An operator with the 12345 hotline's English service at work.

Regardless of whether you are a newcomer to Shanghai or expatriate living and working in the city, whenever you encounter problems or need help, you can always dial 12345, a 24-hour government-run, public-service hotline.

Following the launch of its multilingual services at the beginning of 2020, the multilingual services of Shanghai's 12345 hotline operate 24 hours daily. Operators and volunteers of Shanghai International Studies University and Shanghai's foreign affairs office provide services in 10 languages – English, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Persian, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

It serves as a lifeline for expats.

Last year, it received 4,865 calls from foreigner seeking help, making inquiries or forwarding complaints and suggestions.

Among these, 2,333, or 48 percent, sought help, and 1,956, or 40 percent, made inquiries. The rest were complaints or suggestions.

Compared with 2020, the figure of multilingual calls received by the city's 12345 hotline surged nearly 102 percent last year.

"An increasing number of foreigners are aware of the hotline, and the development of COVID-19 pandemic also pushed up the figure last year," said Yin Feng, a staffer of the hotline.

The figure peaked in September and December.

Callers are from diverse countries with the majority from the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea.

As COVID-19 prevention and control policies are updated constantly, 64.9 percent of inquiries from foreign callers last year were related to COVID-19 issues.

Due to language barriers and certificate issues, many callers had questions about Suishenma, the local health QR code that records health conditions and locations, the city's arrival and departure policies, and inbound quarantine policies, said Yin.

"Some seeking help from us are newcomers to China and they don't understand relevant policies and rules, which not only involved language, but also trans-cultural issues sometimes," he said. "We explain this when answering their calls."

In terms of complaints, construction noise and smoking in public areas were common topics.

An operator with the 12345 multilingual hotline services.

As policies on COVID-19 prevention and control are updated quickly, foreigners need around-the-clock access to information.

Language barriers with quarantine workers also emerged.

"In such cases, we serve as a bridge of communication," said Yin.

On December 24, when the temperature was zero degrees, a foreign caller contacted the center.

He said there were some problems regarding the color of his health QR code, and as a result, he was refused accommodation at a local hotel where he would undergo health observation after a 14-day central quarantine.

His documents were verified then at the city's big data center with the help of 12345. His health code, which was red, had not been updated because of a system problem.

The man urgently needed accommodation amid the chilly weather, and staffers with 12345 explained the situation to the hotel which took him in.

Delays in health QR code color updates have also effected other foreigners.

Shanghai's 12345 hotline has paired with the city's big data center, providing translation services for foreigners encountering code color update delays.

The hotline also serves as a bridge between foreign callers and government authorities.

"Based on calls from foreign citizens, we found that they had difficulty when registering and using some government affairs websites and apps, turning to us for help," said Yin.

It is suggested that there would be different pages designed for foreigners based on different certificates, he said, adding that 12345 has forwarded this advice to relevant government authorities.

The city's 12345 hotline will take a refined approach to further improving its services for foreign callers.

Thanks to direct transfer of calls regarding health QR code from the city's big data center, the handling duration of relevant problems has been significantly cut.

The hotline plans to conduct cooperation with more government departments in 2022 based on call data analysis to tackle foreign callers' requests more efficiently.

More foreign language service channels such as WeChat and website are also on 12345's agenda to provide more convenient and efficient services for expats living and working in Shanghai, operators said.

Foreign callers can seek help by dialing 7 after calling 12345. They are able to seek help, make inquiries or forward complaints and suggestions via the hotline.

It normally takes up to five working days for uncomplicated affairs to be handled, while complicated matters can take up to 15 working days.

The hotline also provides sign language video services, enabling the hearing-impaired to make inquiries, forward complaints or offer suggestions via cellphones and computers.