Commercial Telephone Book

Comercial Telephone Book

A telephone directory (also known as a telephone book, phone book, or white/yellow pages) is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that publishes the directory. Its purpose is to allow the telephone number of a subscriber identified by name and address to be found.

The rise of the Internet and smart phones in the 21st Century greatly reduced the need for a paper phone book.

Content

Subscriber names are generally listed in alphabetical order, together with their postal or street address and telephone number.

A telephone directory may also provide instructions about how to use the telephone service in the local area, may give important numbers for emergency services, utilities, hospitals, doctors, and organizations who can provide support in times of crisis.

Types

A telephone directory and its content may be known by the color of the paper it is printed on.

• White pages generally indicates personal or alphabetic listings.

• Yellow pages, golden pages, A2Z, or classified directory is usually a "business directory," where businesses are listed alphabetically within each of many classifications (e.g., "lawyers"), almost always with paid advertising.

• Grey pages, sometimes called a "reverse telephone directory," allowing subscriber details to be found for a given number. Not available in all jurisdictions for reasons of privacy.

Other colors may have other meanings; for example, information on government agencies is often printed on blue pages or green pages.

History

The first telephone directory, consisting of a single piece of cardboard, was issued on 21 February 1878; it listed 50 businesses in New Haven, Connecticut that had a telephone.

The first British telephone directory was published on 15 January 1880 by The Telephone Company. It contained 248 names and addresses of individuals and businesses in London.

In 1981 France is the first country to have an Electronic Directory on an Internet system called Minitel. The Directory is called "11" after its telephone access number.

In 1991 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that telephone companies do not have a copyright on telephone listings, because copyright protects creativity and not the mere labor of collecting existing information.

1996 is the year the first telephone directories go online in the USA. Yellowpages.com and Whitepages.com, both see their start in April.

In the 21st century, printed telephone directories are increasingly criticized as waste. In 2012, after some North American cities passed laws banning the distribution of telephone books, an industry group sued and obtained a court ruling permitting the distribution to continue.[1] Manufacture and distribution of telephone directories produces

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