Telkom Directory Services (TDS), the company responsible for the publication of SA`s white and yellow page telephone directories, quietly re-introduced an online version of the residential listing late last year.
Users can search the white pages through www.yellowpages.co.za under the brand The Phone Book. Although the database is a compilation of the 19 regional directories distributed annually, TDS says the online version will be updated more regularly.
A similar service was available for many years through the Telkom Beltel terminals, but the database was never transferred to the Internet. Beltel was discontinued and replaced by the CyberTrade system rather than made Y2K compliant.
"It was a question of priorities," says TDS marketing GM Mariette Ackerman. "We wanted to get the Yellow Pages up and running first and sort out all its teething problems. Also, the [white pages] database is huge and needed a lot of cleaning."
However, the company says it received regular requests from the public for an online residential listing and "felt it was the right time to launch it".
At this stage there is no revenue stream derived from the service, although it mirrors the physical phone book which carries advertising. However, TDS says there may be a way of making money out of the free service.
"In six months we could be offering expanded listings with e-mail, a cellphone number and a description for individuals," says Ackerman. She says such "vanity listings" have become popular in certain overseas markets and could potentially take off in SA.
The Yellow Pages, the business version of the residential listing, already offers expanded listings.
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