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1. What is .TEL?
2. Why should I get a .TEL?
3. How can .TEL help my business?
4. How do I edit my .TEL?
5. Is .TEL a website?
6. How do I set up email@yourname.tel?
7. How do I set up privacy and friending?
8. How do I set a precise location in my .tel?
9. What should I put in my .TEL?

1. What is .TEL?

.TEL is an online business card that allows businesses or individuals to store contact information and keywords and use their .TEL as a single point of contact enabling customers and friends to contact them with a single click. Data is stored directly in the DNS thus eliminating the need for hosting and building.

2. Why should I get a .TEL?

.TEL is the new way to communicate. It is convenient because it contains all your contact information so all you have to give out is yourname.tel as contact information and your customers or friends can choose how to contact your with the options provided in your .TEL, and all it takes to call you is just one click.

By giving out your .TEL name instead of phone number or email, your customers or friends never have to update your contact info again when it changes. As long as you update your .TEL, everyone who knows your .TEL is automatically up to date.

3. How can .TEL help my business?

Once you register a .TEL name, you are automatically placed into the first global online directory allowing people from all over the world to find you. Even if you're a local business, you never know if someone out of city, state, or country may be stopping by or moving into your area and need your services. Information in your .TEL can also be read by search engines such as Google, thus providing additional ways for potential customers to find you.

.TEL can provide your customers an easy to remember way to contact you. Phone numbers and email are hard to remember and can change, but names are much easier. If you ever change your contact info in your .TEL, your customers and business contacts are automatically updated. Gone are the days of contacting everybody to update your info.

Save money on reprinting business cards whenever your phone, email, or webpage changes. All you need is your .TEL name.

4. How do I edit my .TEL?

Once you finish the .TEL registration, check your email and look for the subject titled How to Access TelHosting & Update Your .TEL and log into your telhosting account with the username and password provided and edit your contact information and keywords. No HTML or any kind of programming or webdesigning skills is required. Everything is form based. If you want to add your phone number, just add a contact info and select "phone" and enter your number. Simple as that. Watch this video tutorial if you need help.

5. Is .TEL a website?

Information in .TEL can be accessed from different devices and different softwares. It can be accessed with a web browser or an iPhone application like Superbook (a lightning fast .TEL address book). There is also software for the Blackberry and a plugin for Microsoft Outlook that can access .TEL data. These apps eliminate the need to enter every contact information because once a .TEL is entered in the address book, all available contact information is pulled from that .TEL and automatically entered.

Individuals or businesses who don't have a website sometimes use .TEL as a replacement because webhosting and webdesigning is not required to setup a .TEL. Those who already have a website can use .TEL to point to their current site. This method usually gives a search engine ranking boost to the website being linked to from their .TEL.

6. How do I set up email@yourname.tel?

To have a .TEL email address, you need to have mail servers setup to host your mailbox, and MX records pointing to those servers from your .TEL domain. You can add MX records from the Settings link in the .tel control panel, or programmatically using the SOAP/AJAX APIs. For instructions on setting up a free .TEL mailbox using Google Mail or Windows Live Mail, click How to setup .TEL email.

7. How do I set up privacy and friending?

Watch this video tutorial to learn how to quickly set up privacy and telfriends.

8. How do I set a precise location in my .tel?

Your .TEL allows you to store your location as geographic coordinates: latitude plus longitude. Clicking the Location link on your .TEL displays your position on a map, such as Google Maps in a browser.

In the .TEL control panel Dashboard, you can enter your location as a post code, address, or exact co-ordinates separated by a comma. In the former cases, you may need to adjust your location because your postcode may not exactly correspond to your actual location. Click for simple steps to set your tel location.

9. What should I put in my .TEL?

You should put all forms of contact information so your customers can reach you with one click. You can also add the address and location of where your office is. Rates, hours of operation, and special deals and announcements can also be added either in the header or in a free text keywords area. Any other important information that can help your customers should also be considered (examples are food menu, theater times, testimonials and reviews, homes for sale, etc. Check out some examples of .TEL templates here to give you an idea of what you can put in your .TEL.