ENUM and .tel

ENUM is an internationally approved method of connecting the telephone communications network to the Internet.

What is ENUM

ENUM (telephone number mapping) is a suite of protocols that defines a rule making it possible to relate a domain name to a telephone number, and then use that domain name to identify various communications devices such as voice, fax, mobile phone, voicemail, email, text messaging, location-based services, IP telephony addresses or web pages.

The first main use of ENUM will be to link different VoIP servers so that telephones within businesses that use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to connect users within an internal network can use the same technology to connect users to external customers via the Internet.

ENUM uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to create a connection between the addresses of computers connected to the Internet and domain names, which are much easier for people to memorise. The majority of Internet users are probably only familiar with domain names in combination with web sites or email addresses. However, in future the ENUM protocol working with the DNS infrastructure will make it possible to obtain information about telecommunication services and access them via domains.

ENUM Example

ENUM translates a telephone number into a domain name.

    For example:
  • 01865 332211 becomes 1.1.2.2.3.3.5.6.8.1.4.4.e164.arpa
  • Where '44' is the UK's international dialling code.
  • 'e164' is the name of the telephone numbering system.
  • '.arpa' is the Internet infrastructure equivalent of .uk or .com.

Upon placing an order for your ENUM telephone domain a registrant will be required to prove they are both the end user of the telephone number and are entitled to the ENUM registration.

UK ENUM Consortium (UKEC) is the limited company set up with the recognition of the UK Government to administer the UK ENUM top level domain. UKEC have contracted Nominet to operate the registry infrastructure for UK ENUM.

.tel Domain

An alternative system which has some similarities to Enum is the .tel domain managed by Telnic. The .tel is a service that allows individuals and businesses to store and manage all their contact information and keywords directly in the DNS without the need to build, host or manage a website. It has been designed to act as a repository for all a company's or individual's contact details. It could feature phone numbers, e-mail addresses, GPS data or buttons that kick off a Skype call. It will also work with many different devices such as smart phones.

For more information please visit: Telnic.org