 Welcome to .telegraph, the monthly .tel community newsletter covering the latest news on .tel features, software and services, as well as useful tips and advice from .tel owners. Why not share this with someone you think may also be interested? More resources are at http://telnic.org/community-landing.html. |  | In this issue: Smartwear for your .tel  | Your .tel page now looks smarter on large-screen mobile devices similar to the iPhone, Android or BlackBerry. Unlike smaller screen mobiles that show a very lean .tel page, the smart .tel view adds colour, graphics and a standard design to your .tel while retaining its mobile optimization and shorter loading times. After its first week live, the new display is gaining positive reviews from customers worldwide. However, with a large number of devices, operating systems and internet browsers out there, we encourage the community to report any glitches they encounter to community@telnic.org. | The new .tel look was presented to attendees and mobile experts at the London chapter of the global Mobile Monday forum last week as part of Telnic's increasing outreach to the mobile professional community. With the new look and feel, now any company or individual can be confident that they have a great mobile solution out-of-the-box with a professional look and feel at an incredibly cost-effective price point.
 | ".tel is a great tool and has taken introduction to the next level, like James Bond when he said, "The name is Bond, James Bond". People never heard anyone introducing themselves in such a novel and convincing manner." Read the full interview with FarhanMughal.tel |  |
A digital identity for your pet  | It's not just individuals and businesses who are finding benefits from having their own .tel, animals are also finding valuable uses for a digital identity. Pet owners in the past have been limited to trying to fit a phone number onto their best friend's tag, or settle for just showing their name. As a result, rarely did the finder of a missing pet have the correct details of the owner to hand, even without the owner moving house or changing contact information. | | Elisabeth Bethge, of theHundeladen Pet Store has produced an inventive solution to this problem by offering the ".tel dogfinder collar & harness". By packaging a .tel along with a collar/harness, Elizabeth has provided a way for dogs to always display the current contact details for their owner. If the owner changes address or phone number, all that is needed is to update the dog's .tel. Similarly the owner can now take their dog on holiday, safe in the knowledge that should the dog go missing there, the .tel can be updated to show their holiday address and contact details. The .tel could remain even if the dog changes owner. |  | Elizabeth's customers can now relax, knowing that should their dogs ever go missing, anyone finding them can always access the .tel for their contact details. Unlike a tag, the collar/harness should never get lost. Now your dog can join the ranks of .tel-adopting canines like bowser.tel. | 
Telnic is offering you the opportunity to win one of Hundeladen's .tel embroidered collars for your dog, along with a 1 year registration of a .tel. | To enter you just need to complete the sentence: "My dog needs a .tel because..." There are five band/neoprene collars available for our favourite submissions. Email your idea tocommunity@telnic.org before the 30th November. Please include your name, .tel, dog's name (this will be the .tel registered, or the closest match available), colour (black, royal blue, burgundy, blue, red or brown), Band Width (S = 2cm, M = 3cm, L = 4cm), measurement of the dog's neck in cm and address. We'll announce the winners in the December edition of the .Telegraph. | If your dog is not lucky enough to win this time, Hundeladen are offering a 5% discount on all .tel collars and harnesses from hundeladen.tel. To claim the discount please mention the code "telnic-newsletter" when you make your order with them.
"By Invitation Only" A .tel is generally thought of as a tool for external parties - family, friends, customers, to communicate with the owner, be it an individual or a business. In addition to this, a .tel an be a very useful tool for managing communication channels within a group.  | To illustrate this example, let's look at a cycling club. In addition to all of the cycling members, the club is also likely to have a committee comprising of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and other members. For the smooth running and organization of the club it's crucial that communication is effective between all members of this committee. For most clubs this means the secretary regularly circulating an updated memo with updated phone numbers and email addresses. A .tel can now change all of this. | It's quite possible that many members of the committee will not want their home phone number on the club's .tel for all to see. Thanks to the sophisticated privacy features of .tel they have no need to. By creating a "Committee" subfolder, the .tel owner can add all of the members, their phone numbers and email ad-dresses while keeping it all private. Only members with specific permission to do so will be able to see those details. This way the Secretary can ensure that every-one has the correct details and, for those with smart-phones, these details will be available wherever they are at the touch of a button. Private .tel directories for sharing information within a specific group can be useful in a variety of situations from global project management to a local book club. Whatever the use, you can be confident in the knowledge that the information is secure and private. Find out more about using privacy on a .tel visit: http://telnic.org/tools-telfriends.html.
