So Google Maps has now made use of the phone part of the smartphone. When your customers are looking for somewhere local to stop and pick something up, they can find you quickly and easily.

They can just use the Search by Voice for maps and directions on the Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 phones. Google’s Search by Voice has been in use in various and sundry Google functions for the past two years. Now it’s good for safer directions.

Search by Voice for Maps just made local advertising that much more local. Google Maps 4.1 has a voice search that lets certain mobile phone users call up a company’s location map by business category or name, place and addresses. For the true map hound, you can even search by latitude and longitude.

If it sounds like the same type of mobile map search your customers have been using, you’re right. But now they can use it to find your business while they’re driving around town and speaking out loud.

Now, some people struggle with voice software because they have a bit of an accent. This is where the preference menu comes in handy. It allows for different languages, including various English accents.

So for businesses in the South, where it is sometimes difficult for people in the same town to understand each other, voice searches for maps will probably still work. Although drivers still need to manually bring up the mobile search voice menu, it reduces the amount of time and lack of attention spent on mobile search. In time, other smartphones will be capable of the same technology. Until then, keep in mind that mobile search – by voice or by hand – is the up-and-coming means of finding your local business for people on the go.