(Miami, Florida)—In a joint effort between the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County, City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, City of Miami Manager Joe Arriola and Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess, and Miami-Dade County Commissioners Dennis Moss and Kathy Sorenson participated in the launch of the 3-1-1 Call Center. The event was held during a press conference at the 3-1-1 headquarters located at 2700 NW 87th Avenue, Doral, Florida.

“I am proud to see the culmination of a long time dream become a reality. We are one of a few cities - joining New York, Chicago, Baltimore - that have adopted a 3-1-1 Call Center,” said City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. “3-1-1 is a big step towards providing excellent customer service to our citizens and will allow us to be more accountable to their needs.”

The 3-1-1 Call Center is staffed by representatives that are ready to assist citizens with their questions and requests. The call center receives an average of 75,000-80,000 calls in a month-approximately 2,500-4,000 calls daily of which 75 percent of the calls are to request information.

“This Call Center allows City of Miami residents the opportunity to obtain information or request services we provide,” said Don Riedel, Director of CitiStat/311 for the City of Miami. “Citizens will be able to make one phone call and receive answers to their questions or be directed to the appropriate department for assistance through an electronic work request or phone transfer.

Through 3-1-1, City of Miami citizens can report or request service on Code Enforcement Issues such as abandoned vehicles, illegal construction, illegal business, illegal signs, illegal dumping, chickens; Public Works Issues such as flooding or drain issues, potholes, sidewalk damage, tree trimming requests; Solid Waste Issues such as missed garbage pick-up, missed trash pick up, missed recycling pick-Up.

3-1-1 will also provide general information on topics such as the City’s new Benefit Bank which includes info on Food Stamp and other Human Services, Small Business loans/how to start a business, information for first time homebuyers, information about City of Miami Parks and Recreation, mini-dump locations, zoning and much more.

The 3-1-1 number was reserved by the Federal Trade Commission (FCC) to be used as a nationwide, non-emergency, abbreviated number for citizens to dial to contact their municipal government and relieve some of the 911 system load assigned to a jurisdiction. On May 27, 2004, during the City of Miami’s Commission meeting, the city entered into an inter-local agreement with Miami-Dade County to implement a single consolidated county/city-wide 3-1-1 Call Center. The joint operation will save taxpayers money and improve service by eliminating the confusion of who to call to get what service.

The call center’s hours of operation are Monday-Friday from Monday-Friday 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., except holidays. Assistance is available in English, Spanish and Creole.