ENUM is an internationally approved method for connecting the telephone communications network to the Internet. It will allow you to call someone on different electronic communications devices and software applications by using a single identifier – a telephone number converted into a domain name.

While the technology may initially remain out of sight of the average end-user for the next few years, its take up and impact for consumers and business could be significant. This will certainly be the case for the VoIP and Telcoms industries. It’s an exciting development which is currently being used in several countries across the globe and we’ve just won the contract to run the Tier 1 registry for UK ENUM.

In terms of how it works, a standard phone number such as, 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 and ‘.arpa’ is the Internet infrastructure of .uk or .com. A computer can understand and connect to this address in a fraction of a second which makes ENUM a quick, stable and cheap link between the telecommunications system and the Internet.

One of the main uses of ENUM will be to link different VoIP servers so that telephones within businesses that use VoIP technology can connect to other businesses who use other VoIP providers via the Internet. As a result, telephone calls between businesses using this technology will be much cheaper or possibly even free as there will be no need to connect to the telephone network for the call.

At present it is easy to connect from one employee within a company to another in the same company using a VoIP server. That still works if an employee is a home worker who connects over the Internet – the VoIP server recognises the numbers within its system and connects the call as if the home worker was in the office.

However, if someone in Company A currently wishes to connect to someone in Company B using their VoIP server, they need to connect to a telephone network provider who will make the connection to the second company. The advantage of ENUM is that it will link Company A’s A’s VoIP server via the Internet without having to connect to the telephone network for the call.

As the technology develops, local control of the information associated with your ENUM domain name will mean calls can be connected to your desk telephone or mobile ‘on the fly’ as you move in and out of the office environment.

We are really pleased to be involved with this emerging technology and look forward to seeing how the market for ENUM develops in the UK.

For further information see here