Don't change it, fix it, National group disagrees with 311

In the nine months the 311 non-emergency phone number for police calls has been in effect in Baltimore, the 911 system has been relieved of much of its heavy traffic load, officials say.

Yet the plan has come under attack from the National Emergency Number Association, which instead advocates educating the public about the seven-digit phone number of the nearest police office and the difference between an emergency and a non-emergency.

"When 911 came out, all that was said was, 'Call this number in an emergency,'" said a spokesman for NENA. "But no one defined an emergency. Telling the public when to call and when not to is the answer.' Appropriate use of 911 is the focus of NENA's national television campaign featuring Dave Thomas, founder of the Wendy's restaurant chain. The public service spot debuted last week as NENA held its annual conference in, ironically, Baltimore. Newly elected president Bill Munn said spending millions on a parallel system is wasteful.

"We're at a point where new technology has caused us to spend millions enhancing 911, and millions more will be needed to incorporate wireless,' he said. "Implementing 311 when there are perfectly good seven-digit numbers available doesn't make financial or practical sense.' Last October, Baltimore became the test site for a two-year 311 trial.

AT&T developed Intelligent Call Processing, which uses dedicated trunk lines and, unlike 911, a private network. When a 311 call comes in, the 10-digit origination number is identified, processed and sent to a preset destination determined by the police department, from a cop with a cell phone on the beat to a dedicated 311 center.

Baltimore launched an extensive campaign to promote 311, asking residents to call it "when there's urgency but no emergency.' Examples of a non-emergencies include noisy dogs, vandalism, potholes and abandoned cars.

The additional number has worked well, said Robert Weinhold, head of public affairs for the police department. The average time it takes to answer 911 calls has been reduced by 60%, and the average time for calls getting answered with a recorded message has been reduced by 68.8%.

"It has made the most difference in the number of calls requiring a car to respond, giving officers on the street more discretionary time, which they can use for more proactive policing,' Weinhold said. "Also, citizens are taking more action now that they know they can report an abandoned car, and it will get attention, whereas with 911 they might have gotten a busy signal or asked to call our seven-digit number.' Widespread public education of the department's seven-digit phone number would have had the same results, the NENA spokesman argued.

"Something was broken, and we just went to a whole other system without trying to fix it,' he said. "People just need to be educated on how to use it correctly.' But the local toll number also has its problems, said John Cohen of AT&T Government Markets.

"I live in an area with a county police department,' said Cohen. "I could fall under several districts within the county. I may be able to find the number in the phone book, but if I don't know what district I'm in, it could take me three or four phone calls.'

Weinhold stressed the words President Clinton used last year when he urged the telecommunications industry to provide a solution to 911 overload.

"The 311 is easy to use and easy to remember," Weinhold said. "When a government agency has a number that is easy to use, people are more likely to use it properly.'

Making change easy MCI has begun offering calling card number portability with the networkMCI One card. Businesses can switch calling card traffic to MCI without having to give new calling cards and personal identification numbers to employees. The card also has advanced features such as conference calling, paging and speed dialing.

Service that lasts This month, Ameritech operator Annlee Russo celebrates 56 years of serving Illinois customers. Russo joined the Illinois Bell Telephone Co., Ameritech's predecessor, in 1941, when it took two operators, 15 lb. phone books and cord switchboards to complete every call. Ameritech's longest working and oldest employee-Russo is over 70-has no plans to retire.