One of my customer asked me to intercept all calls to 411 & <area code> 555-1212 to free 411 service. This never occured to me before. There is a cost to using 411 so when your users dial it, you might be charged as much as $1.25 each call. For my customer, a non-profit, this added up to well over $200/month. He did a little research and passed it along to me so I thought I'd pass it along to you. These 5 services are free to use. You may have to listen to a 30 second ad before you get to request your number, but for free, who cares.
So here is my customers evaluation: (remember, this is his evaluation - not mine.
Number Quality Advertisments Live Connect Rating
1) 800-GOOG-411 very good none yes 10 (This is provided by Google)
4664 (computer)
2) 800-CALL-411 good none yes 9.5
2255 (computer)
3) 800-555-TELL poor none no 7
8355 (computer)
These 2 obtain residential numbers, too:
4) 800 411 SAVE excellent 20 seconds yes 8.5
7283 (real person)
5) 800 FREE 411 fair 30 seconds no 8
3783 (computer)
So what I did with my customer is in the ARS strip out 411 or whatever info number they called and inserted toll free number he wanted. Works really well. He gets the info he needs at Zero cost.
Ralph