New Jersey Mom Wins Trip to Puerto Rico for Placing 100 Millionth Call to 1-800-FREE411

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--By placing the 100 millionth call to the free directory assistance 1-800-FREE411 service, Amanda Seth of Pemberton, New Jersey was awarded this week a trip to Puerto Rico, a tropical vacation destination rich in natural beauty and activities. Jingle Networks, provider of the 1-800-FREE411 service, celebrated this landmark achievement just over a year after launching this revolutionary new service.

Seth, a 23-year old mother of two young children, has received an all expenses paid trip for two to Puerto Rico, including airfare, five nights hotel accommodations at an all-inclusive resort, and other recreational activities, courtesy of Jingle Networks and supported by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and Inter-Island Tours. Steeped in authentic Latin culture, Puerto Rico offers diverse activities including golf, scuba, nature, adventure, relaxation and an internationally-recognized culinary scene. Puerto Rico provides visitors from the U.S. mainland the benefits of being a domestic destination. No passport is needed, English is widely-spoken and the currency is the U.S. dollar, so it’s easy and convenient.

“I love 1-800-FREE 411 – I’ve told all my friends and family about it because it’s just as useful as the paid 411 services but it’s free!” said an excited Seth, who hasn’t been on a vacation since her children were born. “I’ve saved a lot of money using the service, and some of the offers they tell me about are great, like a discount on a trip to Florida that I learned about. I am looking forward to getting away and assigning my mom to child care duty!”

Consumers nationwide have quickly embraced this free alternative to the rising costs of directory assistance (DA), which today average approximately $1.50 per call. In its first year of operation, 1-800-FREE411 has quickly established a loyal following, saving consumers nationwide more than $150 million to date. The service is currently processing more than 13 million calls per month from four million consumers and already accounts for nearly three percent of the U.S. DA market.

“It’s our pleasure to team with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and Inter-Island Tours in rewarding Amanda for placing the 100 millionth call to our service,” said George Garrick, president and CEO of Jingle Networks. “We’ve found that consumers feel very strongly that they should not have to pay for directory assistance. Though we’ve been surprised by how quickly consumers have adopted the 1-800-FREE411 service, it confirms that the large carriers are not currently meeting their needs.”

1-800-FREE411 was created for consumers who were frustrated with the steadily increasing costs of traditional 411 services which have gradually risen in cost over the years, with some customers seeing as much as a 238 percent price increase during the past 12 months. Major carriers including Verizon (New Jersey), Cingular and Bell South have raised their prices for directory assistance over the past two months by $0.50, $0.29 and $0.16, respectively, with the average cost of traditional 411 services currently reaching approximately $1.50 per call.

1-800-FREE411 provides the same quality of service as paid DA offerings but for free, while engaging callers with brief marketing offers while their requested listing is retrieved. Companies who have advertised on the service include 1-800-Mattress, 1-800 CONTACTS, Discount Tire, ID Media, Ingenio, OMD, Roto Rooter, The South Beach Diet, Vonage and Zagat Survey. Callers to the service during the week of September 18^th had the opportunity to hear recorded messages from the celebrities of several high profile CBS shows, including “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “The Class,” “Smith,” “Jericho,” and “Ghost Whisperer.”

About The Puerto Rico Tourism Company

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), founded in 1970, is a public corporation responsible for stimulating, promoting and regulating the development of the tourism industry. It markets Puerto Rico as a tourism destination through advertising, public relations and promotional activities; promotes tourism among local residents; provides visitor orientation and technical assistance to investors; evaluates tourism facilities and establishes standards of quality; and regulates and oversees gaming operations. PRTC has offices and representatives in the U.S. mainland, Canada, Europe and Latin America. For more information about Puerto Rico, please visit www.GoToPuertoRico.com.

About Inter-Island Tours

Inter-Island Tours has created more than 100,000 dream Caribbean and Latin American vacations. Now in its 33^rd year, the company is based in Moonachie, New Jersey.

About Jingle Networks

Jingle Networks is creating an exciting new media network through 1-800-FREE411, the nation’s leading advertiser-supported directory assistance service, which is revolutionizing the directory assistance industry by offering consumers a free alternative to the high cost 411 services provided by landline carriers and mobile phone companies. 1-800-FREE411 is supported by national and local advertisers who use 1-800-FREE411 as both a branding and direct-response media channel to target messages to callers within the context of a normal-length 411 call. In addition, FREE411.com on the Internet provides consumers with an easy to use Web-based resource for telephone number lookups. For more information, visit: www.free411.com.