Uniform Office Number "115"

Have you ever tried reaching a case decider in an office and all you got was answered call? Read about this unofficial work around if you want to get a hold of somebody who is not responding. Of course, this service is just as valuable if you don't where to call.

Contents: Scope of Service | Where the Service is | Costs

Introduction

Ever had a hard time always getting the right number for the wrong office? Well, these times are passé!

Now there is a direct line via a single, uniform number to any administrative office you want.

There are about 20,000 persons working in a three level administrative hierarchy and each office has its own number. Starting March 24, 2009, the service number "115" is employed to offer the public a number easy to remember, so to ease the communication with an agency. Telephone services of municipalities, states and the federal government (der Bund) are being pooled to make available opening hours or competence or other basic information of the administration.

Thus you do not necessarily need the correct number at hand but rather simply dial the service number and be directly connected to the office you want. Ah, just do not believe that the correct number will be set out in order! Administration was, is, and will always be a maze of competence and dispersion of responsibilties.

Scope of Services

When can you reach them? This number will be manned Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Examples of the questions answered:

Applying for an inquiry about the police registration,
Registering, unregistering, re-registering motor vehicles,
Report a new address after moving
Registering a marriage,
Finding the foreigners office,
Registering a trade,
Applying for a tax card

You will receive following information:

Which office is competent for your issue.
Location and opening hours of the office.
Which documents you should bring with you to the office and how much in fees are to be paid.
When applicable, you will be told the name, phone and fax number or eMail of the competent officer in the administration.

What you do not get is personal consultation or your personal problem or issue (re)solved! Whenever the call center under 115 can fully clarify your question, your call will be forwarded to a competent person or your issue will be forwarded per eMail to this official.

In cases of emergency, please call the police or fire department or other emergency numbers of offices or associations. Search the homepage of your municipality for the German word "Notdienste" and you will get a list of such numbers.

Where this service starts

This service was introduced on March 24, 2009 in

Berlin,
Hamburg,
16 regions in Northrhine-Westfalia (Aachen, Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Frechen, Hürth, Köln, Leverkusen, Mülheim/Ruhr, Wuppertal, Kreis Lippe, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Landschaftsverband Rheinland),
Main-Taunus-Kreis in Hesse and
city Oldenburg in Lower Saxony.

and for the following federal offices:

This uniform administration number 115 will be tested during a two-year pilot operation. When you live outside of the provided regions, you will hear computer notice that your region is not yet being served with this number.

Furhter informationen on the project see: Project D115.

Costs

This service will cost, during pilot operation, 7 ¢ per minute inside the network of Deutsche Telekom – cell phones might differ.

Hint

This number might be a chance to reach that case decider you have been trying to get on the line for ages. Often but not always this "workaround" will work.

You can find further information with website of https://www.115.de/