Existing and new services delivered by the City of Toronto arenow just one click away, with more services coming online in thenear future.
Since June all City services offered online have beenconsolidated onto one site.
Now Torontonians can go to www.toronto.ca/onlineservices/index.htmand see all of the services the city currently offers online in oneplace.
The initiative is part of the Toronto’s 311 project.
“It makes it a lot easier for people to find online servicesquickly because we know that Internet users are impatient,including me,” said Colleen Bell, 311 project director. “We want tofind things in a couple of clicks.”
Besides the online services, another part of the projectincludes the 311 dialing service which is in the works right now,where people will be able to request different city services in one call, saidBell.
“Citizens will find that it is a lot easier to get a hold of theCity,” said Bell.
Starting this fall, residents will be able to check the statusof their building application, register their pets and renew petregistrations online, according to Bell.
“Pet registration has always been a bone of contention becauseyou always had to go in and do that in person.”
Even more services are expected to be up by 2008, includingservice orders for transportation problems like fixing pot holes,ordering a recycling bin and requests for large appliances to bepicked up, said Bell.
“Online services like these free up staff,” she said. “It allowsthem to research and answer more complex problems instead of simplerequests that are often repeated.”
The team that created the Web site is looking for feedback aboutthe site to make it as user friendly as possible, said TrishGarner, project lead, online services.
“(The team has) come up with a navigation that is significantlyeasier to use for the public and terminology that is easier tounderstand,” said Garner.
She said they are continually looking to make the sitebetter.
“We are using public feedback as well as internal feedback fromthe people who actually provide these services, so with thisfeedback we are improving the site on a continuous basis,” saidGarner.