ADS sets pace in modern directory and yellow pages publishing

AFRICAN Directory Services (ADS), formerly trading as AIM Publications, has proven itself as a leader in modern telephone directory and yellow pages publishing by commissioning an integrated directory publishing and business management software.

This is in addition to its array of already sophisticated system of operations. At the launch of the 2004/2005 Telecom Namibia Directory and Yellow Pages last week, Tshoombe Ndadi, Chairman and CEO of ADS, spoke about the investment in state-of-the-art technologies and human resources training, to transform the directory to its present state.In the past two years, Ndadi said ADS had invested over N$1,5 million in the process adding that being the first to be installed in Africa, the Yellow Magic System has the capacity to output directory for printing and to seamlessly produce the directory and yellow pages on the internet and on CD ROM.Should Telecom decide to put the telephone directory on the web, Ndadi assured access to the site simultaneously with the launch of any hard copy directory.”This puts the company at par with directory publishers worldwide, and in the SADC region who are all responsible for publishing both the printed and electronic versions of telephone directories and yellow pages in their respective countries,” said Ndadi.Having been awarded the Telecom Directory Tender in 2000 ADS, also inherited an archaic system of production, which was laborious and highly prone to error.At the end of 2002, the key source for errors in the directory were completely mapped out and turned out to be amongst others; the numerous human intervention stages in information gathering and data entry points at both Telecom and ADS; the software application used to compile and layout the directory, which was suitable for publishing magazines and books, but definitely not suitable for publishing directories – due to their complex alpha numeric entries with cross references, data verification requirements.With research, ADS succeeded in identifying Yellow Magic as the ultimate solution, since its very design, is tailor-made for the Directory and Yellow Pages Industry.For the past four successive years, ADS has performed consistently in the canvassing of advertisements and compilation of the directory.The directory quality has improved steadily over the years and new products have been introduced, making the directory a world class product, comparable only to directories published in the developed countries.The yellow pages have been transformed into a multi-colour coverage section, a radical shift from the boring and dull presentation of red and black on yellow.Thanks to technological advancement in the field of origination and print production, ADS can now offer the consumer a wide range of advertising quality exposure options in the Yellow Pages, said Ndadi.One of the burning issues in the past that impacted negatively on ADS and Telecom was the errors in subscribers’ information in the book.However, according to statistics, in the 2003/2004 directory, such errors represented a mere 0,89 per cent of total entries in the book.At the launch of the 2004/2005 Telecom Namibia Directory and Yellow Pages last week, Tshoombe Ndadi, Chairman and CEO of ADS, spoke about the investment in state-of-the-art technologies and human resources training, to transform the directory to its present state.In the past two years, Ndadi said ADS had invested over N$1,5 million in the process adding that being the first to be installed in Africa, the Yellow Magic System has the capacity to output directory for printing and to seamlessly produce the directory and yellow pages on the internet and on CD ROM.Should Telecom decide to put the telephone directory on the web, Ndadi assured access to the site simultaneously with the launch of any hard copy directory.”This puts the company at par with directory publishers worldwide, and in the SADC region who are all responsible for publishing both the printed and electronic versions of telephone directories and yellow pages in their respective countries,” said Ndadi.Having been awarded the Telecom Directory Tender in 2000 ADS, also inherited an archaic system of production, which was laborious and highly prone to error.At the end of 2002, the key source for errors in the directory were completely mapped out and turned out to be amongst others; the numerous human intervention stages in information gathering and data entry points at both Telecom and ADS; the software application used to compile and layout the directory, which was suitable for publishing magazines and books, but definitely not suitable for publishing directories – due to their complex alpha numeric entries with cross references, data verification requirements.With research, ADS succeeded in identifying Yellow Magic as the ultimate solution, since its very design, is tailor-made for the Directory and Yellow Pages Industry.For the past four successive years, ADS has performed consistently in the canvassing of advertisements and compilation of the directory.The directory quality has improved steadily over the years and new products have been introduced, making the directory a world class product, comparable only to directories published in the developed countries.The yellow pages have been transformed into a multi-colour coverage section, a radical shift from the boring and dull presentation of red and black on yellow.Thanks to technological advancement in the field of origination and print production, ADS can now offer the consumer a wide range of advertising quality exposure options in the Yellow Pages, said Ndadi.One of the burning issues in the past that impacted negatively on ADS and Telecom was the errors in subscribers’ information in the book.However, according to statistics, in the 2003/2004 directory, such errors represented a mere 0,89 per cent of total entries in the book.