About 50 ICMA annual conference participants joined Rob Klatchuk from the City of Edmonton and Rosetta Lue from the City of Philadelphia in discussing 311 customer service. As one participant said - it is more than taking calls. From small municipalities to large cities such as Edmonton or Philadelphia, the centralization of customer service and citizen engagement is enabled by 311 and the supporting technology.

As I moderated the panel and facilitated the Q & A session, it seemed to me the hottest topic was mobile apps. To do or not to do? Depends - the typical consultant response! What is the business driver in your city? Citizen engagement? Efficiency? Both? Will the mobile app integrate with your other systems so you are not creating manual work? Is it okay to create manual back office work because your goal is citizen engagement?

We heard various opinions about the moblie apps and also discussed some start up issues for 311. Great conversation - wish we would have had more time.