The Taipei City Government, in order to provide “one-stop, cross-departmental public services”, has been promoting the advancement of the e-government system. The services were further improved following the inauguration of the upgraded version of “1999 Taipei Citizen Hotline” on 3rd of July, 2008. With citizens’ priorities in mind, several operating procedures were revised after discussions with relevant departments. The final version of the hotline provides five major services, namely, consulting, complaints handling, dispatching, transferring and informing.- Consulting: Supplemented by the Knowledge Management (KM) system, the exchange system between the relevant departments and the call center allows up-to-date updates to the FAQ database, in order to facilitate response to municipal questions.
- Transferring: The Research, Development and Evaluation Commission of Taipei City Government cooperated with the Department of Information Technology to establish a contact list system, which includes the contact numbers of all Taipei City Government departments and servants. With constantly updated system, operators can more efficiently and accurately transfer phone calls to the correct target.
- Complaints handling: The Research, Development and Evaluation Commission of Taipei City Government cooperated with the Department of Information Technology to develop a complaints handling mechanism, which allows citizens to receive replies to cross departmental complaint cases in a timely manner. In addition, citizens can utilize the online tracking system to follow their cases.
- Dispatching: Having studied the New York 311 Hotline, reviewed the most relevant dispatching tasks, simplified the workflow and reassigned duties, 1999 Taipei Citizen Hotline is able to introduce a standard operating procedure tailored for dispatching services. By setting a clear timeline, the standard operating procedure will break the barriers effective communication between departments and allow citizens to know exactly when a task will be completed.
- Informing: In cases where citizens request services that are beyond the scope of the Taipei City Government's authorithy, the operators will assist the citiztens by providing an appropriate number to contact.
The instant messaging system developed within “1999 Taipei Citizen Hotline” has significantly reduced the time required for cross departmental communication and significantly enhanced interagency coordination and administration. Through various channels such as phone calls, the online tracking system, paper documents, faxes, SMS or even emails, citizens can receive full assistance regarding their inquiries. As a result, citizens will be able to enjoy more convenient and transparent public services.
“1999 Taipei Citizen Hotline” offers 24/7 municipal services. By dialing 1999 or visiting the 1999 website, citizens of Taipei City can acquire relevant municipal information.