Direct line to local government: Public service number 115

Project field

Citizens, the city and the state

Partners

Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), Deutsche Telekom / T-Systems, Bodensee (Lake Constance) district administrative office and other cities and communities in the Bodensee district: Friedrichshafen, Markdorf, Überlingen, Meersburg, Uhldingen-Mühlhofen, Kressbronn, Langenargen, Meckenbeuren.

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Brief description

Since the beginning of December 2009, the 210,000 residents of the Bodensee district have been able to access all public services - whether they want to register a motor vehicle, ask about administrative office opening hours or apply for a passport  - on a single service number, 115. It was the first rural district in southern Germany to become a model region for the nationwide 115 project.

Anyone in and around Friedrichshafen who dials 115 automatically lands in the central service center of the Bodensee administrative office.There, specially trained staff are ready to answer questions themselves or put callers through to the official responsible. To ensure that service center staff can help as many callers as possible themselves, they have access to a new knowledge management system.It contains information on more than 150 of the most popular public administration services as well as links to information from various public departments.

115 is available from 8.00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday to Friday. Calls from the fixed network cost seven cents per minute.

Project aim

The administrative offices for the Bodensee district are using the universal number 115 to give citizens easier access to information about their services, and to improve their service overall. The object is for staff to take 75 percent of calls within 30 seconds and to answer 55 percent of calls directly during the first contact. When a call is forwarded, callers should receive a response within the next 24 hours.

Benefit

Instead of having to look for the right department to deal with a specific problem, then search for its phone number and – often after several detours - get connected to the right person, residents in the Bodensee district now only need memorize one number for all their contacts with the public authorities. Residents who call 115 have their questions answered quickly and without any red tape.

Project status

The 115 service number is currently being tested in 23 communities in the Bodensee district. The Germany-wide pilot is scheduled to run up until the end of 2010. A decision will then be taken on whether, and in what form, the universal public service number 115 will roll out nationwide.