The Application of Management Science to the Design of Telephone Directories

The provision of telephone numbers to customers is a primary responsibility of the Bell System. This paper is concerned with providing this service through the distribution of telephone directories. Management science techniques are applied to the problem of determining the content and distribution of telephone directories which satisfy the dual criteria of being more useful and less expensive than current directories. All phases of the work are reviewed, from the early stages of problem definition through the implementation of the results and the substantial impact that followed.