1-800-GOOG-411
Wednesday October 3, 2007
1-800-4664-411
The first job I took in Mississippi was that of a National Directory Assistance Operator, aka a 411 operator for what was then BellSouth, now known as ATT. The 411 information service was a cash cow for the company. This according to a since retired friend who was in a quasi mid level managerial position (it's a large behemoth with layers of management). I was one of numerous operators in the call center each taking between 800 to 1000 calls per 8 hour shift. Those calls getting billed to customers at up to $1.25 per call. Some generated less due to contractual agreements with other smaller phone companies and Cell phone carriers. However knowing Ma Bell, I doubt that very many did not generate revenue.
On October 3, 2007, my Google search page contained a link to 1-800-GOOG-411 the new totally free 411 phone service available from Google. Go to the link, watch the video and check it out. The features look great, I may even have to get a data plan for my cell phone to utilize the map Google Map features. If I do it will help out ATT who stands to lose some revenue from this new product offered by Google. Now if ATT would just lower the cost of the data plan for my cell phone so I could justify the expense of having it. Things would be great.