Mobile users away from their computers have had a handful of options for directory services in the past couple of years. There's TellMe (555-TELL), FREE-411, CALL-411, and GOOG-411 to name some of the free ones. There are also the official ones from each of the carriers that are billed a la carte--and usually at a high price.
This morning FREE-411 (one of the older services of the crowd) has announced a partnership with a useful driving directions service Dial DIR-ECT-IONS to help people find phone numbers and addresses for businesses or residential listings along with step-by-step directions for how to get there. The service starts next month in three major cities (Los Angeles, the SF Bay Area, and Chicago) and then nationwide in April.
This is immensely helpful if your handset isn't on a data plan, or you're away from a phonebook or map. Competitor TellMe, which is owned by Microsoft, has had such a mixed feature using its downloadable phone app, but no such service for its text, or 800-based phone services.
Google has a new telephone service in the U.S. called Voice Local Search. It's the equivalent of dialing 411, but free, really fast, and it pulls multiple listings like you'd get from a search in Google local. Mobile phone users can get listings sent to their phone via SMS, including the telephone number and full address. You can also be connected to a business for free, a great feature that got dropped from my previous favorite free 411 service 1-800-Free-411.
The entire service is controlled by computers, and the voice recognition is pretty capable. I tried confusing it with foreign restaurant names, and even a few made up ones, and if it didn't get it, it would at least try and give me reasonable recommendations that sounded similar. This is the perfect service for people who want to pull up an address without needing a smart phone with a data plan, or a friend near a computer or the Yellow Pages.
The one thing still missing is residential listings, and advertisements. The latter of which will most certainly be added, knowing Google. In the meantime, enjoy ad-free 411 goodness by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411).
[via GigaOm]
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