Customer Challenge
CanPages wanted to empower consumers to find local businesses on-the-go. The vision was to give mobile users ‘hands-free’ search on their iPhones and help connect local businesses and consumers.
Solution
Canpages engaged Conquer Mobile to create a voice-powered business search app, a first for Canada in 2008. They wanted to free their users from grappling with text input, speed up the process and make the results more accessible.
Conquer Mobile integrated a powerful voice-recognition interface. Users simply speak their search request into the phone rather than type it, and view the results on-screen. If a location is not specified, results will show the ‘nearest’ businesses, using the device’s built-in GPS functionality.
To hone the search, users are able to view results on a map, get directions, view the company’s website, photos and videos and phone a business directly from the app. iPhone users can even check live traffic cams and there’s augmented reality where users point the phone and see business information overlaid on the cityscape.
Impact
- A flagship app for CanPages and a key extension of the Canpages local search platform canpages.ca
- Recognized as an industry first for Canada
- Shot to number one in the iTunes reference category for eight weeks
- Recognized by the Wireless Innovation Network of BC (WinBC) with the Most Innovative Wireless Service Award for the iPhone app
