Yellow Pages, Call Genie offer proximity directory to callers

The Montreal-based Yellow Pages Group is testing Hello Yellow, a free, interactive voice recognition based service. Created in partnership with Calgary-based Call Genie, provider of enhanced voice directory services, the application allows consumers to access information from 527 Yellow Pages categories and 272,000 business listings. All existing Yellow Pages advertisers are included in the database and information is presented in order of proximity to the caller's location. However, subscribers to the service (rack rate is between $69 to $149/month) have 'placement priority.' Promotion for Hello Yellow ramps up this summer with the introduction of coupons and incentive offers, made easy via the self-managed Web site which allows advertisers to change the content of their presented information such as time-sensitive specials. The proof of concept period wraps at the end of 2005, and Call Genie hopes to expand the service to Western Canada, after the June 2005 sale of Advertising Directory Solutions Holdings, publisher of SuperPages, to the Yellow Pages Group.
By dialing 310-YELO (9356) from any phone in Greater Toronto and following the voice prompts of the automated operator, 'Genie,' callers name a category of business, then a desired location by providing a landmark, a major intersection or a neighbourhood. Listings, which include all current Yellow Pages advertisers, are retrieved within seconds with phone number, address and connection options. If the call originates from a Bell line - mobile or land - or from any other device that employs LBS (location based services) technology, the operator detects the location of the caller (typical accuracy in urban areas is between 400m to 2500m) and offers location-specific information first.
By Staff 
April 12, 2005

The Montreal-based Yellow Pages Group is testing Hello Yellow, a free, interactive voice recognition based service. Created in partnership with Calgary-based Call Genie, provider of enhanced voice directory services, the application allows consumers to access information from 527 Yellow Pages categories and 272,000 business listings. All existing Yellow Pages advertisers are included in the database and information is presented in order of proximity to the caller’s location. However, subscribers to the service (rack rate is between $69 to $149/month) have ‘placement priority.’ Promotion for Hello Yellow ramps up this summer with the introduction of coupons and incentive offers, made easy via the self-managed Web site which allows advertisers to change the content of their presented information such as time-sensitive specials. The proof of concept period wraps at the end of 2005, and Call Genie hopes to expand the service to Western Canada, after the June 2005 sale of Advertising Directory Solutions Holdings, publisher of SuperPages, to the Yellow Pages Group.

By dialing 310-YELO (9356) from any phone in Greater Toronto and following the voice prompts of the automated operator, ‘Genie,’ callers name a category of business, then a desired location by providing a landmark, a major intersection or a neighbourhood. Listings, which include all current Yellow Pages advertisers, are retrieved within seconds with phone number, address and connection options. If the call originates from a Bell line – mobile or land – or from any other device that employs LBS (location based services) technology, the operator detects the location of the caller (typical accuracy in urban areas is between 400m to 2500m) and offers location-specific information first.

Call Genie has taken on the role of sales to existing Yellow Pages Group customers and new advertisers while The Yellow Pages Group assumes promotion and management of the service. VP of e-Directories for The Yellow Pages Group, JP Lion, stresses the convenience of the service as well as its use as an added platform for advertisers: ‘However users are electing to find their information (online, the Yellow Pages phone book or by Hello Yellow) we want to make the connection between them and the advertiser.’

In a statement, Neil Frizzell, CEO of Call Genie, noted: ‘We are proud that this service is a worldwide first for the directory services industry. It creates an additional revenue source for our partner while delivering excellent value to its advertiser base and responds to consumer demand for a mobile local search capability.’