As previously reported, Google’s 411 service (aka GOOG-411) will be discontinued after today.
We recommend that you switch to 800-BING-411 as it now allows for call routing, and the same tricks that GOOG-411 offered for making free calls.
For those unaware, you could place 800-GOOG-411 as one of your Friends & Family (myFaves, etc) numbers, and then use it to connect you to local businesses, using no airtime minutes. Some extremely tech-savvy users were known to even create fictitious businesses listings inside of Google Local, in order to use them to complete calls to individuals, using this method.
Since it takes 24 hours to update Friends & Family numbers, we’d like to take this moment to re-remind you of this useful tool and make the switch to BING-411… as well as make some symbolic final calls using one of Google’s most heavily-advertised services that wound up getting axed.
It’s still up!
[…] According to PhoneNews, some cost-conscious callers would call GOOG-411 to place free calls to business numbers — using it like a “friends and family number.” I found this especially useful when calling tech support or customer service numbers — which often, surprisingly, aren’t toll-free. […]