Anyone who wants to be found in directory assistance. The reasons for having a single listing are obvious. How having multiple listings can enhance you and you business may be less obvious. The businesses have been successful in using multiple listings are described herein. The primary factor driving the need is that the primary key when someone calls directory assistance is the locality (aka city and state) of the business, while the business serves a wide swath of localities.
Generally one listing per physical location with its own phone number and address. Each location needs to be independently findable, because customers search for the branch nearest them, not the head office. Businesses with multiple departments or service lines at one address may also want separate listings where each has a distinct public phone number. Consistent name, address, and phone formatting across all locations matters as much as the count.
Tele-businessesA Tele-business is one where the presence of the business is a call center that preforms its service. This type of business serves everyone no matter their location. Examples of this type of business is a Travel Agency or a catalog sales company. The legacy 411 business directory assistance infrastructure predates the rise of these business and fails to properly support them.
The original architects of the infrastructure thought that such a business would present themselves with an 800, toll free, number and pay to be found in 800-555-1212, which is a product of the company formally known as ATT. ATT has been granted permission to discontinue the service. While this rubric may have been workable when long distance telephone service was quite expensive for the directory assistance user, now that the price of long distance is approaching zero the distinction between toll free and and toll calls has lost visibility.
The service that the tele-business wants is to be found when any user requests the service that they sell, no matter what locality was proffered at the beginning of the call.
A Regional Business is a brick and mortar facility that provides service to an area that is greater than its immediate locality, possible spanning multiple LATAs, area codes or states. Examples of this type of business may be a health clinic or a paint ball arena.
The traditional methods of using directory assistance would relay on the search algorithms to find the business in "nearby" localities. Unfortunately, the definition for "nearby" is not transparent and even it was it is not consistent between directory assistance service providers, nor is the needed definition for ?nearby? consistent for every type of business.
The service that a Regional Business wants is to control the size and location of their own service area. They need to be able to found where their customers come from and where they are looking for them.
A Virtual Location Businesses is one where the service provider brings the service to the customer. Examples of such a business is a plumber, garage door installer or tow truck. Often these businesses are national by dispatching the services of partners.
The traditional directory assistance was no developed with this circumstance in mind. It is intended to contain the address of the service provide, while in the Virtual Location Business the service is provided at the location of the customer.
The Virtual Location Business wants to be found wherever it is capable of providing service.
A National Business is one which provided service or distributes products over the entire country. Examples of such a business is General Electric or Gieco Insurance.
The traditional directory assistance does not service the needs of such businesses, since the caller looking to contact the business would call directory assistance and fail to find the business, since it did not have a local office. Even worse often the directory assistance operator might provide the number of a competitor or local distributor who would provide the caller with an unsatisfying experience.
The National Business wants to be found in directory assistance no matter from where the caller is caller or what locality they announce in their call.
National Brands are similar to national businesses but are associated with a brand rather than a business. For example Oreo, rather than Nabisco, or is that Kraft Foods?
Business often establish and market brands for many purposes. The directory assistance should be able to complement the marketing campaign of a brand so that they can control the experience when someone calls directory assistance asking for that brand.
The ListYourself.net Local Listing Service allows the company to be found in directory assistance regardless of where the caller is located, the telephone service they are using or the locality they announce.