A rainy day brings a small ray of hope to the directionally-challenged (this includes me) - 1-800-FREE411 and Dial Directions announced the integration of their services to bring nationwide directions to mobile callers - with a combination of the latest in voice-recognition technology and the convenience of text messaging.

You call 1-800-Free411 to get your listing, and you are prompted if you want directions to that location. Just say where you are located (address or intersection) and you get a text message with point-to-point directions to get to your 411 request. I look at it as 411 for the 21st century - a voice-powered melding of geolocation data with listing data, if you will.

All of this is available for free - no GPS is needed, it works on any mobile phone and it’s a great convenience for anyone nationwide.

Press Release

February 20, 2008 —SAN FRANCISCO and Menlo Park, Calif. — Jingle Networks, Inc., the leader in free voice search and operator of 1-800-FREE411, and Dial Directions announced a strategic partnership to combine free 411 with voice-activated driving directions. Callers to 1-800-FREE411 can ask for directions to any directory listing and receive them by SMS. The 20 million consumers who call 1-800-FREE411 now have another free service benefit and advertisers have exciting new opportunities to reach consumers.

To get driving directions to a listing, callers need only speak their starting address – such as ‘2594 Broadway’ or ‘16th and Washington’ — and instantly receive turn-by-turn directions by text message. The service will be available in SF Bay Area, Chicago and Los Angeles starting March 1, with nationwide availability 30 days later.

“Directory assistance is the broadest consumer entry point for mobile search,” said Greg Sterling, program director, Local Mobile Search. “Jingle’s expansion of free 411 with Dial Directions’ ’spoken location services’ pushes the boundaries of directory assistance into new and innovative areas.”

The addition of directions to 1-800-FREE411 further enhances Jingle’s leadership in advertiser supported Directory Assistance services. Jingle’s business model has been proven exceptionally successful through dramatic audience growth as well as adoption by over 90,000 local and national advertisers. Now with driving directions, 1-800-FREE411 offers more information to callers than is available through expensive fee-based 411.

“We have said from the start that this was not just about free 411, but that our base service provided a platform for us to offer a variety of information services through the free 411 call. This is the first step in delivering on that vision. The most requested additional information service our callers want is directions, and now we can offer the best such service available from Dial Directions,” said George Garrick, CEO of Jingle. “They are the only company that can provide ‘directions assistance’ that is ready for prime-time. The service provides a uniquely compelling user experience and scales to our large customer base. We are very excited to be working with them and look forward to our customers feeling that same excitement when they request directions to any listing from wherever they are.”

“Dial Directions and Jingle have made it possible to experience DA the way it should be – free, nationwide and with the ability to get directions from anywhere, to anywhere – all by voice,” said Amit Desai, Dial Directions co-founder and chief product officer. “Together, we are showing a new, mobile-centric way to obtain business and local information – while making it free, cutting-edge and voice-enabled for any mobile user. This is a very exciting moment for consumers and we are very pleased to be partnered with a leader like Jingle to make this happen.”

For consumers, the partnership with Dial Directions provides an easy way to get directions sent straight to their ‘mobile inbox’. For advertisers, Jingle’s new directions feature creates even more opportunities to reach a large, ready-to-buy audience based on geo-targeting – creating an even more attractive marketing medium. In addition, information delivered via SMS gives businesses the benefit of a potentially longer impression period while sitting in the SMS inbox.

About Dial Directions
Dial Directions is pioneering the field of “Directions Assistance” for DA / 411, voice search, and mobile services, powered by new voice-activated technology for location-based services with unprecedented accuracy and ease of use. Dial Directions provides the first free nationwide phone service for driving directions: cell phone users in any U.S. city can call “DIR-ECT-IONS” (or 347-328-4667); speak their starting location and destination address or business; and receive directions instantly by text message.

About Jingle Networks & 1-800-FREE411
Jingle Networks, operator of the nation’s leading ad-supported directory assistance service 1-800-FREE411, has significantly changed the directory assistance market by giving consumers an anytime, anywhere source of free information on the phone. 1-800-FREE411 is for anyone who owns a phone and needs information but is dissatisfied with the high cost of directory assistance. Jingle Networks has changed the industry by creating an exciting new media channel through 1-800-FREE411. With over 225 million annual calls, 1-800-FREE411 offers advertisers highly targeted and timely promotional opportunities to reach a large but targeted customer base who are ready-to-buy, garnering a response rate twice that of other direct response media.

Related Links

Free411.com

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