1-800-FREE-411

src: 411pain.com

1-800-FREE-411 is an American service that offers ad-supported directory assistance, operated by Marchex.

Video 1-800-FREE-411

Services

Callers dialed 1-800 (888 or 866) -FREE411 [373-3411] from any phone in the United States to use toll-free services. The sponsor covers a portion of the service fee by playing an advertising message during a call. Callers always hear the ad at the beginning of a call, and then another after they make a request. The caller then identifies the city and country for the desired information, and then can search by name or type of business. Free directory assistance is also available from apps for iPhone and Android phones, and from their website. The service, provided solely by computers and without human operators, uses a voice recognition database to recognize names or places spoken by users.

Maps 1-800-FREE-411

Company review

The original holding company, Jingle Networks, was formed in 2005, and received initial funding from First Round Capital of $ 400,000. In the spring of 2008, according to TechCrunch, "it captured six percent market share of directory assistance calls." At that time, Jingle Networks received 20 million calls per month. Since that peak, the company has reported fewer phone calls, about 15 million per month, as consumers switched to smart phones to obtain directory information.

On October 23, 2006, Jingle Networks announced that it raised $ 30 million in financing the fourth round of Goldman Sachs and Hearst Corporation. This came after a $ 26 million round in April 2006, and a $ 5 million round in December 2005. Also on that date, CEO Jingle Network volunteered at TechCrunch that his company lost an average of 5 cents for every call they process. On June 25, 2008, TechCrunch reiterated Jingle's press release that they have achieved profitability per call.

Jingle Networks aims to attract customers from existing cost-based markets. The Wall Street Journal describes it as "inspired by Google's business model". From 2005 to early 2010, Jingle Networks guessed they saved a $ 1 billion consumer based on an inflation rate of $ 2 calls for directory assistance.

In April 2011, Marchex purchased Jingle Networks for $ 62.5 million in cash and stock combinations. Marchex said Jingle Networks would generate more than $ 26 million in 2011 revenue, up more than 40 percent during 2010. Marchex said it expects revenue driven by phone calls to make 75 percent of its 2011 earnings.

src: kulchashok.com

See also

• 4-1-1
• 800-The-Info
• Bing Mobile
• GOOG-411 (service not resumed)
• List of voice recognition software
• Speech recognition
• Tellme Network

src: i.ytimg.com

References

src: flatiron-v3-production.imgix.net

External links

• Official website

Source of the article : Wikipedia