The Ottawa Citizen recently published an excellent article by Gillian Shaw of CanWest News about the upcoming .TEL domain.  Shaw draws a picture of .TEL’s potential to change the way we share contact information and market our businesses, and gets the opinion of “Godfather of .CA” John Demco on the new extension.

Asking a prospective date for a phone number is so last century. Starting soon, it’ll be “what’s your dot.tel?”

There’s a new online gold rush gathering momentum as pre-registration ramps up for the Internet’s new .tel domain that lets individuals, companies and organizations store all their contact information in a virtual phone book for life.

Even though their phone numbers, e-mail or address may change, their .tel remains the same. It can be updated and customized by the user so they can be found by anyone who knows their .tel name. Or not, as the case may be, since the .tel service also lets users decide how much contact information they want to share and who they want to share it with.

It can include everything from a home or office phone number, to a mobile phone, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter or any of the increasing number of ways people choose to stay in touch. Unlike a phone book or a business card that can be outdated the minute someone moves or changes jobs, a .tel identity can be updated anytime.

In a customized twist on the old practice of an unlisted phone number, just like Facebook you can choose to share information with friends, keeping it hidden from others. Or you can share certain contact info with acquaintances and clients, saving your secret home cellphone number for only close friends and family.

For people you really don’t want to hear from or pesky telemarketers, you can send them on a wild-goose chase by giving them bogus contact information. You can also map your location, a plus for businesses that can direct customers straight to their door with nothing more than a .tel name.

“At a fairly straightforward level it is a way for you to give someone your contact information just by giving them your .tel name,” said John Demco, co-found and director of Webnames.ca and the man known as the godfather of .CA for his work in creating the Internet’s .ca country code top-level domain for Canada.

“If you gave me your .tel name, I would be able to put that into my cellphone and I’d be able to contact you automatically with whatever contact information you have put with that.”

Read the rest of the article.

Early indicators suggest .TEL is going to be very popular. In a recent press release the registry operator responsible for .TEL, Telnic.org, announced that more than 100 registrars are either accredited or intend to offer .TEL to the public.

Webnames.ca, an official accredited registrar for .TEL is encouraging prospective registrants, especially trademark holders to pre-book early. Webnames.ca noted that because .TEL names function more like directory listings than websites, it might be difficult for customers to know whether the information provided in a TEL domain is  from the right company. For example, if you hold the trademark for ABC Brand, but neglect to register the corresponding .TEL, a competitor could register ABCBRAND.TEL and divert your customers.

Trademark holders that do not pre-book to register their names during the Sunrise Period risk losing out to competitors during the Landrush and General Availability registration periods. Instead of chasing down .TEL domains in violation of your trademark after the fact, ensure your .TEL domains are protected from the get-go.

Sunrise Regsitration begins December 3, 2008.