White Pages Info Feed Controlled by Service Provider

Apr 19, 2017 | Marketing

When a business goes through a name or address change, business owners or authorized agents generally reach out to various utility providers to update their customer profile. When speaking with the phone service provider (PSP), there’s another setting to update besides where and to whom you’ll send the invoice. The PSP also controls how listing information is fed to directories when requested for publication.

The business agent should advise the PSP on how the business listing should appear. Due to utility privacy regulations, the business owner or authorized agent must request any changes. Unfortunately, this cannot be done by a third party such as a business’s media buyer. It must be handled by the actual customer.

The PSP feeds listing information for the white pages, as well as free listings, out to the various directories upon request for publication download. Directory publishers such as Dex can only make content changes within the yellow pages. While they can enhance information in the white pages — such as highlighting, bolding, or adjusting size —they cannot manipulate the content.

The deadline to complete these listing changes are typically about three weeks prior to directory deadlines. It takes a while for the PSPs to make changes within their systems. The deadline for this change is called the Last Listing Date. Best practice would be to cover this along with changes made to the account profile for billing.

If any practice is going through changes of ownership, name, or address, this is something to keep in mind and on the checklist.

If you have any questions about directories and your business’s transition, shoot me an email at [email protected].