City to phase out emails to 311 service

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This article was published 05/12/2023 (681 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers who opt to email 311 will need to switch to a different contact method next year.

The 311@winnipeg.ca address is set to be phased out in a bid to improve service, said Felicia Wiltshire, the city’s customer service and communications director.

“Email tends to be rather inefficient for submitting requests… Departments require a certain amount of information and it doesn’t always come through in email, so email ends up (requiring) a lot of back and forth with a resident to try to get the information that we need before we can submit a service request,” Wiltshire said.

Instead, the service will provide a “catch-all” online form that allows residents to submit requests, which requires them to provide all needed information at the initial point of contact.

“It will make sure that all of the different things that we require in order to complete that service request are completed on the first (submission),” said Wiltshire.

During an especially busy period last spring, even initial responses to 311 emails took about two weeks, said Wiltshire.

Since the same 311 staff answer emails, phone calls and social media requests, more efficient forms should free up employee time and help reduce overall wait times, she said.

The city already allows some online feedback through forms linked directly to specific departments, such as those linked to snow clearing and tree removal.

Wiltshire said residents will get ample notice when a timeline is chosen for the change.

The city is also pursuing a separate citizen portal project, which aims to offer one online area where residents can quickly access all city services through one login, such as to review bills and requests to 311.

Council approved $2.9 million in the 2023 budget to support that effort but the finished project isn’t expected for at least two to three years, said Wiltshire.

“What this is going to start to do is amalgamate all those services for the user,” she said.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the portal should cut down on the time it takes residents to complete city business. He also supports ending the email option for 311.

“I support whatever changes we need to enhance customer service and… (simplify) the processes for residents but also to make sure that our 311 service is structured in such a way that 311 operators and departmental staff can respond more quickly,” said Gillingham.

Winnipeggers will also still be able to connect with 311 through X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, phone and mail options.

Coun. Janice Lukes, who has long pushed for 311 improvements, said she’s hopeful the change will help to continue to reduce wait times.

“There’s two ways to look at it. I mean you sit there and you fill out 10 steps (on a form), or you sit there and you go back and forth with 311 for five times or 10 times. So, I’m open to it. It sounds like this is a proven practice in other cities,” said Lukes.

A city report notes 311 wait times have dropped substantially this year. The average wait time for 311 phone calls fell to five minutes, 54 seconds for 2023 so far (up to the end of October), down from about 11 minutes in both 2021 and 2022. The report credits a higher budget for the improvement, which allowed the service to hire more staff, boost its overtime budget and add phone lines.

Meanwhile, EPC also voted to study how other cities clean up encampments, including cities that “sanction” such sites and provide regular services such as garbage pickup to them.

The report, which is expected in four months, will also explore how Winnipeg could “conduct mindful garbage cleanups” on a weekly or biweekly basis and detail how much money the city has spent on garbage cleanups at vacant encampments since 2018.

In addition, EPC delayed its vote on ordering the creation of a bylaw to ban public hookah use indoors and on patios.

Gillingham said he would need more information to determine the city’s role in implementing such a ban and how provincial regulations would affect one.

In traditional hookah use, a water pipe is used to smoke shisha, a mixture of tobacco and molasses, sugar or fruit. While the Manitoba government has banned smoking and vaping tobacco in indoor public places, Winnipeg restaurants are able to operate as hookah lounges by offering customers the choice of smoking tobacco-free shisha.

However, supporters of a ban say it’s tough to track which substances are smoked and that both tobacco and non-tobacco versions create hazardous air pollutants, including carbon monoxide.

EPC is expected to consider the motion again next month, unless council votes otherwise.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga