Dial Google for Free Directory Assistance

Here’s something new from Google: a toll-free directory assistance service. Hot off the Google Labs assembly line, Google now gives you local search to-go. You don’t even have to be online to access information on local businesses and establishments. Just dial in, and you’re good to go.

Just call 1-800-GOOG-411 (that’s 1-800-466-4411).

Google Voice Local Search is Google’s experimental service to make local-business search accessible over the phone.

To try this service, just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.

Using this service, you can:

• search for a local business by name or category. You can say “Giovanni’s Pizzeria” or just “pizza”.
• get connected to the business, free of charge.
• get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone. Just say “text message”.

It’s very much similar to the 1-800-FREE-411 service that became popular before, because you can actually use it to get connected to the party being called free of charge. And since it’s a toll free 1-800 number, you can even call from out of the country using a VoIP phone and you still get to access free.

Now since this is a 1-800 number, perhaps you can also use VoIP services like Sykpe and FWD to call 1-800 numbers for free. However, I’m not sure how the local aspect will work if Google cannot detect your location because you’re on VoIP. I tried dialling via Skype, and I keep on getting “Busy” signals.