Tele-Page promotes 3-1-1 services to municipalities
By Adnews Staff
Montreal-based call center and paging company Tele-Page has begun a national campaign called "Answer the Call." The campaign is intended to encourages municipalities to implement 3-1-1 response services in their communities. The 3-1-1 service provides citizens with a telephone number to call for important but non-emergency issues such as broken traffic lights, noise complaints and dead animal removal, as well as for information about garbage removal schedules, road detours and other city services. The campaign consists of a direct mail piece sent to employees of various municipalities. The package includes a personalized web address that, when visited, offers videos and other information on the 3-1-1 services Tele-Page can provide. "The primary reason for the creation of the 3-1-1 program was to eliminate non-urgent calls being received by the 9-1-1 emergency service which is intended for fire, ambulance and police," said Gary Blair, president of Tele-Page. "Research has indicated that as many as two thirds of the calls received by 9-1-1 are of a non life-threatening nature. It was clear that the timing was right to address this issue through a campaign. Since Tele-Page provides the only turn-key 3-1-1 call center service in Canada, we can support municipalities in their goals to implement this valuable service for their communities in a way that will be both time and cost-efficient."