San Francisco adds Chinese, Filipino, & Spanish languages to the 311 call center mobile app

SAN FRANCISCO — Calling 311 is an easier way to reach out to the City and County of San Francisco requesting for quick services without interfering with the 911 emergency services. The SF311 mobile app has recently added three most popular languages for the members of the public to file reports in their native languages via cell phones.

Those three languages are Chinese, Filipino, and Spanish which also represent three largest immigrant groups in San Francisco.

Director of the 311 Customer Service Center Nancy Alfaro and Deputy Director Carson Chin announced on September 5 the newly-added language services in the SF311 mobile app.

"We want our service to be accessible for everyone," said Alfaro in a press conference to announce the four-language SF311 mobile app including the existing English version. "One third of San Franciscans are immigrants."

"The City supports language access. Now it is even easier for the immigrant community to report to the City by using the SF311 app," Alfaro said. "The new language service is free."

The City has been working for over a year to add three languages to the SF311 mobile app. Members of the Chinese community have complained that there has been no direct Chinese language service offered when they called 311.

Alfaro responded that Chinese speaking representatives have been hired to work at the 311 call center. However, when they were all overwhelmingly busy serving other callers, a language line with interpreters would be activated to provide in language service over the phones.

With the introduction of three most popular languages to the 311 mobile app, Alfaro said it would be easier for the immigrants to file reports with the City in the language that they speak.

SF 311 was founded in 2007 by Mayor Gavin Newsom. The SF311 mobile app was launched in August 2013 when Edwin Lee was Mayor of San Francisco. The app was upgraded in 2023 with more features and functionalities including accepting related photos, images, and maps uploaded to the system.

With over 50 City agencies and over 1,000 phone numbers listed to access local government services, many people don't know what numbers to dial to reach the appropriate departments. Newsom created 311 to make things simpler and easier to remember, 911 for emergencies and 311 for everything else. The public may call 415-701-2311 if they call in the areas outside San Francisco.

For the past 15 years since the launch, the public may make requests for city services via phone calls, mobile app, website, and X (formerly Twitter) to the 311 center.

In 2023, SF311 received over 800,000 service requests. Over half of those requests were submitted via the 311 mobile app or website, according to the data provided by the 311 center.

"The app enables users to request services on the go, upload photos to help City workers find and resolve issues, and track the status of requests," said the 311 center.

The SF311 app is now available to download for Android and iPhone in Chinese, Spanish, Filipino, and English. The app will detect your phone’s language automatically.

The Department of Public Works has been the city agency that has received most requests for services from the public via 311 center since the launch. Among the most frequent requests have been related to garbage piled and disposed on city streets, street cleaning, and graffiti removals.