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Local businesses at your fingertips….

Published: Wed 15 Mar 2006 04:31 PM
15 March 2006
Local businesses at your fingertips…. anything, anytime, anywhere!
FindA NZ and Ventell have joined forces to launch a new local business, service and information directory specifically designed for mobile devices.
How often do you find yourself away from your PC and your business directories and you need to find a contact number or a particular business, such as a café or a restaurant?
Perhaps you’re on your way to meet some-one and you’re not quite sure where the business is, or maybe you’re at home looking for a plumber or an electrician and you can’t be bothered to wait for the PC to start up?
Traditionally you would call up a directory service and ask them for details. You will get charged around 30c for this service and another 50c if you want to connect directly to the business to talk to them and find out where they are, plus the usual calling charges. Now, there’s a new solution which gives you answers at your fingertips and only costs a couple of cents each time, plus usual calling charges.
Using mobile website technology, Ventell were employed by FindA to produce an on-line mobile business, service and information directory, replicating the site that FindA provides on the PC based internet.
The service is easy to use, works on all web or wap enabled phones and because it’s designed for mobile devices, the information is returned quickly and with minimal cost. Just visit http://mobilefinda.co.nz using your phone’s web or WAP browser and type in what you are looking for. The results will be returned instantly to your phone in a format that is specifically designed for mobile devices.
Users can choose to search by company name or by type of service, and can narrow down the search results to those within their area by typing in the required suburb. Each business listing gives you a brief description of the business, their address details, and their telephone number. Each site is designed with click to call functionality, so that you can be put through immediately to the business, at the touch of a button and the only charges you get are the few cents it costs to download the information and the usual cost of the phone call. Plus, if businesses are advertising 0800 numbers then the call can be free to the user.
Next month will see the introduction of mini-maps, to help people find the businesses. Businesses are also able to choose to develop a more comprehensive and functional site, either through the FindA mobile site builder, or a customised solution. There are currently 44,500 local New Zealand businesses on-line and with at least 1,000 new businesses per week being added, the service is invaluable for finding local business and service information.
On top of this, a range of real-time informational and entertainment sites are provided to give the user a full mobile experience. Using keywords such as news, snow, radio, free, games, tides, fishing, sport, music, etc. users can be connected to over 10,000 mobile sites from around the world that provide up to date information and the ability to download information and services to their mobile device.
Shane Bradley, Managing Director of FindA believes that with over 70,000 users each month of their PC based website, their users will find this new mobile service to be invaluable. “People today demand information at their fingertips. They want to access accurate information quickly and easily. With our mobile site, people will be able to quickly and easily access the same useful information they have traditionally accessed from our FindA site on their PC,” he says.
“At findA we try and make things easier for both business and consumers. This kind of solution is another example of findA’s approach, speed to market and desire to help keep New Zealand at the forefront of global trends” FindA chose Ventell to produce their mobile site and to be their ongoing business partner for customised mobile site developments, as Ventell staff have been leading the development of mobile sites for over 3 years in New Zealand.
Managing Director of Ventell, Debra Northmore, says that mobile sites are the way of the future, as the population becomes more and more mobile, spending less time in an office and less time at home in front of a PC.
“A good mobile site is designed with the small phone screen in mind. A succinct linear menu system easily navigate with the numeric key pad is best. As users click onto options they find another layer of more detailed choice making the experience expedient and user friendly. With good design a mobile site can offer all the functionality of a PC based web-site. This provides consumers with web access anytime and anywhere,” she says.
“All the things you can do on the internet can also be done on the mobile phone. Browsing for products, viewing pictures and videos, on-line booking and even purchasing on-line are all possible on the mobile phone. Plus you have the added functionality of being able to click to call to speak to a real person at any time. With 3G just starting to establish itself in NZ, we expect to see these sites become a normal part of every day life in the not too distant future. We applaud people like FindA for developing mobile sites that have real, everyday usefulness.”
http://www.finda.co.nz
http://www.ventell.com
NOTES:
WAP, web or GPRS data rates are different with each Telco provider. A typical business listing would cost 1-2 cents to view on a Vodafone phone and 5-10c on a Telecom phone. Please see the telco providers website for further details on their costs and user plans.
EXAMPLES OF WHEN YOU MIGHT USE FINDA MOBILE:
Business & Service Information Situation What do I type? Looking for a café to meet a friend in? – use findA Mobile to search for cafés within a suburb Cafes in the ‘search for’ box The suburb name in the ‘location’ box Hit Search Need a plumber in an emergency? – use findA Mobile to find your local plumber - why wait for the PC to start up?
Plumber in the ‘search for’ box Your suburb name in the ‘location’ box Hit Search Sales rep out on the road is supposed to be meeting a client and has forgotten where they are or is running late and wants to call – can use findA Mobile to get address details and phone numbers.
The business name in the ‘business name’ box Hit Search Feel like pizza on the way home from work? – use findA Mobile to locate your local pizza store, view menus and click to call & order Pizza in the ‘search for’ box The suburb name in the ‘location’ box Hit Search General Information Situation What do I type?
Thinking of travelling to the snow?
Use findA Mobile to get up to date snow, traffic & weather reports. Snow in the ‘search for’ box Hit Search Picking up a relative from the airport and want to know if the plan is running on time? Use findA Mobile to see what time it’s due in.
Airlines in the ‘search for’ box Hit Search Out on the town and want to know what local gigs are on? – use findA Mobile Gigs in the ‘search for’ box Hit Search Trying to fill in that crossword and just can’t think of the word – use findA Mobile to get access to crossword helpers. Crossword in the ‘search for’ box Hit Search Need to translate from English into one of 9 different languages? – use findA mobile to get access to on-line translators & dictionaries Translate in the ‘search for’ box Hit Search PHOTOS Hi res photos can be supplied on demand
ENDS

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