Mayor Purzycki Releases the Annual Wilmington 311 Report

February 28, 2022

The Customer Service Call Center and Online Report Portal was launched in August 2020 to improve government service and response to residents and businesses

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki today issued a 2021 year-end report for the City’s 311 Customer Service Call Center. Launched in August 2020, Wilmington 311 enables the City to provide more effective and efficient services to the public while collecting data to better understand the public’s needs and concerns. The Mayor said Wilmington 311 holds the City government to a high standard of accountability for serving customers, resolving concerns, and providing information—all at an improved pace. In 2021, there were more than 104,000 requests for City services or City information.

“Excellence in customer service is a priority in my Administration and we have created a central report system that is more responsive to constituent needs than ever before,” said Mayor Purzycki. “I am proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far as detailed in the 2021 year-end report, but as with any relatively new system, we continue to examine our results and make changes as needed so the Wilmington 311 system is as effective as possible. The improvements we have continued to make in the last year and a half since Wilmington 311 was launched largely because of customer feedback, which we need and appreciate.”

Mayor Purzycki said among the highlights found in the 2021 annual report are reduced call wait times that now average less than one minute versus a wait time of several minutes prior to the launch of Wilmington 311; an expansion of service request options to more than 200 for constituents to choose from when submitting a request or inquiry; and adding a new search bar to allow for easier navigation of online request options.

Among the statistics included in the 2021 Annual Report are:

•104,148 calls were made to 311 in 2021, which is close to the number of annual calls placed to 911. Just 1,729 requests for service or information were made at the City’s online 311 portal

•The majority of 311 requests were referred to the City Finance Department (52% of cases or 33,681), followed by the Public Works Department (37%, or 24,000 cases) and Licenses and Inspections Department (7%, or 4,568 cases)

•The most popular case types were Special Pick-Up requests (9,800 cases per year on average), Water Utility inquiries (7,200 cases per year on average), and Parking Permit inquiries (3,600 cases per year on average)

System improvements and highlights from the report include:

• Reduced Call Wait Times: On average, calls to 311 are answered in less than one minute and are completed in less than three minutes. The percentage of calls abandoned before they are answered ranges from 3% to 7%. Before 311, calls to the Finance Department, as an example, were typically answered in six to eight minutes, calls were completed within four to five minutes, and the abandonment rate was near 20%.

• Improvements to Service, Category & Subcategory Options: Relying on feedback from the public, the City made a substantial update to the case categorization structure in November 2021, adding 13 new options and eliminating redundancies. There are now more than 200 options for constituents to choose from when submitting a request or inquiry.

• System Improvements: Improving the look and feel of the Wilmington 311 website, including adding a search bar to allow easier navigation of request options; improving the Check Status of Your Inquiry function on the website to also provide more information and context; adding clickable call buttons; and including a Reports section with vital statistics

The Mayor encourages the public to read the full report, which can be accessed online here.

Mayor Purzycki urges the public to call Wilmington 311 or visit the web portal (www.wilmingtonde.gov/residents/311) to request a service or information and to share ideas on how the system can be improved.

Wilmington 311 monthly statistics can be found at the City’s OpenGov transparency portal, here.