TextQuest

Get directions and find places by SMS

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About

TextQuest allows you to get directions and find places with SMS. It is a solution for both enterprise customers and consumers .

Inspiration

Enterprise

Many of MapQuest’s paying clients use their APIs to do delivery, logistics, and city planning work. For example, civil engineers ofter go out of coverage areas but with SMS they can get directions.

Since MapQuest' services are currently 100% data driven - reliable service is constrained when there is limited data on mobile

With TextQuest, you can have access to MapQuest’s robust services with just cell reception and little to no data.

This can be an additional line of business for MapQuest + Developer, allowing them to provide reliable services on the go.

Consumer

As a SMS tool, TextQuest allows the MapQuest consumer user to find directions on the fly.

For example, if you are lost driving to the Grand Canyon area and have limited data, you can rely on SMS based directions and get directions by voice so you are not distracted while driving.

You can also use it to find hotels and restuarants on your Grand Canyon route and get the contact info for those hotels including the phone number without using any data. This allows you to call the hotel and see if they have vacancy.

How It Works

You can try TextQuest by texting anything to 415-214-8445

Use Cases

Find directions

Text "Directions A to B "

Example "Directions Antelope Canyon to Sedona"

Get voice directions

Text "Voice directions A to B "

Example "Voice directions Antelope Canyon to Sedona" Will call you with voice directions

Get points of interest nearby

Text "Restaurants/Hotels/Cafes near location"

Example "Hotels near Sedona"

Get Points of Interest Nearby By Voice

Example "Voice hotels near Sedona"

Competition

No other sort of service currently exists. Google had a similar functionality with SMS Search two years ago but they killed it in 2013.

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