A new ICMA podcast features representatives from ICMA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center, who discuss how local governments are using 311 call centers and other related customer service technology systems. The 47-minute discussion draws a portrait of how communities are using this technology to respond to citizen needs and build local-constituent relationships.

The podcast is a product of an ongoing ICMA/Sloan Foundation national study of the use of 311/citizen relationship management systems by local government. These centralized systems allow the public to report nonemergency situations without tapping into already overburdened 911 systems or pouring through pages of phone numbers in their local phonebook.

In 2007, ICMA conducted the first-ever national survey on 311 and related customer service technology used by U.S. local governments. During the podcast, the five principle participants discussed the results of the national survey and the first two 311/CRM case studies—San Antonio, Texas and Los Alamos County, New Mexico. A third case study, recently released, demonstrates that even low-cost CRMs used by smaller communities can measurably improve both local government service delivery and citizen customer service satisfaction.

“Lynwood One Call City Hall,” examines the city of Lynwood, California (pop. 73,212), which was originally planned as a small bedroom community southeast of Los Angeles. A limited budget and increasing demand for services, coupled with a desire to bring the community into the digital age, led city officials to consider what technological changes were required to enhance local government services. The result of their study and research was the implementation of a CRM system that created a one-stop center for handling all types of citizen requests for services and information.

Funding for the study comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. To learn more about the ICMA/Sloan Foundation 311 study and to download copies of the case studies and access other valuable resources, visit http://icma.org/311study.