Case Study: City of Rochester manages COVID-19 call-volume surge and shifts to remote services with Verint Systems

City of Rochester 311 Call Center Uses Verint to Manage Call Volume Surge and Shift to Remote Access Services

The City of Rochester 311 Call Center, which serves more than 200,000 residents, faced an unprecedented surge in calls and new pandemic-related inquiries (testing, vaccinations, service changes) in March 2020. At the same time staffing and work locations shifted dramatically—only a quarter of agents remained in the center, a quarter were at a backup site, and half worked from home—creating coordination and communication challenges without the option to add staff.

The city implemented Verint for Citizen Engagement, a cloud-based case and knowledge management hub, to centralize updated guidance (CDC, county and city departments), automate interactions, register residents for testing and triage vaccine eligibility, and support remote team engagement. As a result, the 311 team successfully managed the call-volume surge and move to remote service without adding staff, kept citizens informed about testing, vaccines and service changes, and maintained agent connectivity and support.

City of Rochester

Arleen Hyland

311 Call Center Manager