Phone Number Navigation

My guess would be that phone numbers change more often than building addresses and IMHO would not be very value added when considering the cost per feature benefit versus the cost to implement over the life of a release cycle with out the data changing.

In addition to the numbers changing, I think it would be harder to remember the phone number.
It would also not be consistent between built in POIs and the "extras" as a CSV file does not necessarily define the field for phone numbers.

I'm not talking about personal phone numbers. I'm refering to business numbers and business's never want to change phone numbers unless they absolutely have to, for example when they move. In which case, if your searching on the wrong phone number, you are probably searching on the wrong address as well.

As for life cycle - when maps are updated the POI information is updated and that includes the phone number information and as for cost; Nearly every built in POI on my Garmin has a phone number associated with it. So they are not adding new information, merely searching on what is already there.

Last but not least, I have used it on my wife's system to find locations that I could not find with other search creteria. One was a hospital that was known by several names and I was not using the name that Garmin was. The other was a restaurant that was advertised as being in an upscale village, but was actually located in the neighboring city. So I know from experience that it is a workable and nice feature.

I'm not talking about remembering phone numbers and I don't spend time remembering addresses either.

See an add for a restaurant, look up a phone number for a business in a phone book, have the central number for a hospital, simply enter it in the Garmin and the dstination is set.

And why would it need to be consistant betweeen built-in and custom POI's. Either the number is there and you can find it by phone number or it's not and you can't. When I search by POI they are listed by category, my custome POI's aren't going to be consistant with that either.

I would find that helpful only in a limited way. (If Garmin added it, no problem, but I would have very little use for it) There is no way I could remember - or want to remember - phone numbers even if partial searching was an option. If I barely know the name of a restaurant chances are very slim I would know the phone number. If I did know the phone number I probably know how to get there. Where it could be helpful is if you have the number for some reason but have no idea where the business is. I can't think of a time that has happened to me. I usually have a business card if that's the case.

There are ways around having to know the exact name of a business that for me would be far easier. Typing any part of the name, including "hospital" for hospitals, or RED for Red Rock Cafe,or going to where am I for hospitals.
A while ago I had to find a business that sells fire equipment but did know the exact name other than fire was in the name. Typing "fire" found it.

All that said, I can't imagine it would be very hard for Garmin to have it search on phone numbers.

"..If I barely know the name of a restaurant chances are very slim I would know the phone number..."

Chances are slim in that case that you would know the address either.

".. Where it could be helpful is if you have the number for some reason but have no idea where the business is. I can't think of a time that has happened to me. I usually have a business card if that's the case."

I have never seen a business card that didn't have a phone number. So wouldn't it be easier to enter the phone number then the address? More accurate too, I have seen lots of business cards that use a postal, village or hamlet address that is different from the city where they are actually located.

"There are ways around having to know the exact name of a business that for me would be far easier. Typing any part of the name, including "hospital" for hospitals, or RED for Red Rock Cafe,or going to where am I for hospitals.."

Try typing Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. And after you get a really long list then figure out which is the right one. Much easier to enter the phone number and get the exact one. In fact much easier then any of what you suggest above.

"A while ago I had to find a business that sells fire equipment but did know the exact name other than fire was in the name. Typing "fire" found it."

May not work real well in NY or any other large metro area. You would get hundreds of possibilities to scroll through. But, at least in this case you wouldn't be able to find the phone number either.

Maybe it's me, but I get the distinct impression that people are disputing the value of this sugestion for less then logical reasons simply for the sake of disputing it. There are devices that have this and it works extremly well. In fact, I need to check on who makes the Nav System in my wifes car. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Garmin.

In any case I'm done posting on this, before someone posts saying that it's a bad idea because they have to switch from alphabetic to number mode in order to enter the phone number!

Other than your wife's nav system, are there any other GPS devices which let you enter a destination using the phone number?

I'm not posting for the sake of disagreeing. I even said Garmin could probably add it quite easily, and that would be fine.
And I disagree phone numbers are necessarily more accurate than an address. When the area code changes (as it has done TWICE at my Florida home, and is about to change again in CT) the number would be wrong.(And yes it would apply to a business moving also) It would take a map update to correct it, even though the address has not changed. And when a business does move, because of the multiple area codes and exchanges either in effect or soon to go into effect there is a better chance their number will have to change. If I move just six miles from my home in Florida, it is another exchange. (Same area code in this case) and my number would have to change. So to me the argument that it is more reliable than a street address is not quite as true as you might think. In still say most of the time, most people do not know the number of where they are going. Of course there are exceptions but not that often.

That is a couple of reasons.. Since you won't be posting about it again and at least listen to reasons it isn't as great as you think, I'll stop there.

does not have the capability to enter locations by way of phone numbers.

This sounds like an easier way than
where to>address>spell state>spell city>house number>street name>

-jgracey

Even entering a phone # can misdirect you.

for example, some companies have a call center and the warehouse is different.

I can only see it could be useful in limited application but don't think it's worth it.

If you want something that works in that way, there's Street Atlas DVD that's searchable by phone #'s.

It isn't because I don't listen to reason, I was droping the topic because it was a simple suggestion and not worth having a debate about. So in order to avoid any misunderstaning I'll add this last reply to your post.
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"And I disagree phone numbers are necessarily more accurate than an address. When the area code changes (as it has done TWICE at my Florida home, and is about to change again in CT) the number would be wrong.(And yes it would apply to a business moving also) It would take a map update to correct it, even though the address has not changed. And when a business does move, because of the multiple area codes and exchanges either in effect or soon to go into effect there is a better chance their number will have to change. If I move just six miles from my home in Florida, it is another exchange. (Same area code in this case) and my number would have to change. So to me the argument that it is more reliable than a street address is not quite as true as you might think..."

Again, I can't see the logic in your reasoning. Your saying if you move then the phone number chances. Well yes! AND I'm absolutely sure that the address changes when you move also. If you move 6 miles away then your address is 6 miles from where it was.

As for the area code changing - it happens, but not very often. When it does - to use your example of CT, if it changes from say 203 to 475 and you have a Garmin with a map that predated the area code change, then you would know to enter 203 and not 475. You would then find the location. Keep in mind that the number is tied to a GPS location so it doesn't matter what the area code changed to, if the number you use is still tied to the correct location. Just won't get them if you call.

In fact the only way you wouldn't find it, is if you didn't know the area code changed And you had a map older then the area code change And you were searching using the new area code. The loss would be - you entered 10 digits extra and would have to use another method.

And let me point out again that I'm not talking about personal phone numbers, I'm talking about built-in POI's.