Resumo de Communication: One Point Of Call

HOW MANY times have you received an email saying you have just missed a telephone call? Or a voicemail explaining you have been faxed information? Or a text message containing a phone number? There have never been more ways for us to communicate, and yet each new method simply adds to the last. The Internet is not superseding mobile phones, and mobiles are not replacing landlines. To make matters worse, these communication devices are not keen on communicating with one another. It can be done, of course. Calling from a landline to a mobile is seamless, but often slow and expensive. A lackBerry can send and receive emails, but the system behind it is complex and you have to pay extra for the privilege. Skype offers cheap or free phone calls over the Internet, but is far from universal or perfect. What is needed is a simple method to connect all these devices quickly, easily, efficiently, and cheaply. Fortunately, it exists ? and is called Enum. Enum is an internationally approved method for linking the old telecommunications network with the Internet. It works by using your phone number to create a unique address on the Internet. This address is then used to store what are called Naptr (Naming Authority Pointer Records), which contain whatever contact details you wish to include, such as a landline number, mobile, fax, website, email, instant messaging address ? in fact, any method of communication that can be reached using the Internet or phone network. You can then add rules that make it possible to redirect people to one or other of these contact details depending on who they are, how they are connecting, what time it is and so on. A range of advantages According to Chris Risley, chief executive of Nominum, a company hoping to sell the machines that will do most of the work, Enum provides "a good anchor and a good route." It also, he says, comes with a range of advantages: "First, we will get digital-quality sound and then lots of other applications: movies, instant messaging, video conferencing..." Jay Daley, IT director of Nominet, agrees Enum has "very large potential." Nominet runs the U.K.'s Internet registry, meaning it is in charge of all domain names that end in ".uk", and the company is so keen to take on the equivalent role with Enum that it is seeking a change to its articles of association so it can bid. Mr. Daley says the higher-quality phone calls will also come at a lower price, perhaps even free, but with charges for additional services. And Enum could enable people to build their own virtual telephone exchanges ? which is precisely the situation witnessed by Michael Haberler, one of a few people with real-world Enum experience. Mr. Haberler is chairman of Internet Foundation Austria, part of the successful bid to bring Enum to Ireland later this year, and he started the world's first commercial Enum service in December 2004. There have since been 5,500 Enum registrations but they relate to 60,000 end-points because most of the business has come from companies looking to recreate their own internal telephone networks with digital technology. People moving from standard phone lines to Voice over Internet Protocol for the cost savings are seeking additional savings by having digital exchanges. But this relatively simple process has brought with it an enormous array of problems: Who gets to run the Enum database? Who is allowed to add to or alter it? Who will ensure there is no abuse of the system? When Enum was approved in 2002, the idea was that individuals would grab their own number and use it as a way of controlling communication. But this is fraught with legal issues, such as identity theft, privacy concerns, and a new generation of scams. The need to check that someone is who they say they are has added an authentication requirement. Under the strict U.K. model that has evolved from five years of discussions and trials, the cost may be as much as ¢10 per Enum. Everyone agrees this is too high, leadg to consideration of an entirely new telephone number so there is no need for authentication. Mr. Haberler has tried this approach in Austria ? it worked, but business is still "fairly small and slow." The problem, he explained, is that phone and Internet companies are not interested in pushing it because of the support problem; they would much rather run the system themselves and get people to apply through them. This second type of Enum, usually called Carrier Enum, is what we are most likely to see at Christmas: companies such as BT will offer to handle the privacy and technical issues, neatly packaging the result as a new product or service. Tony Holmes, chairman of the U.K. Enum Group and a BT employee, says it is a good way "to get an awful lot of numbers into Enum." The system's success is a bit chicken-and-egg, he says. "We need the applications to drive it, and we need the numbers for the applications

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