Google has a free 411 service

I’d attempt to put an online journalism spin on this, but well … whatever. This is just an awesome service.

Google has a free and well-done 411 service that lets you browse their listings via voice. For iPhone-less and Blackberry-less peons such as yours truly, this is truly rockin. Just dial up 1-800-GOOG-411. With absolutely no problem, I just found my favorite Mexican restaurant (I intentionally gave an imprecise city) and a local vegan cafe that have given me trouble on regular 411 and 1-800-Free411.

So cool.

More info: http://www.google.com/goog411/index.html

Now back to your irregularly scheduled Journalistopia…

Author: Danny Sanchez

Danny Sanchez is the Audience Development Manager at Tribune's Sun-Sentinel.com and OrlandoSentinel.com. Danny has been with Tribune since 2005 in a variety of editorial, digital and product development roles in Hartford, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. He has also previously worked in the newsrooms of the Tampa Bay Times and The Miami Herald.

4 thoughts on “Google has a free 411 service”

  1. I’ve been using Goog 411 for months, and I have not had one problem. And, for a mildly entertaining treat, The greeting is on a rotation, so you rotate between a man, a woman, and a child. One piece of advice, though– it tends to interpret a cough as “go back”, which can be VERY annoying when you have a cold.

  2. I’m a frequent paid 411 user and always get connected to my
    requested listings by professional operators. I’m curious to know what carrier you use and what listings you requested as I find it hard to believe the free automated Goog411 service is superior.

  3. I never said it was “superior” in quality to professional operators. However, 411 is decidedly expensive to use. Why pay nearly a dollar to 411 to get an easy-to-find number when you can just try a free service first?

  4. I’d like to do a little research on paid vs. free. Can you share your carrier (unless you called from a landline) and listings requested?

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