Call Center

311 call center works better than old system My many experiences with the city's 311 One Call Center have been nothing short of spectacular ("City's 311 complaint center criticized about follow-ups," Nov. 26). I remember one incident vividly. Late one night I noticed a man digging through the neighbors' trash. That's hardly an emergency; however, it happened after a series of publicized identity thefts in the neighborhood, which presumably occurred after the thieves had rummaged through the trash.

Drug dealers were using an abandoned minivan for target practice in Reservoir Hill, a block from an elementary school, so Irene Smith dialed 311 and asked the city to cart it away. That would have been Smith's "one call to City Hall" if the telephone service had lived up to its slogan. Instead, she said, that was the first of more than 30 calls to remind, cajole and beg the city to remove the van. The city finally towed the vehicle seven months later, but only after fed-up residents pushed it into an alley, forcing action because trash trucks couldn't get through.

Howard County police have changed their backup 911 system to accommodate more calls after residents said they had difficulty reporting a house fire Aug. 3. The system was adjusted last week and now has five incoming lines and one outgoing. Previously, the backup system had three incoming and three outgoing lines. "The capacity may not have been at a level we would have liked ... and we recognized the need to evaluate our level of incoming phone lines," said Capt. Greg Marshall, who oversees communications for the Howard County Police Department.

WorldCom Inc. officials began laying off hundreds of Maryland employees yesterday as President Bush and Congress moved to hold the telecommunications giant responsible for misstating profits by billions of dollars over the past five quarters. About 680 employees will be laid off at an MCI call center in Hunt Valley, while another 20 will be let go in Frederick and five in Baltimore. Virginia will also take a hit, with about 1,000 layoffs between offices in Arlington and Ashburn, the company confirmed yesterday.

Things got rough at Anthony Russo's work when the economy slowed down. Sitting in his cubicle, Russo was like a batter in a cage, facing one pitch after another for eight hours at a time. During the past year or so, it has been getting harder to not strike out. Russo, who has worked in call centers for almost four years, has a stressful job, something acknowledged by the lowest-level employees and people at the highest levels of the industry. The tightening economy hasn't made it easier.

Complaints are growing in Howard County about a company under state contract that takes calls on child-support issues from people in 11 Maryland counties. Howard officials are so frustrated by what they say is poor service that they are thinking about doing without. Spherix Inc. of Beltsville, which sells everything from a new sugar substitute to a maggot pesticide, operates the call center, which handles inquiries about government functions. To handle child-support inquiries, 30 operators field about 30,000 calls a year, said Louis Curry III, deputy director of the state's Child Support Enforcement Administration.

IN 1996, Baltimore was the first U.S. city to adopt 311 as the number for non-emergency police calls. The reason: Roughly 60 percent of 911 calls in the city did not deal with life-or-death situations at all. Some people would even call to find out the starting time of baseball games. Baltimore has spent $2.6 million to revamp its 311 setup, making the number now the one-stop call center for all city services. Thirty-seven customer service agents staff it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, sitting before flickering computer consoles in the same room at the police headquarters where emergency calls are answered.

For many, calling Baltimore City government, or any government for that matter, was one of those dreaded chores. You knew you'd be put on hold. You'd be passed from one operator to another. You'd end up with someone who turned your simple request into a federal case. And in the end, you might not get any help. But Baltimore officials are hoping to change all that and today will announce that the city's One Call Center is up and running, ready to handle calls for everything from replacing street lamps to removing abandoned vehicles.

IKEA International A/S plans to open a call center in White Marsh Monday, the Swedish Home furnishings retailer said yesterday. The center on Franklin Square Drive will be one of two centers taking calls from catalog customers and others seeking information. It will also become IKEA's fourth business operation planned or open in the state. There is an IKEA store in White Marsh and another planned in College Park. And the company recently announced that it would build a 1.7 million-square-foot distribution center in Perryville.