United Way wins right to 211 code; preparations begin for 2002 rollout

Now that the CRTC has issued the 211 dialing code to the United Way, the process of actually rolling out the system has begun. The director of special projects for the United Way of Greater Toronto hopes to have the service operating by early next year, although it will take much longer before it’s available across Canada. "We’ve put a benchmark date of early in 2002," Dan Clement told Network Letter. "That could be sometime in March 2002 as a tentative date. But it’s not a firm date pending some additional dialogue with our tele-communications partners." He adds that providing a ubiquitous service could take at least 10 years. "It’s not going to happen overnight," he asserts. "911 has taken 20 years and it’s still not in some places." A new toll-free service will supply callers with information and referrals about community, social, health and government services in the same way that 911 provides emergency assistance. The service will eventually be available through all ILECs, CLECs and wireless carriers. The service will start as a pilot project in Toronto. Choosing Canada’s busiest telecom hub for the pilot is significant because there are so few N11 codes available. As it currently stands, only 311 has not been assigned for any specific purpose, although the CRTC is on record as saying it is open to changing a designation if a N11 is no longer being used for its original purpose. With the regulatory approvals behind it, the United Way can now focus on the technical side of rolling out a comprehensive service. "One of the challenges from a telecommunications point of view is to work with all of the local providers of tele-communications services to manage the changes that have to take place to route a three digit call dialed to 211 to the community information or referral service," Clement explains. He adds that meetings with the various telcos have been going on for several weeks, and that the United Way now has a "basic understanding of some of the initial steps that need to be taken in terms of implementation. We learned that from a technical point of view it actually wasn’t that difficult." Community Information Toronto, which operates a community call centre in the Ontario city, will be the I&R agency for 211. It is in the process of expanding its service from 14 hours a day to 24/7. Clement expects the number of calls will increase, which is likely to add about $1 million to CIT’s operating budget. The United Way is already working on ways of raising more funds to support the 211 system. It is also ready to launch a campaign to inform the community about the service. "We have to develop an extensive public education and marketing campaign in support of the United Way 211 initiative so that when the service is ready to launch we’re in a position to do a comprehensive campaign with the public so that they understand the availability of the service, what it is, what it’s intended to do, and what it can offer them," says Clement. Past experience helpful CIT is an existing service with several decades of experience in helping the public. Its call centre provides assistance in 16 different languages. Clement says the program would be far more difficult to expand if the United Way were starting from scratch. Other United Way agencies are following the moves in Toronto closely and are gearing up for similar rollouts in their communities. "There is a lot of interest and active work taking place on the community level in Vancouver, in Calgary and Edmonton, in Manitoba and particularly in Winnipeg, in Toronto, in Ottawa," Clement says. "Quebec City is doing some initial planning work and there’s a little bit of work going on in the Maritimes." By establishing 211 service, Canada will be joining the process already underway in the United States. Currently, the service is available or under consideration in 44 states. The United Way of Greater Toronto was in constant contact with American agencies while it was preparing its application for the CRTC. It is relying on the experience of those groups as it prepares to roll out 211 in Toronto. CNIB plan rejected In approving the United Way’s application on Aug. 2, the CRTC has sent a clear message that anyone wanting a N11 code should ensure the program serves as many Canadians as possible. It took the United Way more than a year to win commission approval for a service that seemed like a natural for Canada, particularly since a similar service is already available in the United States (NL, June 19/00). But a competing and controversial application by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind forced the CRTC to establish some clear guidelines for deciding how to allocate the few remaining N11 numbers. Its overriding consideration was that applications should be based "on serving the broadest public interest, as opposed to a specific narrow or special interest," the regulator writes in Decision 2001-475. "The commission also considers that uses that are designed to provide access to the telephone network to disadvantaged individuals or groups fall within a guideline of serving the broad public interest and would not be merely serving a narrow special interest or need." That rationale precluded approving the CNIB proposal, which would have restricted the 211 code for its Information Centre for the Blind, a bilingual national network of library and information service for the blind. The CNIB proposal also drew fire from the telecom industry with its suggestion that the service be paid for by charging all LECs two cents per local telephone line each month. The subscriber charge would have been similar to one that supports the Message Relay Services for the deaf. Opposition to the CNIB plan was widespread. Other lobby groups such as the Canadian Federation for the Blind, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, the Canadian Council for the Blind, and the National Federation of the Blind, maintained the blind do not need special codes. Many telcos and industry associations also rejected the idea of handing a code to one segment of society.

United Way wins right to 211 code; preparations begin for 2002 rollout

News | 09/11/2001 4:00 am EDT

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