211 South Georgian Bay 2007 Service Report Foreword 211 is a three digit telephone number to access free, confidential, multilingual information about community, social, health and government services available to residents. Online access is available through 211Ontario.ca. 211 is part of the N11 numbering system set by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. These codes are used to provide three-digit dialling access to special services. The current assignments of N11 codes in Canada are as follows:
211
Public Information and Referral Services
311
Non-emergency Municipal Government Services
411
Directory Assistance
511
Weather, Traffic and Travel Information
611
Telco Repair Service
711
Message Relay Service (MRS)
811
Non-urgent Health Care Telephone Triage Service
911
Emergency Services
The allocation of three-digit dialling codes is based upon the following guidelines:
• • • • •
there must be a compelling need for three-digit access that cannot be satisfied by other dialling arrangements; the assignment are to a service or services rather than a specific organization; is based on a need to serve the broad public interest; cannot confer a competitive advantage on the service provider(s) reached by this number; the services to be provided through N11 dialling are to be widely available geographically and on a fulltime or extended-time basis.
211 Update and Overview The inaugural 211 service in Toronto was launched on June 13th, 2002. In 2005 implementation in Niagara Region and South Georgian Bay created a successful pilot for the new consolidated system planned for Ontario. In 2007, new 211 services were established in Halton Region and Windsor-Essex, with the final three sites (Thunder Bay, Peel and Ottawa) operating in their testing phase. The eight 211 call centres will expand over the next three years to service all of Ontario. In 2007, the provincial portal 211Ontario.ca began its final development stage to provide a single access point through the Internet.
211 Ontario Evaluation Plan This report forms part of the evaluation plan established for 211 service providers in Ontario. The goal of the evaluation plan is to document the impact of 211 against the stated goal that users receive the services that meet their needs and are self-reliant in accessing the services they require. As the 211 Ontario Evaluation Plan and statistical collection grows and matures, it will create a foundation for monitoring the impact of 211 in Ontario, and to act as a reference point for individual communities to consider in the provincial and national roll out of the landmark 211 service.
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