Next time you find yourself on the road and in need of local information, try Goog-411 (Google’s Voice Local Search). It may be in it’s experimental stage, but I found it to be easy to use, and on target. You can try this service by dialing 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone. Oh, and it’s free!

When your call is answered, the service asks your city and state (only US business listings), after which you are asked, “What business name or category?” I searched a specific business name in my city. After being provided with the address and phone number, I could choose to be connected directly, or get the details by SMS if using a mobile phone by saying “text message”.

I called the service a 2nd time to search by category and asked for “restaurants”. This time I was provided with a list of top restaurants in my city (#1: Excellent Restaurant, #2: Great Restaurant, #3: Really Good Restaurant, and so on). At any time, I could choose to go back to a specific restaurant by selecting its number. And all their choices for my city were surprisingly right on!

Google says they are “fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests”. Even still, it’s worth a try! 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411)

If your business information is not available, click here. You can add and update your business info. You can even add a coupon. (i.e. Great place for marketing ideas like Free Home Valuation, Home By Email feature etc.)

Can this be true? I recently heard Pat Kitano talking about this new service. Sure enough, when I used Google Maps to search out a business I learned this is right on! Here’s how it works. Simply search for a business using Google Maps and be fairly descriptive. Search using business name and the corresponding city for best results. Then simply click the balloon on the map. You will notice a “call” link next to a business’s phone number. Click “Call” and you will then be prompted to enter your number. Click “Connect for Free” and then like magic the phone number you input will ring. Once you answer, you will here a ring. That ring is Google connecting you to the phone number and company you searched.

Because I was interested in what Google aims to do with your data I looked through the Privacy Policy. Google states that your information will only be used to place the call. Once the call is complete and Google has evaluated their service your phone number will be deleted from their servers.

Is this call free? Yes, Google picks up the cost of this call. However if you are on a cell phone your standard phone airtime rates apply.

Go Google…this is a great offering and will be sure to take off! Thanks for innovation GOOGLE!