.tel and Local Search With local search being a hot topic in 2010, how can a .tel help you promote your skills or your business online? Well, .tel is the first domain with local at its heart. Why? | Firstly, one of the key things that all .tel domains have is the ability to provide a location record quickly and simply. Many small businesses struggle with this when building their own websites. .tel makes this an extremely simple task. It then becomes ingrained in the essential information stored in a .tel; the contact information and descriptive content is contextualized also by a location record. This makes it especially juicy for search engines when looking at relevant content to serve up. Secondly, as the .tel automatically publishes micro-formats such as hCard which help software to identify labeled content and handle it better, Google can take this location information and the contact and context information and understand its relevance in its entirety. If a keyword is Silicon Valley and the location record matches, this is relevant and useful information for a local search. |  | Thirdly, as a .tel domain is automatically formatted in the right way for every device, it becomes a customer-friendly single point of contact that customers can use to then decide how they interact with the company; it instantly provides customers with a choice of ways of interacting. This is crucial when exploring new ways of interacting with customers who might want to check in on Foursquare, interact on Twitter or write a review on Qype. With so many interaction points, a company can remind a customer of all of the places they might be able to interact on a .tel, thus making much better use of those touchpoints from an ROI perspective. Finally, a .tel can be used in local outdoor or interactive advertising to bring customers to relevant information, interaction points or offers. As the .tel can be populated 'on the fly' from mobile devices, information can be changed very quickly. Thus, a local offer that is running for one hour only for local shoppers can be switched on and off without any hassle. One enhancement you might consider if you're a local business is using TelAds to provide offers and vouchers for your customers. There's been an incredible growth in the past couple of years in terms of customers wanting to use coupons to gain great deals. Many of the services out there today however have too many hidden terms and conditions and leave very little profit left. Using free third party services to populate your TelAds with time-limited vouchers or offers for first-time customers, will provide you with the ability to drive further revenue. In 2011, we'll be making this even easier by providing a special voucher record which you'll be able to populate from within the control panel. With the price of a .tel averaging at $15 per year, and the power of instant information at people's fingertips, customer service and coupon offers, search engine optimization, mobile access from any device and location at the heart of the domain, .tel is a perfect solution for Local Search. The proof is in the pudding | When we write that .tel is juicy for search engines, it isn't just wishful thinking, or some kind of sales pitch. Many initiatives at Telnic and independently in the .tel community have repeatedly shown by the numbers that .tel domains are some of the most powerful (and certainly cheapest!) search engine optimization (SEO) you can achieve. Telnic is currently undergoing a study with a large yellow page provider in the US to look at the value of providing .tel domains to their customers. Whilst Google has only indexed the .tel domains in the past three weeks, the results have been dramatic. Both Google and Bing, at the time of writing, are presenting over 50% of the domains indexed in the top 15 results for named search, with 39% of .tel domains being ranked in the first 10 results in Google and 44% of .tel domains. |  |
.tel—the new gadget for top executives With the increasing popularity of social media and gradual penetration of businesses into social networks and global online communities like Twitter, it has become increasingly difficult for companies and their management to control the information the Internet has to offer about them. That's why a .tel name can help executives better manage their online reputation. Here's what Mr. Farhan Zulfiqar Mughal has to say about it.  | Farhan Zulfiqar Mughal is Head of Corporate Communications at Ali & Sons Co. in Abu Dhabi. What's internet access like in your region? What's the preferred format of choice? I would talk about UAE. Internet is literally everywhere, homes, offices, malls with hotspots and not forgetting the Internet cafes. In short, we have LAN, WAN and dial-up connections available. Everyone is connected to one another through their mobiles, PDAs, Ipads and laptops. How do people do business in your region? Is there much commerce conducted over the web? | A well built, interactive website is one important communications tool and for some industries it's vital. Businesses in the region are well aware of this and sectors like Aviation, Hospitality, Real Estate and Government encourage the monetary transactions be conducted online and offer special deals to do business online. Why do you have a .tel? What's the real benefit to you? There are several reasons, being Head of Corporate Communications; I have to demonstrate different ways of getting connected. I believe my .tel farhanmughal.tel helps in telling people that you mean business. .tel is a great tool and has taken introduction to the next level, like James Bond when he said, "The name is Bond, James Bond". People never heard anyone introducing themselves in such a novel and convincing manner. How easy do you find it to manage? Do you make changes often? It has a steep learning curve, I enjoyed learning it, but you might agree that there is tweaking to be done to make the experience more enjoyable especially for people who are not very well versed with computers. I love experimenting with colour combinations for my profile. Do you give out your .tel to business partners, friends, new connections? Shared it with friends, but not with business partners yet, I will make a few changes before sharing it. How do people react when you share your .tel name with them? Majority of them are amazed. I enjoy their reactions, as most of them are not aware of what .tel is and how to get it. Would you recommend your associates or business partners to use .tel? It's a highly recommended product. What would you like to change or add to the .tel experience? What's missing or difficult to achieve? I will give you an example, if you want to upload a picture for your profile; it has to be online somewhere on an internet site as there is no option available to upload it from your desktop. This is something new for normal users and they might find it inconvenient.
