Telephone directory service has gone through a massive upheaval over the past year. Jingle Networks was able to take about 6% of the market and a patent with their Free 411 service. However, what started with Jingle Networks has exploded to a wider field of competition including heavyweights like Google and AT&T. But now, rather unceremoniously, Microsoft has finally gotten into the mix by… → Read More
Jingle Networks, operator of the free directory assistance service that has been emulated by AT&T, Google and others, was awarded a U.S. Patent “for providing telephone directory assistance service in which a telephone user calls to the system and the system will, based on the requested number or type of service, hear a recorded advertisement.” The patent was issued in May and is… → Read More
Google threw a new product called Goog-411 into Google Labs today – a free telephone based information service that could replace toll 411 calls. About 2.6 billion 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and it is a $7 billion/year market. Goog-411 can be accessed by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411. The product is completely automated and there is no way to talk to a human for additional or… → Read More
Jingle Networks, operator of the 1-800-Free-411 service, just announced that they now control 6% of the U.S. market in 411 calls. This is up from 1.5% a year ago. About 2.6 billion mobile 411 calls are made in the U.S. each year, and is a $7 billion/year market. Jingle reports that they received 17 million calls in February, and have had 170 million calls total (they just recently announced their… → Read More
The massive success of Jingle’s 800-Free-411 service, which allows people to get 411 information without the outrageous fees charged by cell phone carriers and other telephone companies (up to $3.50 per call), has finally caught the attention of at least one of the big guys. AT&T acquired InFreeDA, a competitor to Jingle and operator of the 800-411-Metro service, for an undisclosed… → Read More
Like Skype, the main attraction of Jingle Networks is to destroy a fat existing market. Skype gave users a way to bypass costly telephone calls by routing them over the internet for free. Jingle Networks, through its 1-800-Free-411 service, is helping to destroy the $8 billion U.S. 411 market by making those calls free as well. So while carriers continue to charge an average of $1.25 for each 411… → Read More
Jingle Networks, which runs a free 411 service called 1-800-Free411, has raised $26 million in a Series B financing. The round was led by existing investor Liberty Associated Partners. Also participating were existing investors First Round Capital and IDG Ventures Boston, as well as new investor Comcast Interactive Capital. Our earlier profile of Free411 is here. The service is a free alternative… → Read More
Service: 1-800Free-411 Funding: $400k Series A – First Round Capital, Lead Dog Ventures Location: San Francisco, CA Directory assistance calls are expensive – $1 and higher – and yet 6 billion of them are made every year in the U.S. 1-800-free-411 is a new and brilliant service from Jingle Networks that provides this service to consumers for free. 1-800-FREE411 was created to… → Read More
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