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At the Lanctôt household, Santa came calling early this year.

When he telephoned the Oshawa, Ont., family this past weekend, he knew which of the three children had been naughty or nice, recited their friends' names with ease and patiently took down their wish lists. The children may be troubled to learn that the jolly man who rang was a paid actor phoning from an Omaha, Neb., call centre, where 12 other men with hearty ho ho hos also pose as telephonic Santas. Their employer, Santaspeaking.com, made 3,000 personalized calls to children across North America last Christmas. The service has placed 1,200 calls so far this year.

Benita Lanctôt would rather hoodwink her children - Caroline, 7, Sébastien, 9, and Stéphanie, 12 - this way than visit the mall Santa. "Some of these guys aren't into it at all. [Last week] I walked by the mall and I went by to see what the Santa looked like. "He was dishevelled and looked like he was waiting for this kid to get off his lap," she said.

"The whole idea of the Christmas spirit ... is to keep that fantasy alive, that belief. That's why I never ever say that the guy in the mall is the real thing. God forbid if his beard falls off," says Ms. Lanctôt, who works for a pharmaceutical company.

Like Ms. Lanctôt, many parents are coming up with increasingly creative ways to dodge the mall Santa. As they become increasingly selective about their gift-buying, many parents are looking to avoid the $30 "photo memories" and crush of the shopping mall this year.

Visits to the mall Santa in the United States dropped to 7,829 children in 2006, down 23 per cent from a five-year high of 10,119 in 2001, according to a recent U.S. Mall Report from the International Council of Shopping Centers.

In an effort to skirt lineups and mall rats, some parents are choosing alternative Santa photo-ops at their local libraries and community centres. Others are opting for an e-mail service that sees Santa delivering greetings, a shelf of leather-bound books visible behind him.

The birth of SantaSpeaking.com came after Anne Gaskell, an Omaha mother of three, took her children to the mall to get up close and personal with Santa.

"I was seeing all these children that were scared of sitting on Santa's lap. Santa didn't seem to represent that all-knowing legend. He didn't seem warm and fuzzy to me."

Ms. Gaskell figured, "In this day and age, we should be able to personalize Santa Claus and make it more believable, and just make it a little bit more family-friendly."

Through an online order form, Ms. Gaskell's service lets parents specify exactly what they would like Santa to say. Some conversations see him encouraging children to do their homework or get revved up for potty training. Many of the Santas are professional actors, a couple are former mall Santas and one is a retired colonel.

"A lot of our guys do look like Santa Claus, but most of them are grandparents or they're fathers who have that great voice. We screen them for Santa personality and that wonderful ho ho ho," Ms. Gaskell says.

The service records the conversation for future embarrassment. The calls are not cheap, running between $21.95 (U.S.) and $49.95 - the average call is five minutes. The season starts the day after American Thanksgiving and climaxes with 300 calls a day before Christmas. Ms. Gaskell says that despite the economy, demand has not declined.

Aside from personalized phone calls, Santa now also sends customized e-mails by Portable North Pole, an MSN service. He also drops in at libraries and parades funded by business improvement areas. Meanwhile, some malls have decided to provide less consumerist Santa visits: In Toronto's north end, Lawrence Square plays host to storytelling with Santa; Eastgate Square in the Hamilton area and Mississauga's Erin Mills Town Centre hold Santa breakfasts and other malls feature craft sessions. Many of the events do not involve photos, which can be pricey.

Tricia McRae refuses to pay an exorbitant amount for a photo or wait in a lineup at a mall. The government laboratory technician from North Gower, Ont., a small town outside of Ottawa, opted instead to take her two-year-old son Andrew for a Christmas celebration at a local community centre.

"The lineup to see Santa is longer than mall lineups, but many of the kids and parents know each other so it is a rather enjoyable mingling event for the entire family and community. The price for a Santa photo is cheaper than the mall, and I know the money is going to a local photographer," Ms. McRae said.

Pat Silver said the alternative formats of events such as Santa breakfasts, arts and crafts and parades help curb whiny demands for gifts.

"There's lots of variations and it does help avoid the tough question of 'Can I get a toy train?' " said Ms. Silver, president of Sphere Entertainment, an agency that supplies 40 Santas to malls, private parties, corporate events and festivals in the Toronto area.

American reports suggest that Santas are being instructed to help lower children's expectations in light of tighter holiday budgets. Ms. Silver has her own downsizing techniques: "Santa never promises anything. You don't say, 'Okay, I'm going to get you the train set.' They say, 'I'll tell the elves and we'll see what we can do in our workshop.' "

For those parents who hate crowds but have been strong-armed into the mall Santa experience by their children, Ms. Silver suggests avoiding Santa's arrival day, when malls do "a big production," as well as Friday nights and weekend afternoons. If price is an issue, Ms. Silver recommends skipping the photo, but notes that snapping your own pictures is forbidden.

As for whether the mall Santa is a dying breed, most in the industry deny it and, predictably, are not fans of the phone-in variety.

"I think the kids want to see the guy," Ms. Silver says. "I see the sparkle in the kids' eyes when they're with Santa and they're being entertained. I don't think the phone call is going to cut it."