A record number of residents, businesses, neighborhoods and non-profits participated in Hampton's strategic planning efforts in the mid and late '90s. One of the strategic issues was the concept of CUSTOMER DELIGHT or the government-customer relationship. The Customer Delight concept promised to: "...exceed customers' expectations by providing unparalleled service."

Residents were frustrated and said that it was difficult to access the right people to help them with their problem. A resident might call one of 40 city telephone numbers in the phone book and get transferred three or more times before getting an answer to their question. Residents didn't know what department or division was needed to fulfill their request. Problems often crossed departmental lines, making it impossible for a resident to know who to call about pending issues. In short, residents said they wanted:

1. one easy to remember number,
2. to be helped by the first person they talked to, and
3. 24-hour access.

This planning gave birth to the call center project. Hampton put together a project team to develop and implement a centralized call center with one easy-to-remember number for residents to contact their local government.

On September 13th, 1999 the 311 Call Center began taking calls for service and information. The call center is pivotal to the city's overall strategy to redesign the way the city does business with a comprehensive, integrated approach to customer service. Just One Call Does It All!