SALEM — Anyone in the city of Salem can now connect with a live operator during business hours, by simply dialing 3-1-1. This live operator will take service requests, answer questions, and connect callers with additional information and assistance regarding certain programs and services.
City business hours are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon.
“Salem has consistently strived to find new and more effective ways to connect residents with city services,” said Mayor Driscoll.
Service 311 builds on the city’s existing channels by taking requests and inquiries from residents, including SeeClickFix, an online tool launched in 2014 that has fixed 27,000 issues reported by community members. The online Salem Chatbot that launched in 2021 has responded to almost 1,800 submitted questions, and the Salem knowledge base wiki of frequently asked questions has answered 515 questions since it launched in 2014.
This number can be dialed from any phone at the city’s convenience.
“I’m grateful to the city staff who have worked diligently over the past several months to get this new program into place and I hope residents will make use of this new option for connecting with their city government,” said Mayor Driscoll.
Magella Cantara can be reached at [email protected].
