Mayor Walsh Launches Boston 311

BOSTON - Tuesday, August 11, 2015 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today launched Boston 311, a platform to better enable residents of Boston to report non-emergency issues to the City, such as graffiti and broken street lights, and access City services.

"I am thrilled to launch Boston 311 to better equip our residents with a direct line of communication to City Hall while at the same time improving our delivery of City services," said Mayor Walsh. "By streamlining communication to City Hall, we are building on our priorities to create a City government that is efficient and accessible to all of Boston's residents."

Boston 311 can be accessed anywhere within the City limits from both landlines and cell phones, and should only be used for non-emergencies. 311 will be available through several different platforms, including: 
 

• Mobile: download the free BOS:311 app on iOS or Android (previously known as Citizens Connect)
• Online: Boston.gov/311
• Social media: tweet @BOS311
• Phone: dial 3-1-1 (previously the Mayor's 24-hour hotline 617-635-4500. For those with VoIP and for calls from outside Boston, callers should continue to dial 617-635-4500.)

     
With the launch of Boston 311, Mayor Walsh has taken another step to better streamline City services for Boston's residents. Each day, the City of Boston receives hundreds of reports of graffiti, burnt out street lights and missed trash collection over the phone, on social media and via mobile app. Starting Tuesday, Boston 311 will make it easier for constituents to report issues that help maintain and improve the neighborhoods.

"Thanks to Mayor Walsh's leadership we are very excited to launch Boston 311," said Niall Murphy, Director of the Mayor's Hotline. "We lean on the residents of Boston to be our eyes and ears in the neighborhoods, and we encourage them to utilize the services we provide to make Boston the best city it can be. We now provide a more efficient service than ever before by tracking additional data, streamlining services, and creating accessibility and predictability for constituents.

As part of the Boston 311 transition, the City completed several technological upgrades that improve our ability to listen to and respond to constituents. This new system will allow for the ability to manage calls, add additional reporting capabilities, eliminating redundancy as well as the ability to easily add additional resources in an emergency. Upgrades were also added to the City's mobile app (previously called Citizens Connect and now called BOS:311). Constituents now have access to an expanded set of service requests, such as missed trash pickup, in a more thoughtfully designed menu that prioritizes seasonal and high volume requests.

On average, the Mayor's 24-Hour Hotline receives 5,762 calls per week, and more during times of severe weather. Calls typically concern matters of trash and recycling collection, street cleaning, pothole repair and streetlight outages. Additionally, constituents are increasingly relying on digital channels to report issues: this year, 39 percent of requests have been submitted online and through the mobile app.

The launch of Boston 311 is one of many steps Mayor Walsh has taken to make City services more transparent and improve City operations. Service request data is publicly available on the open data portal and appears on the Mayor's dashboard in his office. For news and updates from the City, follow @CityofBoston on Twitter.