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Denton officials hear 3-1-1 update as city moves more service requests online
Summary
Denton's 3-1-1 operations manager told council the single-point-of-contact service has grown to cover 16 departments and now closes the majority of service requests on time; council members pressed staff on ticket closures, staffing implications and how residents receive follow-ups.
Sheila Gray, Denton's 3-1-1 operations manager, told the City Council on May 5 that the city's centralized nonemergency service line has moved rapidly from a pilot to full operations and is now handling requests for 16 departments.
"We are a single point of contact for non emergency city services," Gray said, adding that Denton 3-1-1 went live for Community Improvement services in March 2024 and took over general city switchboard calls in August 2024. Gray said the three-digit 311 dialing was made available on National 3-1-1 Day, March 11, 2025, and that the operation now offers live-person service 24/7.
Gray provided performance figures the city has been using to measure progress: departments closed 51 percent of service requests on time in April 2025, and the city has improved to about 85 percent closed-on-time for the most recent month cited (88 percent for April in one slide). "We're doing a great job closing these service requests and responding to them in a timely manner," she told the council.
Council members followed up with detailed questions about what "closed on time" means and how tickets are routed and tracked. Gray said most service-level agreements for requests range from one to seven days and that some types of complaints (for example, a high-weeds notice) can extend beyond those windows because residents often receive a multi-day abatement period.
"The system automatically, when you hit submit ... it goes automatically to the department," Gray said. She acknowledged variation across departments: "Some departments leave it open until it's completely done ... some departments do close them immediately and put them in their own work order management system. We are trying to get away from that."
Council members also asked about staffing and whether growth in citizen use of the app would require additional employees. Gray said self-help channels such as the mobile app and the web are outpacing calls and that staff are encouraging residents to download and use the app, which helps limit labor pressure on phone operators. She said 3-1-1 uses a modified DuPont schedule; the call center staff work 12-hour shifts covering nights and weekends.
Council member comments highlighted resident frustration with closure language: several council members said when a ticket is shown as "closed" while work continues in another system it creates the impression nothing happened. Councilmember (District 4) suggested using different status language so residents understand when an item has been transferred to a department case-management system but remains in progress.
Gray said the department is working on clearer notes and email updates to residents, and on post-service surveys to capture user experience and improve guidance for callers.
The presentation concluded without council direction; members thanked staff and encouraged continued outreach and education about the 3-1-1 tools. The discussion is likely to inform follow-up items on customer communications and service-level consistency.
