Solutions to the Demise of Directory Assistance Data

TARGUSinfo Data Leadership Series
Solutions to
THE DEmise OF DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE Data
Executive Summary
The accuracy, currency and coverage of publicly available and unrestricted consumer name, address, and telephone number information in the United States has fallen to historically low levels. The continued fragmentation of source data precipitated by alternative landline and wireless technologies has accelerated the rate of data attrition. To satisfy the demands of the marketplace and sustain their own business units, large aggregators of consumer information must find a solution to help stop the erosion. Reliance on traditional sources such as Directory Assistance and White Page Compilations to obtain this consumer information is a failing proposition. An innovative approach to consumer data compilation is needed to compensate for the significant reduction in quality and completeness of available records from traditional sources while adhering to best practices and regulatory guidelines.
This paper outlines the solution used by TARGUSinfo and Amacai to optimize the coverage, currency, and accuracy for publicly available consumer information relating to name, address, and telephone number.
The Demise of Directory Assistance Data © 2008 TARGUSinfo © 2008 Amacai Background
Two of the most important core sources for comprehensive nationwide consumer data have been licensed directory assistance files and the white page telephone directories (referred to as Directory Assistance and White Pages Compilations). Source data compilers will typically license a directory assistance file with updates ranging from monthly to as frequently as daily. They use a variety of methods to obtain telephone directory listings such as licensing the data directly from directory publishers and the telephone companies, scanning of physical directories, or keypunching directories offshore. Each method for capturing this source information has benefits as well as drawbacks. A careful analysis of the resulting raw data shows that there is little differentiation between the files that are created using the various methods outlined above to capture the data. All compilers will have a reasonable facsimile of the source telephone directory in an electronic format.
Applications
Directory Assistance and White Pages Compilations have historically supported a variety of applications:
1. Customer database updating and maintenance using telephone number and address/name combinations as the match key
2. A base file for appending demographics and other attribute data
3. A foundation file for service bureau based organizations that link and aggregate the data with other sources such as public record data, credit data, etc.
4. A key source for merge/purge applications and to delete out-of-date information
5. A base file for telemarketing/direct marketing applications
6. A verification source for lead generation
Key Advantages
Directory Assistance and White Pages Compilations offer these key advantages:
1. These are a national source of name, address, and phone number
2. These are relatively inexpensive
3. These are theoretically current because the data is sourced from the phone companies
The Demise of Directory Assistance Data © 2008 TARGUSinfo © 2008 Amacai Key Disadvantages
Directory Assistance and White Pages Compilations fall short in the following areas:
1. Lack of comprehensive coverage - these are missing unlisted, private, and wireless information DA Coverage continues to decline
2. Many records contain no address information 200
3. Address quality has been weak and insufficient; 150many records will contain a partial address or Number ofneighborhood but not enough information to consumer listings 100163achieve a postal standardized address (in millions)
4. Many records may contain a complete primary 50121address but still be missing an apartment number 05. Currency has decayed due to slower publishing 1998 2008cycles by the telephone carriers. In the case of white pages, updates to the printed information only occur once per year, generally two months prior to Many DA listings are missing address informationthe date of publication. With such a long update 120window, the data ages quickly and incorrect data 100is retaine... [download for more]