I remember a time where I would find myself in need of finding a business, or a Starbucks in my area and I would turn to Cingular’s trusty ‘411‘ service. Those were wonderful days, calling in.. talking to an automated prompt and if need be, talking to a disgruntled old lady – already tired of life – in the efforts of receiving the information I needed. Then, when everything was seemingly going wonderful… I got the bill.
Those four ‘411′ calls were expensive. To say the least, I never used Cingular’s ‘411′ service again. Following that incident I found myself searching for a cheaper option. I found one, it was 1-800-FREE-411. I used that service with dedication, several times a month if not more. I absolutely hated having to listen to the advertisements that appeared several times during my call. However it did fulfill my needs. For the most part.
Well today, Google has released its’ beautiful Google Voice Local Search service via Google Labs. Now instead of calling FREE-411 and having to listen to advertisements telling me I’ve been selected for a free trip to Cancun (sure.. right), I can instead call 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) and simply find out exactly what I need to, without advertisements and ABSOLUTE FREE!
Not only can GOOG-411 give you business listings based on ‘Business Name‘, but ‘Business Category‘ as well. You are provided with up to the first eight results it finds using the same databases Google Maps uses for business listings. When you select your listing you are connected free of charge to the business, or if you want details, it provides you with the address and phone number. In the future, you may very well be provided with a slew of other customizable details. Keep in mind, this is still a “beta” project of Google’s. Another great perk of this service is not only can you request information from a particular city/state such as “Mountain View, California” but a zip code (like 94043 – just say nine-four-oh-four-three). The last great feature of this service is also that it can send to your mobile phone an SMS of the business information you want. Thank you Google!
Go ahead and give this great new service a spin:
- Dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (that is, 1-800-466-4411)
- When it asks for the city or state, say Mountain View, California (you can also say nine-four-oh-four-three)
- When it asks for the business listing, say Google
- Once you are connected to Google for free, tell the person who answers the phone to pass on Thanks to those responsible for the Google Voice Local Search service they have toiled many long hours working on. Google’s 411 Team deserves the gratitude and thanks.
Goodbye Cingular 411… So long Free 411… Hello Goog411!
For more information, check out Google 411 Labs Page and swing by the Google 411 Discussion Group.
Looks like publishers of yellow pages, like me, will have to make their moneys fast.
Awesome service from what i read of it, cant try it as I am in India.