Phone companies who have been raking in added revenue since they began charging up to $2.00 per directory assistance call several years ago are writhing thanks to 1-800-FREE411. 
Consumer advocate and radio host Clark Howard has been talking about this free service and stirring up a considerable amount of word-of-mouth advertising for 1-800-FREE411 which is still just in test form. Eventually, callers will have to listen to a short ad prior to receiving the phone number they're looking for, but during the testing phase, there are no ads. Why not give it a try? It has to be better than paying to get a phone number that might be right.
1-800-Free411 also has a website where visitors can look up residential and business telephone numbers and related information. The company has only been in business since September of 2005 when they entered the market saying the 6 billion paid calls made by consumers to directory assistance each year could now be made for free thanks to 1-800-FREE411. In a March 2007 press release, they reported significant growth by saying, "Jingle Networks, Inc., operator of the 1-800-FREE411 directory assistance service, today announced that the company has captured a six percent market share of all 411 calls from mobile phones. Reaching nearly 17 million calls in February 2007, 1-800-FREE411 has processed approximately 170 million calls to date, saving Americans $340 million in phone company 411 fees since launching in September 2005."
It looks like 1-800-FREE411 is successfully stealing market share from telephone companies with its free service, and they are still in the infancy of their product lifecycle with much growth ahead of them. I wonder if phone companies are proactively working to combat this growing threat to their bottom lines? What do you think? Will you try 1-800-FREE411? As long as the ads are short, I can see 1-800-FREE411's ad-driven business model becoming the standard methodology for directory assistance in the future.
I found out about 1-800-Free-411 about a year and half ago and have not used the traditional 411 since. I've also been spreading the word among my family and friends, very few of which are still paying for the 411 call (thanks to me). Free 411 had already implemented the ads prior to receipt of information last I called and I didn't mind it one bit. I'd rather listen to a brief advertisement than pay $2.00 for information I can get for free.
Posted by: Kimberlee Morrison | July 12, 2007 4:57 PM | Permalink to Comment