Yesterday, Facebook announced Hello, a new dialer/caller ID app hat offers local business search, which was a step towards offering a local search product to the masses.
You can also search for people and businesses on Facebook and call them with just one tap. So if a friend tells you about a new restaurant in your neighborhood, you can use Hello to find their hours, make a reservation and get directions, all without leaving the app.
With this app, if anybody connected to you on Facebook tries calling you, it will identify them, as well as give you the ability to block calls. This app is useful to Facebook as it adds to their “portfolio” strategy.
Another feature of the app is the local search component. As a user, you will be able to search for specific businesses by name. If you can’t think of a business name, you can do category searches as well. You could search for “pest control” or “burgers.” Even though you can search by category, apparently the search experience isn’t very good.
If you manage to find the business you’re looking for, you can call it, add it to contacts, or get directions using Google Maps. Using this app, you will be able to click through to the company’s Facebook Page and see comments made by friend and other users reviews and ratings.
