agency.
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Intro 822 relates to requiring the NYC 311 customer service center to indicate that an agency is unable to respond to a service request and provide proof of any action taken.
0:33:04
The NYC 311 service request has a closed loop process where NYC 311 is responsible for the triage and intake of the service request information, and the agency is responsible for responding and updating the status of the service request to communicate the outcome directly to the customer.
0:33:23
There are thousands of different service requests with different service level agreements some measured in hours and some measured in days.
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NYC 311 is not an oversight agency and does not have the ability to know each status for the millions of service requests filed each year until the agency closes them with a description of the outcome as presented to the customer.
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NYC 311 can work with any agency that wishes to update and improve their messaging of service request outcomes for a better customer experience.
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Finally, on behalf of my colleagues and on behalf of the hardworking and dedicated 311 team, thank tier gutierrez and committee members for your time and for this opportunity to testify.
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I'm happy to take questions.
