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LOS ANGELES – Mayor Karen Bass today signed her fifth executive directive to improve the customer experience of Angelenos requesting city services by decreasing wait times, enhancing the quality of the service and better communicating the result of service requests. The Mayor signed the directive at a home in Boyle Heights where a service request for a bulky item pick-up was taking place. The Executive Directive continues the Mayor’s efforts to improve basic city services to make Los Angeles more livable for all. Watch the press conference here. Photos will be uploaded here.
“A world-class city deserves world class services – that means faster, higher quality, and better results. Just last week, I had someone come up to me and say they had lodged a 311 ticket multiple times and their item still wasn’t handled. That needs to change. Today, we are taking a step towards improving not only the customer experience, but the results of our operations,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “This executive directive launches the development of a customer service strategy to improve the delivery of basic City services that Angelenos expect and deserve.”
As a result of this Executive Directive, city service operations like graffiti removal, pothole repair, and bulky item pick up will be completed faster, executed better and the result of the operation will be communicated in a more transparent way.
As instructed by Mayor Bass, a Customer Service Steering Committee will be established to oversee the modernization of the MyLA311 system - the City’s existing request platform for services on private property and in the public right-of-way.
Angelenos who want to request any range of 68 different no-cost City services including graffiti removal and pothole repair can:
- Call 3-1-1 from a phone in Los Angeles;
- Download the MyLA311 Mobile app; or
- Submit a request at MyLA311.LACity.org
Read the full text of the Executive Directive below:
EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE 5:
Subject: Improving Customer Experience
The City of Los Angeles’ MyLA311 system provides an essential means of connecting residents and businesses to City services and information, with over 2.165 million contacts through the mobile app, website, and call center over the last 12 months. MyLA311 currently offers 68 service request types across 11 City departments, including the most frequently requested services like bulky item pickup, graffiti removal, and illegal dumping. But the City does not have a formal mechanism to ensure the effectiveness of these services to our businesses and residents.
In March 2021, the Office of the City Controller released an audit of MyLA311, “The 411 on 311: Calling for a Customer-First Approach,” which provided recommendations for a more customer-centric model for City services. Subsequently, the Information Technology Agency commissioned a deeper study of MyLA311 providing additional recommendations to enhance customer experience, including measuring service performance, improving interdepartmental collaboration to prioritize a better overall customer experience, and investing in community engagement to expand MyLA311 access.
In addition, the City of Los Angeles is investing in a MyLA311 Modernization Project over the next year to replace the current aging software with a new, cloud-hosted solution. This offers a unique opportunity to improve our services to the public. New system features include the ability to use natural language digital assistants, social media integration, improved communications to the public on when they can expect their issue to be addressed, new field service tools for City employees, more self-service options, and improved reliability, mapping, and geocoding features.
Los Angeles residents and businesses deserve the best. However, there are no standardized measures for customer service, including response times, fulfillment processes, and how departments interact with customers and other stakeholders to complete requests and handle complaints. New technology is not enough without changing how we engage Angelenos. We must establish a governance structure of MyLA311 to hold departments accountable for delivering excellent customer service. This includes establishing standard performance measures across all departments, streamlining fulfillment processes and improving coordination between departments, and addressing customer experience issues as they arise.
To that end, I am creating the Customer Service Steering Committee composed of representatives of City departments and co-led by the Mayor’s Office of Infrastructure and Office of Community Engagement, with support from the Office of Finance and Innovation.
I hereby direct the Customer Service Steering Committee to perform the following tasks:
1. Within the next 90 days, evaluate the full life-cycle of each City service, develop transparent process maps for each service so that residents can understand the outcome, and establish key performance measures for service delivery. The following departments shall be members of the Customer Service Steering Committee:
City Planning Department
Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department
Department of Animal Services
Department of Building and Safety
Department of Public Works
Bureau of Contract Administration
Bureau of Street Lighting
Bureau of Engineering
Bureau of Sanitation
Bureau of Street Services
Department of Recreation and Parks
Department of Transportation
Department of Water and Power
Department on Disability
Economic and Workforce Development Department
Fire Department
General Services Department
Information Technology Agency
Police Department
2. Conduct focus groups composed of active and potential MyLA311 users to improve the system design of the user experience and customer relationship management. My Office of Community Engagement shall conduct other outreach activities with key constituencies to improve and encourage community engagement.
3. Provide input on the design and user experience of the new MyLA311 platform to improve features and ease of use. On an ongoing basis, the Steering Committee shall monitor performance measures, help to resolve customer service issues that arise, and ensure that service requests are not closed without completing the work and providing an explanation for why the work could not be performed.
4. Integrate MyLA311 with departmental service delivery systems to provide improved communication to customers and better customer experience as work progresses. The Steering Committee shall:
Minimize the need for City employees to enter information in multiple systems.
Establish clear points of escalation within each department for handling emergencies and complaints.
Establish a process to collect and assess customer feedback data on a regular basis to enhance and simplify the MyLA311system.
Establish a MyLA311 data policy covering open data sharing and data integration with third-party systems.
5. Within the next 120 days, create a citywide MyLA311 Customer Service Policy that governs departments’ intake, fulfillment, and communication of information and services to the public. The Customer Service Policy shall address long-standing differences in customer service throughout the City by creating a standard vocabulary and common definition of service delivery across all departments to ensure that customers are receiving consistent, high levels of service.