Philadelphia Launches Cloud-Based 311 Service

The city of Philadelphia (PA) has signed a new deal with the IT services company Unisys to provide a comprehensive 311 system for residents. City officials say the new system will give citizens instant access to ask a question or lodge a complaint by landline, text, mobile device or on the Web.

Philadelphia receives between 1.2 million and 1.5 million calls to its existing 311 line, according to the service’s Executive Director, Rosetta Lue. To handle the expected growth in 311 calls, the city did an open request for proposals, and ultimately chose Unisys. Part of the appeal of going with the company, Lue said, is that it is offering cloud-based hosting, in partnership with cloud platform company Salesforce.