When looking for the contact information for a business or a person and being forced or its just easier to look online because you can’t find your latest copy of the thick book from TSTT, what resources are available to you?

Today we take a look at the incumbent as well as a newcomer to the local online directory space.

Firstly we have TSTT’s online directory offering that promises you the ability to find the answer you need when you need it. TSTT claims that they have used the power of the internet and put its Yellow Pages directory online. It states that you can find any business in Trinidad and Tobago from any location in the world and all businesses advertised in the Yellow pages of the TSTT 2004-2005 directory can be found online.

Yip, you read that correctly, the 2004-2005 directory. So much for the power of the internet for updated information from TSTT. In terms of usability and information you are presented with drop-downs to pick categories and then the actual listing. The listings themselves contain basic contact information.

Secondly we have a new entrant to this space called TriniLocal.com You may have seen them advertising on the Express and even here via Google ads. With TSTT neglecting the market an entrant such as Trinilocal.com can easily fill the void, however at this point their database of information is still sparse. The expectation is that they will continue to attract more listings and become a real player in the local online directory market that is presently theirs for the taking.

TriniLocal listings are currently worse than TSTT’s but they do allow you the ability to do more with a listing such as add a review, print and export to PDF. If only they would remove the annoying google ad above the box.

In addition to offering a free listing to anyone they also offer additional services ranging from website design services and sub-domain pages to those listers.

The alarming piece of TriniLocal is their attempt at a white page service. In aiming to produce a comprehensive online white pages for Trinidad it asks that persons voluntarily submit names and information to the site which to me raises privacy concerns around verifying the information that someone may add of themselves and others. This has me asking questions along the line if if it’s an opt-in or opt-out service even when the profile pages has space for profile images.

In conclusion these services do provide information even though with TSTT you have to be suspect of the accuracy and with TriniLocal you have to wait for someone to add their listing.

What is needed is a combination of the current offering, the depth of TSTT’s database with some of the sharing functionality of TrinLocal wrapped into a more appealing package. Hopefully we wont have to wait to long for wither or have to resort to hunting down the dreaded thick book. Which one have you or would you utilize?