The odd, ordinary get a listen on city’s 311 line
Like the plethora of calls that the phone line receives about non-city services – questions about aliens and requests for legal advice – Roach had to disappoint the caller. The city receives about 8,200 calls daily, ranging from questions about broken water mains to messages for Mayor Annise Parker, but among them are a fair share of odd requests and often surprising inquiries that can test call agents’ patience and poker faces. Davis said one caller wanted to know, “what should I do about my baby daddy who wants to see this child but he don’t pay child support, so should I let him see the child?” Callers sometimes complain about being beat by their significant others or call about a medical emergency, which agents transfer to 911. While the calls are a distraction, they represent only a fraction of phone traffic and do not significantly affect operations of the service, which lost $1 million in funding this year as a result of city budget cuts, said Frank Carmody, assistant director of operations for Houston’s administration and regulatory affairs department. Other public services also receive their share of unusual calls and requests.
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