There was a recent conversation on some of the listservs about the Mayor's new 311 and 911 plans. A Ward 6 resident emailed Tommy asking questions about the move and in particular, about how certain cell phone plans might work with the new 311. Tommy contacted the Director of the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) -- the folks that run 311 and 911 -- to get the answers. Below is the response from Janice Quintana that we wanted we'd share in case some people have the same questions.

Thank you for sending this my way. I have also received a few inquiries. Below I have provided some answers to a few questions received from citizens. I also want to mention that the 727-1000 is not being retired and will still work.

General 311 Questions

1. Can a cell phone caller physically located in the District of Columbia and using another area code/telephone number call 311 in the District?

Yes, providing the originating Service Provider routes the 311 call properly to the OUC network. The OUC is properly set up to accept 311 calls. The OUC conducts random testing and this week testing was completed with different originating area codes of 703(Virginia), 301(Maryland), and 603 (New Hampshire).

We also contacted AT&T Mobility National 911 Director regarding inquiries with AT&T wireless callers not being able to reach 311. They have identified a glitch with their new UMTS network, however a temporary fix has been implemented and the permanent solution should be in effect soon.

2. If a subscriber in the District can’t call 311 what should they do?

Any issues with 311 call delivery are on the originating end (Service Provider) not on the terminating end (OUC) so problems should be reported to their service provider. In addition, they can always use 727-1000.

Thank you,
Janice Quintana
Director, Office of Unified Communication