Microsoft updates Bing with quick answers for local phone numbers, hours of operation, and directions

Microsoft today updated its Bing search engine with a new quick answers feature that serves up local information without the need to click on a search result. These include phone numbers and hours of operation for businesses, as well as directions to any address you input.

These new Fact Answers, as Microsoft calls them, appear at the top of the search page. To find a phone number for a business, you just need to add the word “phone” to your query:

Bing will figure out where you are located, more or less, and try to give you the phone number for the closest location. In the example above, Morton’s Steakhouse clearly has more than one location, but the phone number for the 6th Avenue restaurant in Seattle is offered.

Speaking of restaurants, you can ask Bing for the hours of operation of a business by appending “hours” to your query. Bing knows the day of the week and highlights that one for you, but you also get the full schedule in case you’re trying to plan ahead:

Notice that the above screenshot is of the mobile version of Bing.com. If you’re on the go, it’s good to know these features are still available to you without trying to get to the desktop version of Microsoft’s search engine.

Finally, you no longer need to go to Bing Maps to ask for directions. The new quick answer will show you the best route with distance and travel time information:

You can also click to get turn-by-turn directions and the full route details. It’s worth emphasizing that this isn’t limited to just businesses: Any address will work.

We’re frankly surprised it took Microsoft this long to add this functionality, given not just how handy it is but also that Google has had all of the above for a while now. Still, better late than never.