A guide for everything .tel can and can't do.

What .TEL Is

.tel is a new domain extension released in March 2009 by and overseen by Telnic.

Interesting .TEL Facts

• DNS records are encrypted with 1024 bit security to prevent indexing by spammers.
• This system is untested. It is unknown at this time if scammers or spammers can capture your data from a .tel registration.
• You do not need to pay for hosting with a .tel. This is provided for you with the registration.
• The .tel DNS prohibits storage of A-records (address records) and operates with other record types: NAPTR, TXT and LOC.
• The technology for managing a user's content with .tel is called TelHosting.
• TelHosting is open source. Developers are highly encouraged to help improve any customer application.
• Telnic has a business and personal simulator so you can play around with the .tel application without buying.
• Telnic is targeting social communities.
• Telnic describes .tel as "a service that allows individuals and businesses alike to store and manage all their contact information and keywords directly in the DNS without the need to build, host or manage a website."
• The minimum number of characters that can be registered for a .tel is 3 with a maximum of 63.
• A domain cannot contain a hyphen in the 3rd or 4th position. (What are the restrictions on a .tel domain?)
• A .tel cannot exist purely of digits.

What .TEL Can Be Used For

• More opportunity for developers
• Giving away contact data with privacy options.
• SOAP APIs can talk to TelHosting.
• Applications can be developed for .tel

What .TEL Can't Be Used For

• Parking
• Web Development
• Monetization
• Real Information. There are only 6 field types right now: text, mobile, skype, email, web link and keywords.

Real Life Scenarios Where .Tel May Be Useful

• Joe owns a small company with 100 employees. There are 25 employees on his sales team. Joe wants a way for each employee to keep their records up to date without giving them access to the company's main Website.com. Joe's developer scripts an API to talk to several .tel domains for each employee. A directory is published on the main Website.com and each employee's records can now be updated instantly via their .tel extension.
• Sara is a socialite. She enjoys making friends, often several per day. It gets tiresome giving each new friend her instant message name, phone number and all her contact details so they can keep up with her fabulous life. Instead, she tells them to go to SaraIsCool.tel on their cell phone.
• Jimmy owns a recording studio. He just signed on this hot new band called "Hot Girls" and wants to promote the new band in a big way. He knows any automation that he can incorporate into his business will only help his recording studio grow. He registers HotGirls.tel so the extension can be used as a personal way for fans to get to know the new band.

Concerns

• The technology used on .tel to secure records are untested. Which leaves a possibility your records could eventually be leaked.
• The TelHosting platform is written in Java and requires no accreditation for ICANN accredited registrars.
• Telnic describes .tel as "a service...." under their FAQ titled; "What is .tel". Concern: Why not "domain extension"? Is this indeed a service disgusted as a domain extension? (see screenshot)

What About Domainers?

• Really, there isn't anything .tel can do that domainers can't already do on any other extensions. Maybe they finally made a domain extension that we don't want to invest in? Brilliant! However...
• .tel can be indexed by major search engines (TelHosting allows you to publish keywords on your profile).
• You can set up a directory-like structure on any .tel that can point to websites in other extensions. Opportunity?

RESOURCES: Telnic.org

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