In 2018, Orem city brought together a number of its services to one central 311 help center. In that first year, more than 70,000 phone calls came into the center and city leaders called it a success.

Over the past four years, residents have called or walked in to get help for a variety of things, but times have changed and the 311 help center has changed with it.

As of Oct. 27, residents can text the main City of Orem phone number to report issues, ask questions and get in contact with city employees.

“In our never-ending quest to serve Orem residents, we are happy to announce that getting help from the City of Orem is as easy as sending a text,” Pete Wolfley, city spokesperson, said. “You can now send us pictures, videos, or just plain messages to report issues or get your questions answered.”

The help center had 460 unique people use the system to get their issues resolved in the first full week of taking text messages. All texts are initially reviewed by the Orem Help Center employees. This team of 10 are trained to be experts in all things Orem. In the rare case that they can’t answer a question, they will pass the text on to a more specialized employee who will text the resident back.

The number to text/call is the main city line at 801-229-7000. Employees are closely monitoring the texts during regular business hours. If a resident texts after business hours, they will get an automatic reply that city employees will follow up with in the morning of the next business day.

“It’s important to note that the city texting number is not for emergencies. For all emergencies you should either call or text 911. Not the Orem Help Center,” Wolfley said.

“We have high hopes that residents will use and love this new service as a way of getting their city business done. We encourage residents to add the mainline number (801-229-7000) to their contacts in their phones so that when the need arises, they can shoot us a quick text and get the help they need,” he added.

“We look forward to discovering and implementing other tools that will help us better serve Orem residents.”

The help center, in the south side of the city building, provides passport applications, business licenses, finger printing for employment, utility bill payments, handles the public works dispatch, dog licenses, general questions and more.

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