“Using technology in its most effective form means engaging in useful and meaningful applications,” said Mayor Pringle. “I am proud of the City’s 311 service request system, and expanding 311 by integrating Twitter as a way to reach City Hall is an exciting venture. Now, residents, businesses and visitors have yet another avenue by which to access city services anytime and anywhere.”

The use of Twitter enhances customer service for residents, businesses and visitors who engage social media on a daily basis, allows Twitter users a safe and relevant portal for communicating with the City, and creates an additional avenue by which residents, businesses and visitors can reach the City regarding a question and/or service request. Requests received via Twitter will be responded to in the same manner as all 311 requests.

Twitter is a free service, accessed by logging on to www.twitter.com. Users who do not have a twitter account will need to take the initial step to sign up for a Twitter account and allow access to and from the user’s computer and/or mobile phone. Two-way communication must be established before anyone can send a message to Anaheim311, therefore users must follow Anaheim311 and Anaheim311 must follow the Twitter user.

To send a message: Users can send a direct message from their mobile phone by texting “d Anaheim311” to 40404. Direct messages are private and do not appear on the micro-blog page of the Twitter user or the Anaheim311 Twitter page. Twitter allows users to send and read messages of up to 140 characters.

To receive a message: Users can follow Anaheim 311 by visiting Anaheim.net or Twitter.com. By following Anaheim311, users are able to receive messages from 311, and conversely Anaheim311 will follow the user to receive messages from that person.

The City’s 311 hotline is one of the major components of the City's customer service initiative, Anaheim Anytime. Callers to 311 are able to obtain answers to questions or make requests of City Hall without having to know the exact phone number for the department they are calling. Callers can dial 3-1-1 from a landline phone in the City of Anaheim, or (714) 765-4311 from a cell phone or from outside Anaheim. Service Representatives are available to answer your questions in English and Spanish Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. After hours users can access a list of frequently requested services (listed in English and Spanish), or simply leave a message for follow up on the next business day.

Anaheim Anytime, introduced by Mayor Pringle in 2006 at his State of the City address and launched in 2007, is a comprehensive customer service program enabling residents and businesses to interact with the City. The system improves communications, ensuring requests for services or information are tracked and properly routed to the correct City department. Citizens can enter a request, suggestion or comment at any time on the City’s website, www.anaheim.net, by clicking the Anaheim Anytime logo.

For more information please visit www.anaheim.net, and click on the Twitter icon to follow the City of Anaheim.

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ABOUT ANAHEIM - The City of Anaheim, founded in 1857, is one of the nation's premier municipalities and is California's 10th most populous city. Anaheim covers 50 square miles with more than 345,500 residents and more than 3,200 City employees. The municipal corporation's annual budget is $1.4 billion. Anaheim supports a thriving business community with companies such as Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc., L-3 Communications, Pacific Sunwear, and Disneyland Resort. Successful sports franchises call Anaheim home, including Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal winning U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team, and the 2008 Olympic Silver Medal winning U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team. Anaheim also boasts world-class meeting and entertainment venues with the Anaheim Convention Center, the largest on the west coast, Honda Center, The Grove of Anaheim, The Shops at Anaheim GardenWalk, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Annually, Anaheim welcomes millions of visitors to the city, truly making it where the world comes to live, work and play. For more information, please visit www.anaheim.net.