GOOG-411 offers alternative to 411

November 18, 2007 at 2:00a.m.

Google just might take over the world. No longer happy at just being the world’s foremost Internet search engine, Google keeps coming up with new ideas and services that continue to help improve the way we do things. Most of us know about Gmail, for example, that offers free e-mail addresses that come with lots of storage. Then there’s Google Earth and Google Maps that let you find most anyplace on Earth, and shows you how to get there. And they continue to improve, too. Google Maps recently added Street View where you can literally see how a street location appears as if you were driving on it.

I just came across yet another Google service that is proving to be extremely useful and a real money-saver when I’m using the phone. At first blush, I thought that GOOG-411 was similar to the telephone company’s information service, but when I actually began using it, I realized that it’s so much more. Basically, GOOG-411 lets me find the phone number to most any kind of business and then connects me to that business free of charge.

GOOG-411 is operated completely by your spoken commands. Now before you go off thinking that this is just another voice-recognition service, this is one that you will really use and you’ll use it a lot. And let me remind you again that unlike the phone company’s 411 service, GOOG-411 is completely free. I can’t completely confirm this but I suspect one of the main reasons Google can offer this as a free service is because it doesn’t require live people at the other end. It will hear what you have to say, act upon your request, find the number and connect you and it does all of that with an almost supernatural degree of accuracy.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say you are looking for a restaurant in your area. You just dial (800) GOOG-411 and it will ask you in what city and state do you wish to search. After you say “Palm Beach, Florida” for example, it will ask “What business name or category?” Let’s say you want Hamburger Heaven. Just say it aloud and it will confirm your selection by saying “Top Listing, Hamburger Heaven on South Country Road. I’ll connect you.” That happens when it finds an exact match. You are connected, again with no charge for the information or the call. Of course, your telephone company may apply regular charges for making a phone call, so you may want to check on that little detail.

If you say “Details,” GOOG-411 will offer up even more information. In this example, you will hear it say “Hamburger Heaven, 314 South Country Road, Cross Street: Worth Avenue, Palm Beach, Phone Number (561) 655-5277. Here it is again” and then it repeats the information. From this point it will dial the number for you or you can even send it as a text message to any cell phone if you like.

Needless to say, GOOG-411 can be indispensable on a cell phone. And while I’m not condoning the use of one when you are driving, this certainly does make things a lot easier as opposed to fumbling with the phone and pressing buttons trying to find something. I own an iPhone and while Google Maps is a thing of beauty on the iPhone, sometimes just saying what you want and having it found and dialed for you can be a lifesaver.

XCraig Crossman is a national newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. For more information, visit his Web site at www.computeramerica.com.