A Look into NaviDial, Japan's Legacy Phone Service

Article

• NaviDial is a Japanese pay-per-call service where callers pay, unlike toll-free
• Still used by corporations and hotlines despite being seen as predatory
• Contrasted with FreeDial (Japan’s 0120 toll-free) which launched around the same time

Discussion

• jjmarr: a charged suicide prevention hotline would cause outrage in the US; Japan shrugs
• freetime2: ANA kept caller on hold 45 min on a NaviDial line for a simple booking change
• joshstrange questions whether NaviDial was ever genuinely innovative vs. just exploitative
• Jamesbeam appreciates ongoing HN coverage of Japanese infrastructure quirks

Discuss on HN