In just one hour, Philadelphia’s 311 system will go from beta testing stage to full fledged operation.  A media advisory sent by the city yesterday gives a taste of what to expect:

The City of Philadelphia will begin operation of the 311 system on December 31, 2008.  Starting then, 311 will be the only number necessary to find out information or to access a Philadelphia City service.

311 can be reached via the telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year or via the walk-in centered located in Room 169 of City Hall during normal business hours. 311 will be a free service available to anyone who needs to know more about Philadelphia, City services, or general information.  Residents, businesses, and visitors are all encouraged to call.

Once the system for tracking service requests and complaints is in place and running for about a year, wonks like me will be up to our eyeballs in statistics and measurements.  It will be like Christmas every fiscal year!  (Assuming everything goes according to plan… what?)

So get your dialing finger ready and let loose the dogs of complaint… about barking dogs and the like.