I found out today that Google is testing out a new FREE service. They call it Goog 411, and what it does is act almost as a traditional 411 service to lookup a name and address for you and connect your call automatically. This is much better than the traditional 411 service in that it is completly free.
I briefly tested out the service today and here is what I thought of it.
- Voice activated: Most of the time I hate using voice activated phone calls, I want to talk to a person, not a computer who can barely understand me! So at first I had that as a negative point for this service, but I tried it anyway. Of all the voice activated services that I have used, this one is probably the best. It is simple, and easily understood my voice. I didn't have to repeat what I was saying for anything. I was understood the first time and I didn't have to confirm everything that I said, which is definatly great.
I called and it gave me a breif welcome, then asked for city and state (or you can use zip code), so I said "Colorado Springs Colorado" and the voice came back saying "Colorado Springs Colorado, say the business name or type". So that was cool, it didn't make me say "yes" to confirm that it heard me right, it just repeated what I said so I know it heard me right and moved right along. If it doesn't get it right all the time, you can say "go back" or "start over".
So after looking up a business name, Best Buy, it fed me the results. It gave the location (not the full address) of the closest match, a few instructional commands I could use, and then said it would connect me automatically. Some of the instructions included saying "details" to receive the details of that location, including the address and phone number, or you can say "next" to go to the next search result.
All in all it took about a minute or less to find the number that I was looking for and then connect me, without frustrating me at all. (Very cool!)
It would be better if I was talking to a person instead of a computer, but if the service is free then I think I could do without that. Besides, if a person did answer it would probably be someone from India with a thick accent that I can barely understand. So it isn't too bad this way.
To use this service, just dial 800-GOOG-411 and that's it.
Here is some information from the Goog411 website.
About Google Voice Local
Search
As part of our ongoing effort to make the world's
information universally accessible, we’re testing a free service called Google
Voice Local Search. Using this service, you get fast access to the same local
information you’d find on Google Maps. But you don’t need a computer, you don’t
need an Internet connection, and you don’t even need to use your cell-phone
keypad. It’s voice-activated, and you can access it from any phone (mobile or
landline), in any location, at any time.
Here are a few of the features:
- You can find a business listing by category. Just say "pizza," for example.
- You can send the listing details to your mobile phone via SMS.
- The service is fully automated, so it doesn’t rely on human operators.
- It connects you directly to the business, free of charge. However, your telephone company may apply regular charges for making a phone call or receiving an SMS.
Google Voice Local Search is still in its experimental
stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users.
We’re fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing our user’s requests
and at finding the businesses they are looking for. It’s currently only
available in English, in the US, for US business listings.
If I find any problems or other issues with this service I will make sure I let you know. So go, and no longer pay big fees for 411 services!
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