Her job began with a tough question: “I have a body here and I don’t know what to do with it?” She wasn’t prepared for this. The training, which lasted several weeks, did not include such a question. Marie Hofer says she was irritated and called her supervisor. She advised her to ask the caller for details. The further information that Hofer then heard was not as bad as she had initially suspected. It was an undertaker who had dialed 115 to find out who would cover the costs of the case to which he had been called. So the call wasn’t an emergency or a tragic event, or a murder that required the police to be called in.
Marie Hofer works at the Munich authorities number 115. She is one of around 30 telephone agents, as the employees there are called. Your workplace is centrally located between Sendlinger Tor and Marienplatz. Inside the offices, velor carpets muffle footsteps and other noises. There are two large screens at each workstation. People speak quietly, partitions between the agents swallow their words.
Like many of her colleagues, Hofer does not answer with her real name, but says: “Service center of the state capital Munich, my name is Marie Hofer.” She chose this neutral pseudonym herself. It reveals neither age nor origin, it is their verbal protection. Sometimes you need this security to protect yourself from insolence and insults. Like that of a woman who insulted Hofer. Hofer doesn’t want to repeat what she heard. She says she was horrified and hung up after receiving a corresponding response.
The next time she reacted more calmly and replied to the complaining caller: “We haven’t heard from each other in a while, it’s nice that you got in touch.” There was silence at the other end of the line. Every call adds something to your wealth of experience. Hofer has now been working on the city telephone for three and a half years. “You never know who will call, but most people are nice,” she says.
The authority number 115 is a nationwide service to which more than 500 municipalities have joined. Munich has been there since 2012. Anyone calling from here has to dial 089. “The aim of 115 is to offer citizens and companies reliable information by calling the public administration,” the city writes on its website. Yvonne Mylek puts it more simply: “The goal is for citizens to find out what they want to know.” Mylek runs the service center.
She has been there almost as long as Hofer and has managed the Corona crisis with clever operational plans. “We are systemically important, we were in the office,” she says. 115 is the easy way to contact the city administration. “The short line to the office. Monday to Friday from eight a.m. to 6 p.m. The waiting time shouldn’t last longer than 60 seconds, says Mylek. That’s not always possible. It can take a little longer, especially on Monday and Tuesday mornings, That’s when the phones ring most often. “Because people often think of what they want to know on the weekend.” 20,000 to 28,000 calls come in a month. The statistics curve goes up during travel time, as well as when there is an election or at Oktoberfest time.
Munich’s authority number 089/115 receives 20,000 to 28,000 calls per month.
(Photo: private)
“We are basically responsible for all departments of the city administration and thus relieve the burden on our colleagues on site,” says Mylek. People ask for case studies. Mylek thinks. She doesn’t sit outside on the phone herself, but she takes care of everything that concerns the “agents” and knows their area of responsibility. Lost your front door key? “We help citizens by informing them about the lost property office and showing them ways to get their key back if possible,” says Mylek. Ants in the playground? “We are happy when something like this is reported and we inform the responsible department.” A broken trash can in the English Garden? “The Bavarian Palaces and Lakes Administration is responsible for this, but we will provide information on how this can be reported.” Didn’t pick up the smelly organic waste bin in the summer? “This is a case for the Munich Waste Management Company (AWM).” Do you need a parking permit? “We take over the service telephone here and have access to details.” Some people just want to get rid of something that annoys them or that they notice. “You can submit any topic to us,” says Mylek. “We love questions” is the slogan of the 115 service center.
She has access to city databases
Marie Hofer, 61, loves her job. She used to work in customer service for a corporation and also in a call center. At the end of 1996 she moved from Schleswig-Holstein to the south. Munich is her dream city, she says. Hofer likes the dialect and sitting outside in the cafés. She likes to have contact with people, it is not difficult for her to carry on a conversation. But if you dial 115 and just want to chat, she will gently put you in your place.
And she doesn’t talk about politics either. Then she says things like: “This is not the right place to talk about it.” Sometimes it takes a while until it becomes clear what people really need, says Hofer. She has now learned to ask precise questions. Because she can find out a lot for the callers; she has access to the city’s databases. Part of her job is to always be informed about current events in the city. “In the end, I want the callers to say: I’m happy with the information, I can do something with it.”