1818 information

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1818 Information AG
legal form Corporation
founding 1999/2005
Seat Biel / Bienne , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
Branch telecommunications
Website www.1818.com

The 1818 directory AG is the operator of the private inquiries number 1818 in Switzerland , which is operated from abroad. Since October 2006 it has been a subsidiary of the US kgb group (formerly InfoNXX), which offers directory assistance services in North America and several European countries. Calls to this number have been diverted abroad since the end of August, calls in German are diverted to Austria , and calls in French and Italian are answered from Morocco . In Vienna (Call Center: 118811 Die Nummer GmbH) a team of Swiss abroad and Vorarlbergers has been set up. All employees understand and speak Swiss German .

In 2007, the information service of 1818 Information AG was the winner in the quality tests of the program Kassensturz . In early 2008, the information service came under fire in the consumer magazine K-Tipp, which is related to Kassensturz, because the prices of the information service were raised significantly a few months after entering the market. The comparison service Comparis also found in May 2008 that the price increase of 10 to 25 percent that had taken place in 1818 since 2006 had never been communicated. Altogether, 1818 increased its prices gradually by almost 40 percent since the liberalization of the directory assistance service until August 2009.

history

The company has its roots in the directory assistance service Conduit Europe, founded in Biel / Bienne in 1999 , which operated the number 1818 as a private directory assistance number. In October 2005, Xentel was taken over by the German telegate , which bought into the Swiss directory assistance market. With the sale, Xentel AG was renamed 1818 Informations AG and the headquarters moved to Zurich . In October 2006 telegate exited the Swiss directory assistance market and sold 1818 Informationen AG to the US American company kgb, New York (formerly: InfoNXX), which entered the Swiss directory assistance market in view of the upcoming liberalization. This involved another relocation of the headquarters to Biel.

The Swiss directory assistance was liberalized on 1 January 2007, in order to create the necessary framework to promote competition and price transparency. According to an analysis by the comparison service Comparis published in May 2008, the liberalization will not benefit consumers. The two market leaders, from Swisscom in 1811 and from 1818, practically split the market between themselves. Today telephone inquiries cost significantly more than before liberalization, and at the same time the number of calls plummeted.

The new information service 1818 was launched with a communication campaign that Swiss Marketing (SMC) describes as “one of the most successful product launches in recent years”. The advertising alludes to the glorious 1970s of Swiss skiing in an ironic way. The sporty reminiscence is implemented by the two slightly weird but strongly committed exponents "18" and "18". Their ski suits match those of the Swiss national team in terms of color and cut, the helmets are original racing helmets from the 1970s.

Since August 31, 2015, all German and English-language calls have been diverted to Vienna, those in French and Italian to Morocco. All employees in Switzerland were given leave of absence, as moving abroad was not an option for any of them.

Services

Under the number 1818, 1818 Informationen AG offers national and international directory information at a uniform price and in four languages ​​(German, French, Italian and English). It also offers the free additional transmission of directory information via SMS. Other additional services are the connection establishment “Connect” and the request by SMS “2-Way-SMS”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Test winner - information services in the test: The successors are so expensive. In: srf.ch. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen , January 9, 2007, accessed on April 7, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Telephone information: more expensive instead of cheaper. K-Tip 06/2008. In: ktipp.ch. March 25, 2008, accessed April 7, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b comparis.ch on the new tariff structure for the Swisscom directory assistance service 1811. In: www.comparis.ch. May 29, 2008, archived from the original on October 25, 2008 ; accessed on April 7, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Angela Barandun: Play it unsure. In: www.tagesanzeiger.ch. Tages-Anzeiger , August 10, 2009, archived from the original on August 11, 2009 ; accessed on April 7, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Ralf Trautmann: Sold again: telegate sells Swiss directory assistance in 1818. In: teltarif.de. October 11, 2006, accessed April 7, 2018 .
  6. ↑ OFCOM - Directory information services (18xy format). In: www.bakom.admin.ch. Federal Office of Communications, archived from the original on February 7, 2010 ; accessed on April 7, 2018 .
  7. ↑ EFFIE - bronze. (No longer available online.) In: EFFIE. BSW leading swiss agencies, archived from the original on January 13, 2013 .;
  8. ↑ Information will be available from Morocco and Austria in future ( Memento from July 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive )