Mr. Moviefone Grows Ears

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/28/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Tired of pushing all those numbers when you try to order tickets from Mr. Moviefone? Well, tap no more. Taking its cues from a "Seinfeld" episode -- one of Kramer's schemes to offer movie information started when his phone number closely matched that of the ticket-buying service -- AOL Moviefone will announce today that it is introducing voice-recognition capabilities to its phone service. New York and New Jersey residents will be able to speak their movie requests starting immediately. Another 35 markets across the country will soon follow suit. (Moviefone was begun in 1989 and purchased last year by America Online, which this year announced it was buying Time Warner, the parent of PEOPLE.) You can also speak your zip code, credit card number and other info required for buying tickets. Now, if only Kramer would answer the phone.