The City of Philadelphia first introduced its Philly311 Contact Center in December 2008.  Mayor Michael Nutter wanted the City to become a national leader in customer service, and establishing a 311/CRM system was viewed as an essential component to reaching that goal.

Fast forward to the summer of 2012 where Philly311 customer service representatives have responded to nearly 4.5 million contacts since they first started.  The system, which has no marketing budget and primarily relies on word-of-mouth publicity, is hugely popular with constituents who have come to view Philly311 as the front door to City Hall.  Use of Philly311 has grown to such an extent that it became apparent in 2010 that their current constituent relationship management (CRM) system needed to be updated. City executives made the decision to invest in a new system despite the tight economy.

With a new CRM product that has significantly improved functionality, the City of Philadelphia will expand their efforts and go beyond their initial goal of becoming a national leader in customer service.  Philly311 leaders have looked at the five strategic goals established by Mayor Nutter in his new term, and have tied their future work directly to two of those goals:

• Philadelphia becomes one of the safest cities in America.

Working closely with the Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments, Philly311 will begin taking many more non-emergency 911 phone calls to let those two departments focus on their core missions.  The new CRM system will also provide neighborhood trending data that will help identify troubled neighborhoods early on, and allow the City’s service departments to work together to develop strategies to address issues in an integrated fashion.

• Philadelphia government works efficiently and effectively, with integrity and responsiveness.

Philly311 leaders will also have improved reporting capabilities from the new CRM system.  Greater access to performance data will make city operations more transparent and provide greater access to government services for Philadelphia’s constituents.

Public funding decisions are never easy even in a robust economy, but the City of Philadelphia has chosen to preserve and expand a key City asset by investing in Philly311.  The long-term result will be improved service delivery for the City’s constituents for years to come.