1-800-FREE-411
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Seattle , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Directory assistance service (1-800-FREE-411) |
| Owner | Marchex (since 2011) |
1-800-FREE-411 was a directory assistance service in the United States supported by advertising revenue and managed by Marchex.
Service
Nationwide access to this toll-free service was available by dialing 1-800 (or 888/866)-FREE411 [1-800-373-3411]. The business model relied on sponsor advertisements played during calls, usually one advertisement at the beginning and another following the user's request. Callers were prompted to provide location details such as city and state, then could search for individuals or businesses by name or category. The service extended its free directory assistance through dedicated iPhone and Android applications as well as via its website. Entirely automated, it employed voice-recognition technology without involving live operators.
The website stopped accepting new queries in July 2013 and subsequently redirected visitors to Marchex’s main page. By November 2024, the domain was listed for sale, and as of March 2025, it is no longer active with mobile applications removed from app stores.
Prior to 2022, the 1-800-FREE-411 phone number appears to have been taken over by scammers; reports from January 2022 indicate callers were connected to a fraudulent DirecTV support line.
Corporate overview
Founded in 2005, Jingle Networks launched with $400,000 in seed capital from First Round Capital and quickly established itself within the directory assistance industry. By 2008, it commanded a six percent share of the market, processing approximately 20 million calls each month. However, call volume declined to about 15 million monthly as smartphone usage altered consumer habits.
Throughout multiple funding rounds, Jingle Networks secured $5 million in December 2005, $26 million in April 2006, and $30 million in October 2006 from investors including Goldman Sachs and Hearst Corporation. Although initially operating at a loss of around five cents per call, the company achieved profitability on a per-call basis by mid-2008.
Jingle Networks sought to disrupt the conventional fee-based directory assistance sector by offering a no-cost service model inspired by Google, aiming to attract users through advertising-generated income. Between 2005 and early 2010, it estimated consumer savings of $1 billion based on an assumed $2 per-call charge.
In April 2011, Marchex completed its acquisition of Jingle Networks for $62.5 million in cash and stock. At that point, Jingle was expected to generate revenue exceeding $26 million in 2011—reflecting growth above 40 percent compared to 2010—with approximately three-quarters of total revenue driven by call activity.
See also
- 4-1-1
- 800-THE-INFO (discontinued)
- (discontinued)
- GOOG-411 (discontinued)
- List of speech recognition software
- Speech recognition
- Tellme Networks