Evanston 311 Center Celebrates 10 Years

Press release from the City of Evanston:

The City of Evanston’s 311 Center today marked 10 years of service to the Evanston community. Launched on March 1, 2011 (3-1-11), Evanston 311 is the key to City information and services for residents and businesses.

During its 10 years of operation, Evanston 311 staff has handled:

• 1,320,000 phone calls
• 294,000 service requests
• 34,000 live online chats (starting July 2012)
• 8,600 text messages (starting July 2014)

Annual service requests have doubled since the service began, from 16,840 in 2011 to 31,000 in 2020. Top requests include scheduling special trash pick-ups and building permit requests.

"For the last 10 years, Evanston 311 has served as a convenient, one-stop shop to access City services and information," City Manager Erika Storlie said. "From snow storms to street cleaning, potholes to pandemics, 311 makes it easy for community members and staff to report issues, track progress, and find the information they need, while also improving accountability, customer service, and efficiency citywide. I'm proud of our incredible 311 staff who go above and beyond each and every day to meet the needs of our community."

Evanston 311 maintains a 10-person staff, including two bilingual (English/Spanish) staff members. Services and offerings have continued to expand and improve each year since 311's launch.

In March 2020, Evanston 311 quickly transitioned to a fully remote operation, continuing to provide excellent customer service and timely information throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to dialing 847-448-4311 or 3-1-1 in Evanston, community members can contact 311 in the following ways:

• Texting 847-448-4311
• Visiting cityofevanston.org/311
• Downloading the “Evanston 311” mobile app on the App Store or Google Play
• Connecting with Evanston 311 on Twitter and Facebook

For more information, please call/text 847-448-4311. For convenience, residents may simply dial 3-1-1 in Evanston.

This press release was produced by the City of Evanston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.