One in five calls made to Toronto’s 311 service go unanswered, according to a report released by the Toronto Auditor General Jeff Griffiths.
The report says that the average number of calls answered by each staff member is 52 a day, short of the targeted 80 calls, and that 10 percent of callers have to wait longer than 3 minutes for someone to answer their call.
Factors contributing to the poor performance of the service include high levels of staff absenteeism, varying performance levels among staff members, and the existing performance-monitoring system.
The Toronto 311 service was established two years ago to help the public receive non-emergency city services and information.
Noting the relatively short time that Toronto has had the service, the report says the 311 operations in some other North American cities including Ottawa, Calgary, New York, and San Francisco manage to answer a higher percentage of calls while maintaining relatively lower staff levels. They also have lower staff absenteeism rates.
“Based on a comparison of Toronto with other 311 operations, it does not appear that insufficient staff level or prolonged call handling time are the primary factors affecting service level,” the report states.
The auditor general outlines 12 recommendations to improve the quality of service, including looking for ways to increase the number of calls answered by each staff member and developing a customer satisfaction survey.
Additional recommendations suggest cost-saving opportunities such as ensuring that the number of people working the night shift match the call volume and considering self-service technologies to improve call response.
