MDR Group’s Dial #250 has ended its exclusivity with iHeartMedia and is making the spoken-keyword response tool available to all station operators.

The tool, which has been heard on iHeart and Premiere Networks programs for over a decade, allows listeners to call the shortcode as opposed to full phone numbers and use a voice prompt to connect to brand. The service has begun rolling out on platforms including those owned by Audacy, Bonneville, Cumulus, and Salem Media.

MDR Group CMO Dave Robinett said, “Radio has always had an attribution problem, because “you can’t click on a radio ad”. Unique phone numbers were the only solution, but the problem was nobody can remember them. Three-quarters of radio listening happens in the car, where nobody can write down ten digits or type a URL. So listeners mean to respond ‘later,’ and later usually means a Google search, where the credit goes to search instead of the radio buy that created the demand, and the listener runs into a page full of competitors’ ads. #250 lets them act while the spot is still playing. This connects the prospect while they are hot, provides perfect attribution to radio, and never let’s them see competitors on Google.”

The service has also added a feature that lets callers say the station name and get a list of advertisers or other uses by the station including listener support and radiothons for attribution.