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.TEL Dials Up New Revenue Generating Opportunities for Domainers |
By Rikki Kirzner
Contributing Writer
As plans for the launch of .Tel were unveiled at the ICANN meeting in Paris last week, it is apparent that .TEL is even more exciting than many people first envisioned—especially for those domainers who are looking for new and more innovative ways to monetize top level domain (TLD) names. .Tel is much more than just a typical TLD name. It provides a global, name-based navigation system for delivering contact information, accessing services, and/or initiating communication without requiring the domain owner to first create a website. To achieve this .Tel uses the structure of the internet in a unique way that allows businesses and individuals to store contact information and related keywords directly into the DNS making .Tel the first Internet communications-based TLD.
The .tel actually serves as a single point of contact for a company or individual’s name or brand, containing various types of contact information. It enables worldwide access to this data from any web-enabled device. The .tel also provides the mechanism that transforms the outdated, static, or stagnant data that is often returned by a search engine into live and more dynamic information that is easily updated as often as necessary from any web-enabled device.
“Today, if you are using a typical search engine you often get back outdated or incorrect information or fragmentary results”, said Justin Hayward, Communications Director of Telnic Limited, (www.telnic.org), the registry operator and sponsoring organizations that is developing, delivering, and managing the technology, applications, and solutions for .tel. “You don’t know whether the contact information is old on the hit you just got. Moreover, some of the directory service companies charge a fee to access certain types of information. All too often people discover that the information they just paid for is not what they actually were looking for. In addition to these sources of frustration, people also want to be able to find and contact businesses in the way that is most convenient for them—not the business.”
“Essentially .tel is a directory of all the ways in which you are willing to let people contact and connect with you”, said Hayward. “Identifiers can be anything from traditional methods of communication like landline telephone numbers and traditional websites to VOIP numbers, Skype names, IVRs, Twitter profiles, gaming handles, etc. .tel unifies all contacts—including social networking contacts--in one place that can be easily and quickly updated. It also adapts to any communication solution that is available so .tel owners can be contacted in a number of different ways depending on the type of device that is used.
The .tel has many compelling features including the ability to store multilingual keywords at every level of the domain. For example, a company can use Spanish keywords when operating a subsidiary in Spain or marketing to the Spanish-speaking community and these can be indexed by leading search engines.
Support for immediate click-to-communicate capabilities enables .tel to work at the speed of any internet connection without having to download anything except very small packets of data. Users access .tel information far more quickly than by performing more conventional domain name searches which is very important in places where there is no flat-rate Internet access capability. In the USA someone can access the .tel name of a friend they are preparing to call and quickly discover the friend is on the same cell phone network provider’s free cell-to-cell calling plan. This allows them to call during peak hours and talk for as long as they like without running up huge cell phone bills. In the UK that friend might have several cell phones--one of which has Skype. Skype is a software program that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet or free calls to other Skype users as well as supporting instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing. Instead of making an expensive mobile-to-mobile call they can use Skype and talk for free.
(http://www.three.co.uk/personal/products_services_/skype_phone.omp)
“We consider .tel to be the first global live contact site directory”, explains Hayward. “Once contact details are populated in a .tel, anyone can type a known .tel address into any browser or use keywords that describe the person or business they want to find. Keywords are free so the more keywords that are used and the more descriptive they are, the easier it is to be discoverable. Furthermore, those contact details can be quickly modified whenever change is required. Business people can update their phone number as they travel to let other employees or customers know the best way to reach them (e.g. changing from cell phone number to hotel phone number when cell phone service isn’t available, etc.). They can also revise the order of their contact details according to the priority of the method of contact. Since the .tel’s rich functionality allows for hierarchical storage of information in complex organizations, customers and partners can navigate easily through highly distributed organizations to find the precise products, people, or services they desire in the nearest location.”
Finally, privacy is of crucial importance to Telnic and is therefore built into .tel. “People aren’t going to want to put their private information online unless they can protect it and share the information with only those people allowed to access it”, adds Hayward. “For example, individuals can set access so only their immediate family and best friends can see their most private information and businesses can protect the support contact details for their premier customers.”
