"We love questions": Three years of the public authority number 115 in Chemnitz
More than 87,000 calls - Three quarters of callers receive an answer immediately - Short waiting times guaranteed - Public authority number takes over appointment booking
On Sunday, the public authority number 115 in Chemnitz can look back on three years of existence. 87,158 calls have been received by the staff at the City of Chemnitz service centre since 1 February 2012. 76 percent of the calls were answered by the service centre. The service centre staff answered 79 percent of the calls within 30 seconds.
The service centre staff most frequently answered questions about applying for an ID card or passport, re-registering a place of residence, children's passports and registering, re-registering and decommissioning vehicles. Citizens' concerns and comments were also recorded and forwarded to the relevant departments for processing. These included defective street lighting, broken traffic lights, overgrown traffic signs, illegal rubbish dumping and blocked street inlets. Appointments are also reserved for requests from the registration office and to inspect the building file archive.
There are around 20,000 federal, state and local authorities with numerous telephone numbers. The 115 number eliminates the time-consuming search for responsibilities and individual telephone numbers. One number provides information on citizens' enquiries, regardless of which specific authority or office is responsible for the enquiry. This innovative citizen service has become the service standard in many public authorities in Germany. In the meantime, 30 million citizens in around 400 local authorities throughout Germany can use the service of the standardised public authority number. Numerous state authorities and the entire federal administration have also joined 115.
A comprehensive knowledge database forms the basis for the information on public administration. The most frequently requested services of the participating authorities are provided here. The 115 service promise guarantees standardised service quality nationwide. 75 per cent of 115 calls are answered by a member of staff within 30 seconds and 65 per cent are answered on first contact. If a question cannot be answered immediately, the caller will receive a response within 24 hours by e-mail, fax or callback, depending on their preference.
Irrespective of office hours, 115 can be reached from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. without an area code from a landline or mobile phone. Callers from regions or towns that have not yet joined the 115 service can reach the service centre of the City of Chemnitz by dialling 0371/115.
The cost of a call to 115 is determined by the telephone network provider. With most providers, 115 can be called via the standard flat rate or at the local rate. Therefore, only these providers can provide binding information on the call costs incurred.
Further information on 115 can be found on the Internet at: www.chemnitz.de and www.115.de.