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Thread ID: 38812	2003-10-19 06:28:00	Scan and sort phone numbers	tedheath (537)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
184735	2003-10-19 06:28:00	My plan is to to scan the Auckland white pages phone book. Then get some sort of reading software to sort the columns into a data base like Access or Excel. The reason is if I enter a phone number I can then cross refer to its address. I get the numbers from my caller display and mobile call register and from vehicles etc. It would help me to track down people when collecting debts in my business. Can anyone help with ideas. Thanks tedheath	tedheath (537)
184736	2003-10-19 06:47:00	There was a thread on the same topic (scanning Whitepages) ages ago on PF1. The summary of that was that the quality of the telephone paper would prevent clean scans (text on reverse of page shows through) and would result in way too many errors to correct.	Jen C (20)
184737	2003-10-19 06:48:00	1. Scanning the phone book would take forever but: 2. Not as long as running OCR (Optical Character Recognition) 3. Excel is a spreadsheet, not a database 4. Access is probably nowhere near powerful enough for the task 5. Chances are it's illegal 6. It would take an extremely long time to get something like this done, it'd be almost an entirely custom project, not to mention correcting all the errors in the OCR software output etc etc.	whiskeytangofoxtrot (438)
184738	2003-10-19 06:55:00	i did 2 pages once, to get my scanner working and i used paper behind the page i wanna scan...so it blocks out the text from behind it worked pretty alright... and copyright...its not illegal unless ur scanning 100% of the book...and it would definately take foreeeeeeeeeever considering the size of auckland..... if u know the name and phone number of person just find it in book but scanning it i think its pointless... i kinda think it might be faster to actually type in each client details as they come in...like i thought should be done if $$ is involved...	csinclair83 (200)
184739	2003-10-19 07:14:00	> The reason is if I enter a phone number I can then cross refer to its address . That won't always work - lots of people change addresses without changing their phone numbers . And don't forget that the telephone book is issued once a year with untold modifications to it . And then you have the unlisted telephone numbers to deal with . . . . . Given up on the idea yet? :D	Susan B (19)
184740	2003-10-19 07:28:00	And you get the problem we had this year. My wife and I have different surnames listed. Both are missing from this year's book. Oops, they said. Fix it next year.	Scouse (83)
184741	2003-10-19 08:36:00	> and copyright...its not illegal unless ur scanning > 100% of the book...and it would definately take > foreeeeeeeeeever considering the size of > auckland..... I have a feeling that it's actually more like 10% max of a section/chapter/book (whatever the divisions are), so that'd probably end up being 10% of one letter (the A's for example) and that's it. Copyright is pretty tight in NZ. You might want to seriously check the legal ramifications of doing this. Mike.	Mike (15)
184742	2003-10-19 08:50:00	and theres the pros that do this for u...proper debt chasing companys... but do they charge u much for chasing a debt for u?	csinclair83 (200)
184743	2003-10-19 09:00:00	> but do they charge u much for chasing a debt for u? I think it's usually a percentage of whatever is recovered, and probably a base fee as well. Mike.	Mike (15)
184744	2003-10-19 09:37:00	I have no problems getting the phone numbers but I need to know the geographical location of the phone number is ie street and number. It cant be illegal scanning your own phone book its just for my own use. I have had a 100% rate success tracking people down so far but it takes a lot of time. I might have to pay someone to input the data if scanning wont work. tedheath	tedheath (537)
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