The Florida 3-1-1 Coalition was established in 2004 to facilitate coordination and collaboration between and among state, county and municipal governments in developing 3-1-1 systems.

Members from throughout the state meet regularly to discuss or support legislative efforts that may impact or relate to funding or other issues; discuss and share emerging trends or related issues; and to gain insight into and share ideas regarding the implementation or operation of 3-1-1 systems.

Call 3-1-1. One number.

What's New

Alachua
Since last Sept. when 311 was for EOC purposes, we’ve implemented the CRM system with a few departments, which will eventually be for all departments. The County Manager has requested a budget request, giving a 2 year timeframe to marry the Motorola CSR system and 311 for disaster information, to bring them together for the 2008 hurricane season. We’ve put in a $1 million request. Some monies are also in technology department. The County Manager has signed off on the 311 center 2-year plan.

Hillsborough
The Citizen Action Center is now directly under County Administrator's Office, in Strategic Management Initiatives Office. The Action Center has been charged with the responsibilities of the Citizen Response Center in the EOC. We are now responsible for citizen information before, during and post disaster. We've completed an RFP for a new Customer Relationship Management Software and are in the process of identifying the funding. We have the 311 number designation but have not activated it in Hillsborough County. We are proposing the use of the number as an emergency number in the event of a disaster because our current office is in an evacuation area.

Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade County recently celebrated the one year anniversary of its public launch. In that year the call center handled more than 1.5 million calls, and more than 2.2 million calls since the center began operations in December 2004. Most of the calls (more than 80%) are resolved on first contact.

Miami-Dade County partnered with the City of Miami to launch a centralized call center that is accessible from land lines or cell phones anywhere in the County. It is the first multi-jurisdictional 311 call center in the nation. Since September 2005, 3-1-1 has generated more than 100,000 service requests. The most frequent requests are for Stray Dogs, Signs on the ROW, Junk and Trash / Overgrowth, Dead Animal Pickup, and Abandoned Vehicles.

The County has developed a ServiceStat program to enhance both internal performance-based management and public value by tracking information on citizen requests for service and information received through 311. Department directors and other County leaders use the system to allocate resources as needed, intercept problems before they escalate, and address inefficiencies form strategies for improvement.

In October 2006 the 3-1-1 service hours were extended and now the center is now open on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Call center agents are also available weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with personal one-on-one service in English, Spanish or Creole.

Orange County
3-1-1 is established and operational. It serves as the primary contact for Animal Services, Code Enforcement, Roads and Drainage, Traffic Engineering, and Zoning Divisions. They have a project plan and schedule in place, but they are on hold until service level agreements are established.

Seminole County
Seminole County is using 3-1-1 and publishing by "word of mouth". There has been no campaign for publishing and/or using 311 exclusively as the answering point. This is due to manpower and technology.

Our operation is answering roughly 1000 calls per day on average. This is being accomplished with 5 operators and a supervisor. In addition to 3-1-1 calls, they serve internally as our IT Help Desk. Our only published usage has been during Emergency Operation Center (EOC) activations. During these events we publish both 3-1-1 and 407-665-0311 as our contact support number.

We are budgeted to look at Telecommunications Technology this fiscal year which should include some answering enhancements for our operations.

Most of the Major Cell carriers have instituted 3-1-1 directing it to Seminole for those locations within the County. One area of concern is the fringe areas and borders of the County. Calling from these areas, whether land line and/or cellular, may deliver the call to another 311 answering point and/or to a location that 3-1-1 services are not established. We have worked with bordering 3-1-1 agencies to make sure that they have our number for referral and we have theirs, but it has not functioned seamlessly. We have some other locations that have, but are not utilizing the number on a daily or regular basis. These remain a problem, again in the borders.