The .tel TLD launches at the end of 2008. It is very different from conventional TLDs who provide name to address mappings for web, email and so on. In .tel users and businesses publish their contact details as NAPTR records: phone numbers, SIP addresses, email addresses, IM handles, etc. This creates a number of challenges to the DNS, including frequent and rapid updating of zones, high query rates and larger than normal zones and DNS payloads. Tools are needed to manage the DNS. Applications are also needed to encourage use of .tel: looking up NAPTR records, processing the results and initiating contact.

This presentation gives an overview of the technical architecture of.tel, including the open source DNS provisioning tools and end-user applications. It includes an explanation of a unique solution to the challenge of securely publishing private contact data such as a homephone number in the public DNS database. A live demonstration of the .tel system will be provided showing the immediate creation and provisioning of a .tel zone, populating it with contact data and some of the applications which can make use of that data for features like click-to-call.

Abstracts