Slide 6: How Meridian Met the Telephony Challenges
Telephony Outsourced
Owned/maintained by Meridian
Scalable Telephony System
Shared Telephony Infrastructure –
Currently: KS, GA, MT, NE, NV, ND, SD, MT and WY
KDOT paid a one-time telephony fee, plus a monthly telephony–operating fee
Slide 7: Shared Architecture
[Diagram showing shared architecture of Kansas 511.
]
Slide 8: Kansas 511 Phone System
Deployed January 2004
Statewide System
Accessible anytime from any phone:
Kansas: call 511
U.S.: Call 1–866–511–KDOT (5368)
Hearing impaired: call 711
Free service (cell minutes may apply)
Easy–to–use computerized voice message system
Interactive menu (voice or keypad)
Slide 9: 511 Phone System Content
Route/segment-specific information
Road Conditions
Construction/detour/roadway information
Weather (current and forecasted)
Information for adjacent states
Floodgates provide AMBER, General Transportation or Homeland Security/ Disaster Alerts
Comment Line
Help Menu
Slide 10: Kansas 511 Website
[Image of the Kansas 511 website.
]
Slide 11: System Usage/Public Response
Over 1.75-million calls received since deployed in 2004
Average 400,000 calls/year
Millionth call milestone reached 12/31/06
Over 750,000 calls received in 2007
65,000 calls/day accommodated
277: Maximum number phone lines used simultaneously (Dec 07)
Overall, public response is positive
Slide 12: Call Trends & Observations
Call volumes consistently spike due to weather, and during holidays or promotion periods
Peak call months: November-March
May to October: more consistent daily call volumes; call volumes slightly higher during summer
Slide 13: Lessons Learned
Research and planning are extremely valuable
Be diligent/resourceful in finding "answers" to your issues–find or create the business model that works for you
User interface needs to be as simple as possible–use public terminology
Comment line is a valuable tool–feedback, planning and customer satisfaction
Slide 14: Lessons Learned
System usage & performance reports are valuable tools
Test before publicly deploying
Coordinate 511 Phone system and Web site
Marketing needs to be ongoing
Carrier negotiations are time–consuming, especially wireless because they’re difficult to identify
Slide 15: Future Enhancements
511 is a work in progress
Additional content
All data fully automated
511 for Metros
Kansas City (bi-state)
Wichita
Dynamic segmentation
Slide 16: ATIS in Kansas
Questions?
Slide 17: Thank you
Barb Blue
ATIS Coordinator/511 Project Manager
Kansas Department of Transportation
700 SW Harrison Street
Topeka, KS 66603
(785) 291-3818 bblue@ksdot.org
