DirectWest is very pleased to once again be recognized as one of Saskatchewan's Top 100 companies by Saskatchewan Business Magazine. The Top 100 list recognizes Saskatchewan businesses based on their annual financial performance. DirectWest's President and CEO, Gord Farmer, commented "We are honoured to once again be recognized as one of Saskatchewan's Top 100 companies. It is a great distinction that we are very proud of. I would like to thank our customers for their continued support, as well as our employees who's effort make this achievement possible."

DirectWest Launches New mysask411 Mobile Apps

July 16, 2012 - DirectWest Corporation (DirectWest), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation (SaskTel), is very excited to announce the launch of new mysask411 mobile apps for Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices.  Now you can find everything local at the touch of a button - businesses, people, movies, events, coupons, deals, horoscopes, flight information, weather, and maps.

“People are busy and on-the-go.  They want the ability to access complete, accurate and relevant local information from their mobile devices and the new mysask411 mobile apps provide just that.” said Georgina Syrgiannis, Vice-President of Corporate Marketing at DirectWest.  “Whether looking for a pizza, a pair of new shoes or a plumber, the new mysask411 mobile apps have videos, photos, recommendations, products, services, brands, hours of operation, and more to help them find exactly what they want, when they want it,” she added.    

With the new mysask411 mobile apps, you can:

-  Search for local businesses, products and services by category or name

-  Search nearby to find the business closest to you

-  Use the people search to stay in touch with friends and family

-  Save time with a helpful shortcut to popular searches

-  Pinpoint locations and avoid frustration with maps and driving directions

-  Easily share information with friends and family through email, Facebook and Twitter connections

The new mysask411 apps are available for Android devices with operating systems 2.3 and above, iOS devices with operating systems 4.3 and above, and BlackBerry devices with operating systems 5.0 and above. 

To download your free app, simply text “app” to 306411 or visit Google Play, the App Store or BlackBerry App World.    

About DirectWest

DirectWest, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SaskTel, is the exclusive provider of the SaskTel Phonebook and mysask411.  For over 50 years, DirectWest has been connecting buyers and sellers with the most complete, used and preferred sources for local search in Saskatchewan.

DirectWest now makes it easier for on-the-go users to find local business, people and government information with easy-to-use Android, iOS and BlackBerry apps. 

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For more information, please contact:

Michelle Englot, SaskTel Corporate Communications
Phone: (306) 777-4476
E-mail: michelle.englot@sasktel.com  

We are very excited to report that the Win Big contest has been a huge success so far.  Now that the contest is nearing its end, we would like to share with you some of our winners and their stories.

In Moose Jaw our winner Curtis was so happy to finally get a boat he and his family could go fishing with in the summer.  Patty in Melville has a brand new fence to help keep her dog from running away.  Hailey was affected by the flooding in Yorkton so we helped her get all new electrical installed in her basement where she runs her business.

In Swift Current, our winner (Bryon) wanted to replace the headstones of his late brother and daughter.  Since their daughter passed on his wife’s birthday she had not celebrated in years.  After the headstones were purchased, the remaining money went to a celebration for his wife’s birthday.  All of their family attended and were very grateful to DirectWest for making this all possible.

Our winner in Weyburn, Shirley, was very inspiring.  Unfortunately, Shirley almost died a couple of years ago and ended up losing her legs to cancer.  Her submission for Win Big was to get a special bathtub that would help her greatly in daily life.  After winning, she found out that Telemircle was going to purchase the tub for her.  Since she had chosen Medi-Chair to spend her winning, this gave her an opportunity to get even more items she really needed.  Shirley and her husband are amazing people and have been through so much over the last couple of years, we are very proud to be a part of making their lives easier.  Shirley’s final comments to us nicely summed up the impact we had “I can garden again, watch TV in comfort, and get up from my chair without difficulty.  This means a lot to me and my family, thank-you”.

In Regina our winner, Conlin, will be taking his Grandfather to their homeland in Scotland.  Jackie is our newest winner from Saskatoon and she is going to remodel her bathroom and replace her toilets so she can help the environment by conserving water.

We are very proud and excited that the Win Big contest had such a positive impact on those who are in need.  We would like to thank everyone who has entered the contest and those who have voted.

A picture of our Winner from Weyburn Shirley receiving her new chair!

Patty, our winner from Melville, chose Nordic Fencing to do her backyard fence.  When Patty received her quote from Nordic Fencing, she was discouraged to hear that it would cost more than the prize money given.   After hearing of the contest and Patty’s story, Nordic Fencing offered to provide Patty with the supplies for her fence at a reduced cost and her community & neighbors have stepped in to help with the installation.  We are very excited that Nordic Fencing and the community jumped on board with us to help Patty receive her dream fence.

Patty picking up her fence!

We are very excited to announce the use of quick response (QR) codes on our phonebook covers effective with the 2011 Regina City SaskTel Phonebook.

QR codes are digital bar codes, that when scanned using a smartphone, provide users with additional information in a digital format.  They are useful in advertising, promotions and contesting because they can provide timely and valuable information in places where space is limited such as product packaging, flyers, magazines and point of sale displays.

In order to scan, smartphone users will require a QR code reader.  Some newer devices will already be equipped with a QR code reader while some older devices will require one to be downloaded.  There are many free apps/readers available through BlackBerry App and iTunes.  

In this case, the QR code is being used to promote and facilitate the download of our free mysask411 mobile app for Blackberry and iPhone devices.   “Since the launch of the mobile phonebook app, we’ve received great feedback,” said Margaret Kourles, Vice-President of Marketing at DirectWest.  “Users appreciate the ability to find information on local people and businesses- anytime, anywhere, anyhow they want it. And we are very excited about the opportunity to promote it using this innovative QR code technology.”

Try this QR code and download our free mysask411 mobile app.