March 29, 2016 - The City of Fort Wayne’s 311 Call Center has been named a top 100 small call center in North America for 2016.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that Fort Wayne’s Citizen Services Department’s call center has ranked in the Top 100 Small Call Center category by BenchmarkPortal. The award includes private and municipal centers staffed by 50 or less employees. 

“We have a strong commitment to providing excellent customer service to meet the needs of Fort Wayne residents,” said Mayor Tom Henry. “The public trusts our 311 program. We have dedicated employees making a meaningful difference each day. To receive national recognition is a tremendous accomplishment for our staff and community.”

“We’re truly honored to rank within the top 100 call centers,” said Julie Sanchez, director of the City of Fort Wayne’s Citizen Services Department. “Being the front door of City government, we want to make sure that every citizen has a great experience and is left with a positive impression. We do this by treating every caller with respect and ensuring that they’re satisfied by the end of every call.”

The City launched its 311 program in 2007 to make government more accessible. Since then, services provided by 311 have continued to expand as Citizen Services currently assists 23 City departments. In 2015, the call center handled more than 170,000 calls. In addition, since its inception, the call center has handled over one million calls.

The 311 service is part of an ongoing effort to make City government easier to access and more responsive to the needs of citizens, businesses and visitors. Through Citizen Services, the City engages with the public to make improvements, measure departmental service performance, and through the use of innovation, collect community voice, which empowers citizens to help drive change.

BenchmarkPortal is an international organization recognized as a leader in call center expertise, certification and training, research, and tracking of the industry’s best practices.