A voice of help for call takers, citizens
Jackie Strickland trains 311 operators, and when there's a shortage of staff, she takes a seat next to them

Jackie Strickland, 311 senior trainer (standing), works with future 311 call takers Tamara Mason, Liliana Segura and Veronica Crouch, left to right, during a six-week certification course.

Story and photos by John Perry

From among the 2.4 million service requests to the 311 call center during the past year, there was one Jackie Strickland remembers well.

“I felt so sorry for him. He was serving in our military, calling from Iraq,” said Strickland, senior trainer for 311 call takers. “He was concerned about an arraignment date at Municipal Courts he couldn’t possibly be present for.

“He was in harm’s way and preoccupied by the legal ramifications of a traffic violation.”

Strickland was the right person to help the worried soldier. She had been recruited into 311 partially for her expertise with Municipal Courts issues.

“I knew that a presiding judge could postpone a traffic arraignment for a year if the person was serving in the military,” said Strickland, who trained counselors at the Municipal Courts Administration customer service center for nearly 12 years. “I quickly got it straightened out for him. And it felt great to put his mind at ease.”

Municipal Courts concerns account for 60 percent of 311’s inquiries.

“A lot of people don’t understand how traffic court works. They’re intimidated by the process, especially when they can’t afford the fine and afraid of a warrant being issued for their arrest,” Strickland said.  “It’s very rewarding helping them work through the system to a satisfactory solution.”

Strickland recently helped Houston resident James Stephens, who was working on an oil-drilling job in Indonesia. He e-mailed his concern about not being able to appear for his Municipal Courts arraignment for a traffic ticket. She was able to get his arraignment reset for a later date. The grateful Stephens e-mailed his appreciation.

But 311 is not only for traffic court issues, it’s also a way for Houstonians to report nonemergency problems such as potholes, abandoned cars, missed trash collection, backed up sewers, faulty traffic signals, broken water mains, and to get information on local government services.

Staffed by 70 call takers and seven supervisors, 311 operates 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, with 24-hour service available at www.houstontx.gov/311, allowing citizens to request information and services online.

One of 55 such call centers in the U.S., Houston’s helpline was launched Aug. 27, 2001, with two primary goals: to give Houston residents a single phone number for their concerns and to relieve congestion on the 911 emergency phone system.

Strickland reviews citizen information requests regarding Municipal Courts. About 60 percent of 311 calls are courts related.

Strickland arrived two weeks after 311 began operations. Today, she trains call takers in an intensive six-week certification class teaching them how to process service calls.

She emphasizes that citizen questions, concerns and comments should be addressed with the highest customer service standard possible.

“My philosophy is to treat our citizens with the utmost dignity and respect, and that’s the way I train my call takers,” Strickland said. “I want them to be better than good – I want them to be the best. Because that’s what our citizens deserve.”

Considered a “super achiever” by her colleagues, Strickland still rolls up her sleeves and receives incoming helpline calls that average about 11,000 per day.

“We recently lost a number of our top employees to retirement and military service,” said Jeannie Holmes, 311 administrative specialist. “Even though she’s a senior trainer, Jackie stepped up to help process requests. She often works late hours and many Saturdays to refresh our call takers. She’s always there for us, always going the extra mile and putting forth a 150-percent effort.”

Responding to the call for volunteers in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Strickland and 311 Director Gloria Bingham managed the Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force hotline, helping hundreds of evacuees find transitional housing.

John Walsh, deputy chief of staff for neighborhood and housing, wrote Mayor Bill White: “None of the work would have been possible without Gloria Bingham and Jackie Strickland, whose organization and training of the hotline team provided thousands of evacuees with information about housing. They quickly assembled a team of experienced customer service representatives who received an average of 800 calls per day.”

Strickland, who had perfect employee attendance for 2002 through 2005, is also a leader in the Combined Municipal Campaign, creating the successful “Put the Fun in Fund Raising” slogan and donating 1 percent of her salary for eight straight years.

She “thoroughly loves” her job because she finds it so rewarding to help people, she said.