And much of that is profit. Directory assistance “truly is a cash cow,” said Saroja Girishankar, a vice president at the Pelorus Group, a telecommunications market research firm based in Raritan, N.J.

Just discovered a free 411 directory assistance from Free411.com. It's pretty cool, I just called it and it asks city and state. It repeats what you said in a female voice and asks if what she said is ...