However .Tel isn’t just contact-centric. Domainers can use the .tel as a directory of their assets or to even store existing TLD investments. Even more importantly, .tel creates a wealth of opportunities for domainers to facilitate commerce and communication in a richer and more dynamic manner.
“This is an exciting time for domainers who want to own the first TLD that is focused on communications without having to create a website”, said Hayward. ”We believe .tel will refresh global interest in domain name real estate. Domainers can purchase great names that can go cross platform--enabling the domaining industry to go from one set of platform-specific formats (.com on a PC, .mobi on a mobile device, etc.) to a new form of TLD that transcends all the different ways of accessing the internet. It is also a brand new market proposition that not only connects people with people but can also connect people with information and assets. People can discover these very quickly and--depending on the device they are using--will be able to quickly find what they want in the format that’s best for them.”
“We’re aware that the .tel offers domainers a number of exciting possibilities to think about in terms of creating new business opportunities”, adds Hayward. “These include using premium rate numbers, as well as innovative ways to franchise the activities that interest or engage people. We see real opportunities for using .tel names in consumer-facing markets like entertainment, retail and services to quickly connect people with what they need. Domainers might capitalize on .tel’s features to create localized navigation and commercial models that can easily work with various types of businesses. Furthermore, because .tel has rich functionality and doesn’t require web programming, the initial investment is minimal. This will allow domainers the flexibility to keep changing and refining their business model as they discover what works well for them without incurring web design and development costs.”
The .tel grants its domain name owners full control over various types of interactions in which they might want to engage. For instance, it would be possible to use the .tel to set up, integrate and manage time-sensitive tasks like SMS voting for a favorite TV reality show (American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, etc.) with one-click functionality. Viewers could use the choices under the .tel to vote for their favorite celebrity in the way they want to on any device. They might even be able to potentially avoid the traditional cell phone charges by accessing pay-per-click (PPC) ads served up to them. Moreover, the flexibility also allows for swift shut-off if time deadlines apply and compliance is an issue (as was seen in 2007 in a number of UK television competitions).”
Monetization examples that domainers might want to consider might entail creating businesses similar to the following types of examples:
• .tel mobile entertainment storefront that is easy to access and collect micro-payments from users who download software, ring tones, mobile applications, etc.
• .tel service-focused opportunities that are based on generic names – (e.g. plumber.tel, insuranceagent.tel, locksmith.tel ) with sub-domain support for navigation to local providers or specialists
• .tel celebrity fan club site that combines fee-based or PPC ads for image downloads, voting for best or worst dressed performers at awards shows, or even registering for SMS updates of news on what a favorite celebrity is up to
The .tel Sunrise period opens in the fourth quarter of 2008. During this period .tel names will be granted on a first come, first served basis. There will be no auctions and no reserved premium names. Registration is for 3 years although there will be an appeals process available for applicants who were rejected or for anyone lodging an objection. Trademark holders who meet the requirements published on the Telnic website will be allowed to register their .tel names during this period through ICANN-accredited registrars.
At the conclusion of the Sunrise period domainers will have a chance to secure .tel names as well as prior rights that are not covered by registered marks or trademarks during the Landrush phase. Just as in the sunrise period, names will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be no auctions and no reserved names. More details for the beginning of both the Sunrise and the Landrush periods will be forthcoming on the Telnic website.
“The way people connect with each other in the next five years will be dramatically different especially if the pace of change echoes what we’ve seen over the past ten years,” concludes Hayward. “VOIP has changed from a clever application in the mid-90’s to become a robust way to communicate globally today. The fact that as many as 10 million people around the world are using Twitter to communicate in today –a free social messaging utility that was relatively unknown before 2007—is an example of the types of changes we might expect. The great thing about .tel is that it can store all types of data–even data types that don’t exist today. .tel supports anything that is relevant to discovery and we will continue to enhance that discoverability over time.”
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