Businessmen Let Voices Do Walking in Yellow Pages

When Vladimir Berelson and Boris Kushnir left the Soviet Union a decade ago, that nation’s telephones were outmoded, computers were virtually non-existent, and the telephone book was still a dream.

Today, the two men live in Orange County, and they have combined all three elements in a state-of-the-art referral service known as talking yellow pages.

Berelson and Kushnir launched On-Line Yellow Pages recently and made 20 to 30 referrals a day from a computer data base that includes telephone numbers, addresses and short descriptions of more than 1,500 businesses in south Orange County.

So far, 40 advertisers have paid $200 or more to be listed with Kushnir’s and Berelson’s business. Consumers in search of a service or a store can call their toll-free 800 number and are referred to one of the companies that has bought a listing.

If no company has sponsored an ad in a given category, the caller is referred to a non-paying company.

Kushnir and Berelson, brothers-in-law who left their native Odessa in 1979, believe that their service will succeed because Americans have too much of a good thing.

“There are so many telephone books in the area that you never have the right book available when you need it,” Kushnir said. “And even if you do, it’s bulky and inaccessible, so we think our service will be very useful.”

After moving to the United States, Kushnir worked for several local companies. In 1984, he opened a design business with his wife, Alla. Berelson worked as a quality-control expert at several local companies.

The men started discussing the idea of a talking yellow pages 2 1/2 years ago and have been researching local businesses and competitors ever since.

Five operators will work around the clock from their Lake Forest headquarters to answer calls from consumers.

‘We call it high tech with a personalized touch,” Berelson said.

Talking yellow pages first appeared about four years ago in the United States and Canada. Presently, there are 15 to 20 in general service, according to Dan Maitland, president of BDR AudioTex, a Toronto-based company that provides talking yellow pages services.

Two companies have failed in attempts to begin similar yellow page services in Orange County. A third, Los Angeles-based Primex Talking Yellow Pages, has functioned throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties since late 1987.

Michael Amin, President of Primex, said his company’s switchboard attracts 15,000 calls a day from across the metropolitan area and its advertising budget has swelled from $10,000 per month to $100,000 per month over the last four years. He said the company is presently making a profit but declined to elaborate.

Primex has specialized in providing information on professionals such as doctors and lawyers, and its advertising prices, which begin at $350, are higher than those of Kushnir and Berelson.

“It’s very hard to beat the Yellow Pages at what they do,” Maitland said. “It’s difficult to make this work unless you’re backed up by the telephone company.”

The telephone companies are prohibited from entering the audio-referral market until 1992. Maitland said he believes that talking yellow pages cannot succeed on a large scale until the telephone companies bring their massive resources to the market.

Mark McCourt, owner of Freeline Inc., a Mission Viejo-based company that recently dropped out of the business, said the high cost of advertising was his downfall. He said his service attracted up to 300 calls a day, but he didn’t have the money to adequately advertise the business and increase demand.

He still maintains that talking yellow pages will eventually dominate the telephone-directory business because it is easier for consumers to call a referral company than locate one in the many ungainly phone books.