INDIANAPOLIS - (Business Wire) ChaCha announced today that Alltel Wireless, America
’s largest network, has teamed with ChaCha, the groundbreaking mobile answers service.
“We are excited to join with Alltel to make ChaCha’s mobile answers service a key feature their customers can rely on to get answers while on the go,” said Jay Highley, ChaCha’s Chief Business Development Officer. “Our award winning mobile answers service dramatically improves mobile users’ search experience when looking for quick answers. ChaCha makes it easy to ask any question and receive the answer in conversational English along with a handy web reference link should they need more information. Mobile text messaging continues to grow and when users new to text messaging find out how easy it is with ChaCha, carriers will benefit from higher adoption of text plans, and ultimately text usage.”
“Alltel customers need quick and concise answers to questions they may have while on the go, and we believe that ChaCha’s mobile answers services provides the right amount of information mobile users need,” said Craig Kirkland, vice president of messaging and voice services for Alltel Wireless. “We’re delighted to work with ChaCha, and our mobile users will be thrilled with the fun and user-friendly ChaCha mobile answers service.”
ChaCha’s free mobile answers service allows users to call or text questions on mobile phones and receive answers within minutes. Skilled human guides use ChaCha's powerful patent-pending search tools to respond to any query. This human interface dramatically expands the types of questions users can ask well beyond simple phone numbers or addresses. The guides utilize powerful tools to quickly return a succinct, relevant answer in a text message with a Web reference link.
ChaCha has been experiencing excellent market validation with a string of awards honoring their innovation and revolutionary service:
In May, ChaCha was named a Finalist in three separate categories of the prestigious 2008 American Business Awards – Most Innovative Company, Best New Company and Best New Product or Service. In late April, ChaCha was named one of the “Fierce 15” companies of 2008 by FierceWireless, the online news authority for the wireless industry, reflecting ChaCha’s creativity and innovation in the wireless marketplace. ChaCha also won a major carrier’s prestigious Fast-Pitch Platinum Award in April for best consumer mobile application at the CTIA Wireless Association Convention in Las Vegas. In March, ChaCha took top prize in the “My Search is Better than Your Search” competition at the Search Engine Strategies conference in Manhattan, and was also ranked as the “No. 1 Alternative Search Engine” in February by Charles Knight of the blogging network, ReadWriteWeb.
About ChaCha
ChaCha, a free mobile answers service, allows users to call 1-800-2ChaCha™ or text questions to ChaCha (242242™) on mobile phones and receive answers within minutes. ChaCha expert guides — trained and skilled individuals — use ChaCha's powerful internal patent-pending search tools to respond to any query. For more information about ChaCha’s newest features, go to www.chacha.com. Created by serial entrepreneur Scott A. Jones (www.scottajones.com) and Brad Bostic (http://blog.bradbostic.com), ChaCha is funded by Bezos Expeditions, the personal investment firm of Jeff Bezos; Morton Meyerson, former President and Vice Chairman of EDS as well as Chairman and CEO of Perot Systems; Rod Canion, founding CEO of Compaq Computer; and Jack Gill, well-known Silicon Valley venture capitalist.
About Alltel Wireless
Alltel is owner and operator of the nation’s largest wireless network and has more than 13 million customers. For more information about Alltel, please visit www.alltel.com.
ChaCha
Melrose Consulting
Melodye Demastus, 614-771-8810
Mobile: 614-579-9192
mdemastus@columbus.rr.com
or
Fleishman Hillard
Katy Lachky, 314-982-8711
Mobile: 314-443-3867
Katy.lachky@fleishman.com
OR
Alltel Wireless
Andrew Moreau, 501-905-7962
Vice President – Corporate Communications
andrew.moreau@alltel.com
or
Lucie Pathmann, 501-905-5553
Director – Marketing Communications
lucie.r.pathmann@alltel.com
