Sensis socks it to iPhone users with operator assist info application - UPDATED

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 12 July 2011 07:59

Your IT - Mobility

Sensis has added a new app to its portfolio of iPhone apps; Sock Assist, designed primarily to enable users to contact a Sensis operator for information and then to retain the information provided. (This article has been updated with details of call charges that apply to Sock Assist, in addition the fee for operator assistance)

The name derives from the cheeky green sock puppet that features in Sensis TV commercials and that fronts the app.

The app is free to download and comes with three free calls to the Sock Assist service. After this users must pre-purchase call credits - prices start at $3.99 for three calls. The app is good on any mobile service and these charges are in addition to normal call charges for the user's mobile service.

The call is regarded as a 1800 call for charging purposes. Customers on Next G will pay $0.11 per 30 seconds, in addition to the Sock charge, and those on other networks will pay whatever charge their service provider levies. However, calls to 1800 numbers are not included in cap plans, so users will incur additional fees for these calls.

Sensis claims that "Sock Assist is one of the first apps in Australia which gives all iPhone users access to a leading voice concierge information service, offering business searches and need-to-know-now content such as directions, sports scores, movie times and find-a fact-searches."

Sock Assist joins a family of apps at Sensis that includes: the Yellow Pages iPhone app (667,871 total downloads), the White Pages iPhone app (443,261 total downloads) and the Citysearch iPhone app (74,274 total downloads).

Interestingly although Android versions of these apps are available they have been downloaded very much less than the iPhone versions. The Yellow Pages iPhone app was launched in August 2009 and has clocked up 668k downloads. The Android version followed in March 2010 but has been downloaded only 21k times. Similarly White Pages for iPhone launched in November 2009, 443k downloads; and White Pages Android, March 2010, 14.6k downloads. The iPad version of the Yellow Pages app, launched only in March 2011, is already well ahead of both these at 32.4k downloads.