City's Mobile App Allows Tulsans To Report Complaints

The City of Tulsa now has an app where people can report complaints, and they're already getting a lot of reports about tall grass. 

The city created the app late last year and it's a much faster way to report non-emergency problems to the city.

Last year, when someone wanted to report high grass at their neighbor's house, it took a phone call to the city.

This year, an increasing number of reports are coming in thru the City "311" app, which launched in October.

"They don't even have to remember 311 to call us. They can just hop on the app and report it," said Michael Radoff, City of Tulsa Customer Care Director. 

The new app already is handling 10 percent of what was 30,000 phone calls in a typical month.

The app lets people make reports faster, and it tracks the city's response.

"They can just do it on the mobile device and do it very quickly with a picture and submit it," he said. " Trash cans out too long, cars parked inappropriately and broken windows... you name it."

The most common complaint this time of year is high grass. The city code is no more than 12 inches tall.

But it's also the place to make reports on city infrastructure problems, like traffic lights that aren't working.

As more people switch to mobile reporting, the city expects phone calls to drop and efficiency to improve, because the app can pinpoint problems on a map, with a picture.

"It's a big deal for the folks in the field so they can see what they're dealing with, and when they get the location, they get the GPS location, the XY coordinates and the address, so they don't have to hunt for what they're trying to find," Radoff said. 

The app is available for Apple or Android. There's also Tulsa 311.com for self-serve reporting, but you can also reach a live person by calling 311 during business hours. A chat feature is also available on the city's website.