Mobile voice search and enhanced directory assistance solutions provider V-Enable commissioned a study to determine what mobile users want and expect when they dial 411. The survey, conducted by Opus Research's Local Mobile Search Advisory Service, found that the typical Mobile 411 user is an on-the-go consumer who wants immediate accurate results. This is opposed to the typical Internet user who can spend hours browsing and searching.

When mobile consumers use directory assistance, they most often do so because they're in the "purchase decision mode," which makes them a subset of mobile users that's particularly attractive to marketers, the report found.

For charts and additional survey findings, click continued.

The first chart demonstrates the responses that survey participants gave when asked to provide their top two reasons for using directory assistance from their mobile phone.

This next chart shows how consumers responded to a question of where they are when they use mobile directory assistance. Not surprisingly, they're often already in the car and need info about a potential destination.

The last chart shows that consumers can still be shocked by their cell phone bill, because it represents the finding that more than half of respondents underestimated the cost of mobile directory assistance charges.

Additional findings from the study include:

-Although billions of 411 calls are made each year, for the most part, consumers aren't aware of the charges associated with those calls. Nearly 19% of respondents thought mobile 411 was always free.

-Many of the respondents were unaware of actual free 411 options. Roughly 75% of mobile directory assistance users have not used one of the free alternatives.

-Five years ago, the number of fixed-line directory assistance calls was double that of mobile DA calls, but that is changing. The increase in mobile DA usage can largely be credited to increased mobile penetration and the growth of mobile-only households.