By Rob Stapleton
Alaska Journal of Commerce

A local entrepreneur has come up with a simple solution of how to provide better customer and business-to-business service using a free in-depth Web-based telephone directory.

Named CallCheetah, the online directory offers more than a listing with a phone number, it also displays extensions, with names and all the information a company wants to reveal.

“The name is sort of a play on words, now you don't have to call directory assistance, so it is a call cheater,” said Linus Romey, CEO and developer.

Romey says idea came from the rising sentiment that businesses are no longer offering a real person to answer phones, but instead use interactive voice response systems.

CallCheetah will offer a visual of a company's phone tree, with numbers, names and other pertinent information.

“This is also a money saver for businesses,” said Romey, originally from Petersburg. “Our model cut costs from 70 cents a minute for a receptionist to answer questions and redirect a phone call, or 20 cents a minute to redirect to call centers in India, down to 6 cents a minutes using this system. On the caller side it saves time by allowing a person to see where and who to call, cutting out the saying or pressing number buttons.”

CallCheetah is free to all businesses that want to enter information. The catch: Romey's site is paid for by Google ad revenue, so businesses may find a Google ad for competitors on the page next to their listing.

“It will be up to each business to contact Google to block those ads or pay for ads on the same Webpage,” Romey said.

“There are no restrictions on what kind of number a business can enter, extensions, fax, e-mail and Web information can also be added,” he said. “We are taking a Craigslist approach. The do-it-yourself search, using standard search engines that will direct you to the site that has information about businesses added by a company person, usually the same person that has responsibility for a switchboard.”

The Alaska Manufacturing Extension Program helped Romey with his idea by connecting him with Icom Web Solutions, a database Web developer and hosting company.

The system will not dial up the number for you, nor will it interface with mobile or Voice Over Internet Protocal phone systems, but will only list the numbers.

Romey says a successful search can be made by the company name, type of business or by number and that the site is set up to accept heavy amounts of traffic with the use of an extensive database.

The idea for the Web-based directory came after Romey tired of reaching IVR systems.

After four months of developing the site and refining the options - working closely with AMEP - Romey has launched the service. With only a handful of business now listed, Romey says that once the Web site is better known, it will catch on.

“This is also a way to get away from those expensive telephone directories that we think people are shunning due to their size and the cost of its advertising,” said Romey. “It's free, it offers better service, and cuts to the chase for the users.”

On the Web at www.callcheetah.com.

Rob Stapleton can be reached at rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com">rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com.