Wed, 09/01/2010 – 23:00 by
The original “voice search,” directory assistance (DA) is in a quiet crisis. The industry is still making boatloads of money but seeing call volumes decline as more calls migrate to mobile devices – and as more mobile users adopt smartphones.
DA executives have a fundamental choice to make; do they “milk the cash cow” or try and turn DA into a new animal: something that delivers more content and utility to consumers in this era of smartphones and mobile apps? 
With DA call erosion projected at about 25% annually it will still take years for DA calls to totally disappear. Thus there’s limited pressure on current DA executives to take action. Will they be content to watch the numbers slide or will they act?
delivered a keynote at this year’s Paisley Group Directory Assistance conference: “Can Directory Assistance Survive Smartphones?” The accompanying slides, full of data and market metrics, is a modified version of that discussion and asks the age-old question: What kind of cow do you want to be?
With DA call erosion projected at about 25% annually it will still take years for DA calls to totally disappear. Thus there’s limited pressure on current DA executives to take action. Will they be content to watch the numbers slide or will they act?
delivered a keynote at this year’s Paisley Group Directory Assistance conference: “Can Directory Assistance Survive Smartphones?” The accompanying slides, full of data and market metrics, is a modified version of that discussion and asks the age-old question: What kind of cow do you want to be?Featured Research is available to registered users only.
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