3 ms·

Ask HN: Why doesn't phone numbers use DNS?

7 points by CMCDragonkai 12y ago

govg 12y ago
What exactly do you mean by DNS? Do you want to know why you can't call a person by their name, which automatically finds the number?
- CMCDragonkai 12y ago
  Well yes. Just like registering a domain name for a particular person's telephone number. It would be an Opt-In process though. People can still be using their phone numbers if they like. But I want to be able to tell people to call me simply by using my name. And I think a lot of people would want to!
  - steviee 12y ago
    I think this would probably be a good thing. Changing your cell phone numbers and stuff like that won't matter so much anymore. Hell, providers could hand out IPv6 addresses as phone numbers and you could still have a fancy name/number to call. You should start a company devoted to this! Nice thought! Regards, Stevie
    - CMCDragonkai 12y ago
      Yep that's the idea. But it doesn't seem like any phones right now support using a DNS resolver. That's the main thing. And many phones only has numeric pads.
      - steviee 12y ago
        Yes, even though with the right marketing (make it easy to use) any smartphone vendor could probably implement this service. Or just create a "dial"-app replacement for iOS (if possible), Android, ... to use the service and fall back to normal phone numbers when needed. It's more of a marketing challenge than a technical one I guess. Regards, Steviee
        CMCDragonkai 12y ago
        There's a company trying with an App right now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7882494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7882494 But. I think the only true way of making this successful is an open source effort. And an ability for people to setup their own DNS servers. Perhaps I shall investigate Namecoin.
jgrahamc 12y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tel
- CMCDragonkai 12y ago
  Can I call somebody by typing something.tel?
CMCDragonkai 12y ago
There's some discussion for this: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/library/wi-domain/ http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/library/wi-domain... https://domainnamewire.com/2010/11/17/new-smartphone-app-hopes-to-replace-phone-numbers-with-domain-names/ https://domainnamewire.com/2010/11/17/new-smartphone-app-hop... http://en.siter.com/ http://en.siter.com/ http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3966.txt http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3966.txt
mooism2 12y ago
Do you mean something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_number_portability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_number_portability but more general?
- CMCDragonkai 12y ago
  Not really.
Spooky23 12y ago
Historically, AT&T sold phone number data. There was no interest in an open directory system, because they provide a closed loop.
- CMCDragonkai 12y ago
  But if we could, imagine auctioning the best domains! Then country level domains could be used as the root.
runjake 12y ago
I'm pretty sure there was a DNS record type for telephone numbers, but it was never picked up for use by anyone. If it exists, it would be in this document: http://www.iana.org/assignments/dns-parameters/dns-parameters.xhtml http://www.iana.org/assignments/dns-parameters/dns-parameter... I quickly found record types for ISDN and X.25, but I don't have time to pick through for PTSN. Edit: See also: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1183#section-3.2 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1183#section-3.2
- CMCDragonkai 12y ago
  Can we pick it up for use now?
xialeban 12y ago
there is an IETF protocol:ENUM
sdfjkl 12y ago
Phone numbers are an anachronism from the days of electromechanical phone exchanges[1]. These days we can name things more sensibly, so you can call Bob at example.com by just entering bob@example.com into your SIP client. That SIP client (or a server it is connected to) will then look up the SRV record[2] for _sip._tcp.example.com, connect to the SIP server it specifies, and ask it to be put in touch with Bob. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strowger_switch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strowger_switch [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_record

7 points by CMCDragonkai 12y ago

govg 12y ago

What exactly do you mean by DNS? Do you want to know why you can't call a person by their name, which automatically finds the number?

CMCDragonkai 12y ago
Well yes. Just like registering a domain name for a particular person's telephone number. It would be an Opt-In process though. People can still be using their phone numbers if they like. But I want to be able to tell people to call me simply by using my name. And I think a lot of people would want to!
- steviee 12y ago
  I think this would probably be a good thing. Changing your cell phone numbers and stuff like that won't matter so much anymore. Hell, providers could hand out IPv6 addresses as phone numbers and you could still have a fancy name/number to call. You should start a company devoted to this! Nice thought! Regards, Stevie
  - CMCDragonkai 12y ago
    Yep that's the idea. But it doesn't seem like any phones right now support using a DNS resolver. That's the main thing. And many phones only has numeric pads.
    - steviee 12y ago
      Yes, even though with the right marketing (make it easy to use) any smartphone vendor could probably implement this service. Or just create a "dial"-app replacement for iOS (if possible), Android, ... to use the service and fall back to normal phone numbers when needed. It's more of a marketing challenge than a technical one I guess. Regards, Steviee
      - CMCDragonkai 12y ago
        There's a company trying with an App right now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7882494 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7882494 But. I think the only true way of making this successful is an open source effort. And an ability for people to setup their own DNS servers. Perhaps I shall investigate Namecoin.

jgrahamc 12y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tel

CMCDragonkai 12y ago
Can I call somebody by typing something.tel?

CMCDragonkai 12y ago

There's some discussion for this: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/library/wi-domain/ http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/library/wi-domain... https://domainnamewire.com/2010/11/17/new-smartphone-app-hopes-to-replace-phone-numbers-with-domain-names/ https://domainnamewire.com/2010/11/17/new-smartphone-app-hop... http://en.siter.com/ http://en.siter.com/ http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3966.txt http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3966.txt

mooism2 12y ago

Do you mean something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_number_portability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_number_portability but more general?

CMCDragonkai 12y ago
Not really.

Spooky23 12y ago

Historically, AT&T sold phone number data. There was no interest in an open directory system, because they provide a closed loop.

CMCDragonkai 12y ago
But if we could, imagine auctioning the best domains! Then country level domains could be used as the root.

runjake 12y ago

I'm pretty sure there was a DNS record type for telephone numbers, but it was never picked up for use by anyone. If it exists, it would be in this document: http://www.iana.org/assignments/dns-parameters/dns-parameters.xhtml http://www.iana.org/assignments/dns-parameters/dns-parameter... I quickly found record types for ISDN and X.25, but I don't have time to pick through for PTSN. Edit: See also: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1183#section-3.2 http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1183#section-3.2

CMCDragonkai 12y ago
Can we pick it up for use now?

xialeban 12y ago

there is an IETF protocol:ENUM

sdfjkl 12y ago

Phone numbers are an anachronism from the days of electromechanical phone exchanges[1]. These days we can name things more sensibly, so you can call Bob at example.com by just entering bob@example.com into your SIP client. That SIP client (or a server it is connected to) will then look up the SRV record[2] for _sip._tcp.example.com, connect to the SIP server it specifies, and ask it to be put in touch with Bob. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strowger_switch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strowger_switch [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_record https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRV_record