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411 Update: Directory Assistance in the VoIP WorldBY JOHANNE TORRES TMCnet VoIP Minute Watch Columnist Directory assistance provides much more than a telephone number and an address for VoIP; it serves callers as an experienced concierge. When callers dial 4-1-1 via VoIP, they can now get their hands on movie tickets, stock quotes, sports scores and even driving directions. Amongst the 411 service providers serving the VoIP industry, three companies stand out: Excell Services, INFONXX and Commoca. Telecom network service provider New Global Telecom selected Excell Services to provide Directory Assistance and Operator Services as part of its 6DegreesIP VoIP services delivered to NGT's service provider customers. Excell provides directory assistance, operator services and inbound customer care. The company was formed when Operator Service Company ("OSC") and Excell Agent Services combined services into one entity. Excell claims that its data represents 98-99 percent of the local exchange carriers. The company's directory is comprised of over 146 million listings, which are updated daily. The company also has directory assistance contracts with First Cellular of Southern Illinois, a wireless provider; and Transcom Enhanced Services, LLC, a provider of communications services to carriers, enterprises and agents. Another contender in the VoIP 411 provider group is INFONXX. The company's offering is called 411 Plus and it is comprised of very cool tools such as Text Direct & SMS Directory Assistance and Speech Recognition 411. With Text Direct & SMS Directory Assistance, a requested name, phone number, and address can be sent directly to a mobile caller's handheld device. Additionally, the company is working on making maps, driving directions, and other graphical information available for forward directly to the handset, giving even more freedom and control to the wireless user. INFONXX’s speech recognition app offers everything from total automation to customer service rep-assisted services. The system was developed by INFONXX with a trio of other technology companies with specialties in voice recognition, text-to-speech, and systems integration to provide carriers with traditional directory and enhanced information services. INFONXX currently has a contract with Intelecom Solutions, an international voice and data services provider. PointOne and Commoca Inc. announced back in March that they partnered to offer enhanced VoIP services to consumers that will allow them with a touch on a screen phone to quickly and easily search for and connect to local businesses and services. The partnership will offer customers a solution combining PointOne’s VoIP network and Commoca’s YellowPages VoIP phone platform. According to the companies' news announcement, "contrasting other IP services that require a phone physically connected to a network device, the PointOne/Commoca service will utilize WiFi to allow consumers to use their YellowPages IP phones throughout their home." PointOne and Commoca are currently rolling out these next gen local search and telephony systems in several market trials. Using the YellowPages Phone’s 5.6” color touch screen display, a consumer is just a few touches away from making a call or directly ordering goods and services such as: pizza, carpet cleaning, pest control, and many more. YellowPages Phone creates searches relevant to a user’s proximity and will facilitate doing business with local merchants. Excell Services http://www.excellsvcs.com INFONXX http://www.infonxx.com Commoca, Inc. http://www.commoca.com Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit: http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/columnists/columnist.aspx?id=100006&nm=Johanne% 20Torres |