1-800-SAN-DIEGO began as a brave idea in the mid eighties and was finally brought to life on April 12th, 2002. For almost two years before this date, David Sprouse and his team have been working on a software system to support a call center that was faster and more efficient than anything on the market.

The motivation behind this plan? -- To develop a system that allowed them to bring back the time when directory information was free. The goal is a service that people can call from anywhere in the United States and that finds them the business of their choice for free. At the beginning of 2000 telecommunication costs were decreasing due to deregulation measures in the industry. Finally the team came up with the software system that was efficient and flexible enough and allowed them to decrease their operating cost to the necessary level. Now one operator could handle thousand calls per day and one call in less than 26 seconds. Moreover, the system would be able to search not only by business name, but also by product, service or category. The foundation of 1-800-SAN-DIEGO was built!

Ryan Allen was the first operator of 1-800-SAN-DIEGO on April 12th. He handled 8 calls that day. Due to advertising and exposure in the local media, the call volume didn’t stay that way for too long. On June 27th, 2002 1-800-SAN-DIEGO already handled over a thousand calls a day. The average month-to-month growth rate of the call volume was 67 percent in the first 6 months! Consumer reviews were positive right from the start. Every week 1-800-SAN-DIEGO would call around 300 – 500 users and ask them for their feedback. Consumers could even make suggestions on the advertising or product developments at 1-800-SAN-DIEGO! Due to the feedback of some users 1-800-SAN-DIEGO included governmental listings into the database. The average rating of 1-800-SAN-DIEGO on a 1 to 10 point scale? 9.52 points! 99 percent of all surveyed callers think 1-800-SAN-DIEGO provides a superior service than other 411 services.

On November 9th, 2002 1-800-SAN-DIEGO was able to get a very important strategic partner on board: Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut uses 1-800-SAN-DIEGO as its clearinghouse for San Diego County. Advertisements just contain one phone number: 1-800-SAN-DIEGO. Our operators find the closest Pizza Hut location for the caller. Through the partnership with Pizza Hut and cooperation with the AMC Cinemas in December 2002, 1-800-SAN-DIEGO’s call volume grew to an average of 4000 calls per day.

Although David and his Chief Technology Officer Eddie Troutman had worked out the software to support the call center and Kimberley Cueva got great reviews for her team of operators, still 1-800-SAN-DIEGO needed to find more business partners. Until the year of 2003 1-800-SAN-DIEGO had been supported through companies that signed up for directory listing and very limited advertising. David and the sales team of 1-800-SAN-DIEGO started a sales initiative that used the most outstanding competitive edge of the system: its incredible flexibility. 1-800-SAN-DIEGO started building impression advertising and category sponsorships into the phone system (go to www.1800sandiego.com/Clients/clientdefault.asp for more information). Still the quality of the directory assistance wasn’t harmed through the advertising, but now the free directory assistance service would be supported through companies interested in talking to potential clients.

Due to the enthusiastic feedback from consumers, 1-800-SAN-DIEGO was able win well-regarded clients for its business and the growing call volume shows us every day that we must do something right! 1-800-SAN-DIEGO continues to build exciting partnerships in San Diego every day.

We are always interested in your feedback. Let us know what you think: emailus@1800sandiego.com