Talking directory enquiries have ads’ support

Rating: will anyone listen?

By Annie Turner

Nuance Communications is providing speech recognition solutions and services to Say Hello, an advertiser-supported voice portal network designed to connect local consumers with local merchants through easy-to-use directory information services.

Nuance’s professional services team worked with Say Hello to develop a hosted, highly automated directory enquiries service that delivers a range of business, residential and government phone listings, as well as entertainment, sports, classifieds for real estate and automobile listings, and weather information, through local market voice portals.

Starting in Jacksonville, Florida, as a cooperative joint venture with The Florida Times-Union newspaper, Say Hello plans to introduce localised information and advertising services in 200 cities across the country. Working with Nuance, the firm plans to deliver a national-coverage but with a localised content advertising network, targeted at the mobile consumer. Say Hello, in partnership with The Florida Times-Union newspaper, sells 10 to 12 second audio ads to the local merchants throughout the major metropolitan area.

Personally, I think listening to a 10 or 12 second ad when what I want is information while standing in the street would make me feel murderous and apparently I’m not alone - all previous attempts to provide voice services free in return for people listening to ads have failed. I think this will give mobile advertising a bad name.

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