South Charlotte Today

City of Charlotte issued the following announcement on Mar. 10.

CharMeck 311 is the non-emergency line that connects Charlotteans to many government resources. 311 can either answer your question or connect you to the correct office or department for almost every city or county government service. They are the direct connection between residents and the city. In 2021, customer service representatives answered 854,505 calls and 17,721 live chats!

Residents utilize 311 for the following issues and more:

• Utility bills
• Infrastructure repair requests
• How to adopt an animal from a shelter
• Flooding
• Tax questions

To connect callers to so many services, 311 has a close relationship with many government services and organizations. They must work closely with each organization so that they can redirect calls and answer questions about numerous services. Many government numbers redirect callers to 311 so that they can answer residents' questions so that these organizations can have time to focus on their essential services and programs.

City departments supported include Solid Waste Services, Storm Water, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, Charlotte Water, Neighborhood & Business Services and Charlotte Department of Transportation. County departments include Park and Recreation, Tax Collections & Assessment, Land Use & Environmental Services, and the Sheriff's Office.

311 is staffed by 96 full-time employees and operates from Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 311 also handles all requests that come through the online service desk.

Occasionally, 311 steps in on weekends and holidays to handle emergencies. This past January, 311 employees worked from home to manage calls related to the weather, including the need to report fallen trees, accidents, power outages, etc. During the winter storm, 311 answered more than 7,100 calls in just two days! A pre-recorded message directed those with power outages to their power company, and 311's support also allowed non-emergency police calls to be handled so that 911 could be available for true emergencies.

At the beginning of the pandemic, 311, along with the Emergency Operations Center, spearheaded the stay-at-home call center that fielded calls about COVID restrictions, mandates, COVID stats, and other pandemic related questions and concerns. In the face of global uncertainty, 311 worked diligently to stay abreast of updates so that they could give accurate information to individuals and businesses.

Representatives from 311 are also available to speak to civic or neighborhood organizations through the 311 Speakers Bureau and Need a Speaker program. 311 customer service representatives are also available to participate in community events such as fairs and neighborhood festivals.

To see how your neighborhood or organization can connect with 311, contact partner liaison manager Linette McCallum at linette.mccallum@charlottenc.gov.

Original source can be found here.