'Sock Assist' -iPhone app for roving sailors, maybe...

by Greer Bland/Sail-World Cruising on 18 Jul 2011 Sensis, the Yellow Pages company, has made travel that little bit easier for roving Australians with the launch of its new iPhone app: ‘Sock Assist’. Fronted by the cheeky green Sock puppet, it could be excellent for cruising sailors, who comprise part of only 8% of Australians who travel without prior arrangements.

A virtual personal assistant, Sock Assist is one of the first apps in Australia which gives all iPhone users access to a world leading voice concierge information service and need-to-know content, an instant information source that will aid Aussie travellers.

Imagine with just two taps of an iPhone screen having access to the number for a local taxi, a recommended local hotel or restaurant, or directions to a tourist attraction when travelling in a foreign city.

This is the power of ‘Sock Assist’, and to celebrate its launch, Sensis commissioned a survey of 500 people revealing some statistics around the complex way people interact with business and each other when on the move.

‘Sock Assist’ has been developed to take away some of that complexity and the survey results have uncovered some interesting habits of Australians and how they source information.

We all know that Aussies love to travel, but are we all that adventurous? The data says not, with 72 per cent of respondents claiming they would need to have everything booked ahead of time and only eight per cent happy to just ‘wing it’.

Rooney Thodey, Group Manager of Sensis’ Voice portfolio, said 'Sock Assist is like a personal assistant. In simply two taps of your iPhone screen, you will be in touch with someone who can search for the information you’re looking for – whether it be a venue you’re trying to find, movie times, weather, directions and more.

'Once Sock Assist has helped you find what you’re looking for, our operators can then connect your call through to the business.' Ms Thodey said.

When you connect to Sock Assist, you will speak to an operator who will be able to search for the information you need and send it back to you in the app. Depending on the nature of your request, Sensis may also provide you with other helpful content and functionality including phone numbers with a tap to call functionality, call connection, embedded maps and contact details of all your favourite places that can be saved into your address book for future reference.

The Sock Assist app is free to download from iTunes (visit: http://sockassist.com.au/appstore.rbml) and comes with three free calls (mobile charges apply).

The important news is that you can then purchase call credits from as little as $3.99 for three calls. Call credits are payment for making information requests to the Sock Assist service.

However, additional call charges and data charges may be imposed by your telecommunications provider for accessing the service from your mobile. For travelling within Australia this may be no problem.

As many cruising sailors who are out of Australia purchase sim cards in the countries that they visit, the service could be excellent, but otherwise it could be extremely expensive, to be reserved only for 'emergencies.'

Sock Assist is available to all iPhone users, across all telecommunications providers. For more information, visit www.sockassist.com.au.

At Sail-World, we haven't tried Sock Assist, and we'd welcome feedback from cruising sailors who have.