Secondly, .tel should offer it's users a wider collection of pre-configured colour palettes to use for their profile. Visit our Stories online for more testimonials
Making a difference in the local community Since its launch in September 2009, DonTel has been pioneering .tel technology in their region and assisting local companies with online promotion and marketing campaigns through its .tel directory and standalone .tel resources. They act as .tel experts in Rostov-on-Don, the business centre of south-east Russia, and provide a range of .tel-oriented business services, including setup, maintenance, & promotion in traditional and online media. | Anna Sokolenko, CEO of DonTel, explains: "Judging by the domains we've setup for ourselves and our clients, .tel is the easiest, cheapest and most efficient way to run your own marketing campaign via the traditional web and on mobile devices." Helping local businesses DonTel's innovation in local directory publishing is in the bundling of a listing with a domain name, such that that the advertiser controls their listing and can publish much more than any standard directory would support, very quickly and without the need to contact the directory publisher. The result is an easy-to-navigate local directory linking to individual .tel pages. For example, aboutique shop listing under "clothes & accessories" links to the shop'spiena.tel. DonTel also provide setup and maintenance services to help new customers get started with their .tel domains, and get the most Google juice out of their resources. |  | Promotional activities To help promote .tel in Rostov, DonTel regularly attends business networking events and conferences, including this year's advertising expo and 10th international business forum, where they organized training sessions to educate marketing professionals on how to utilize the .tel potential for successful online advertising. Based on their experience in setting up .tel pages for innumerable cafes, shops, law firms and dry cleaners, DonTel was able to demonstrate the SEO power of .tel technology and the tangible benefits it brought to their customers. All of their promo and training materials are now available online for their Russian audience to explore. A bright future Rostov-don.tel expects a high renewal rate as the directory is nearing its first anniversary as a result of all of this activity. Anna says, "We're optimistic about further development of .tel domains in the Russian-speaking segment as low-cost online advertising is already in demand, and mobile-based marketing is gaining popularity. We aim to raise awareness of .tel benefits in the region with the target of providing a .tel domain name of their own to every professional, sole trader and company in the area." "For optimal growth of .tel popularity in Russia, it'd be necessary to organize the intellectual and marketing initiatives of .tel supporters, such as regional and specialised directories. A Pan-Russian project bringing all directories together would create an extensive & reliable information network that will remove information barriers, and will kick-start further development of the .tel zone in Russia. Based on our experience, we would consider opening up a franchise or similar model to suit our partners." | 
Roadside poster reads:
"Rostov-don.tel—the first city mobile directory. Always online!" | Broader outlook Overall, Russia appears to be a growing market for niche directory services catering to the information needs of their community, such asIvanovo.tel or Sochi-hotels.tel. According to the analysis that Telnic conducts, some of these well-populated, linked and actively promoted directories regularly hit the top as the most visited .tel domains worldwide, showing that there is indeed an un-fulfilled need for this type of service. Whilst traditional internet yellow pages don't address this, there's still a significant opportunity for business models to emerge and grow to meet this demand, as can be shown from this grassroots example.
Sheena Khanna, living the .tel life | Hello everyone, I'm Sheena Khanna, I've been working for Telnic in London since December last year. You can find me at Sheenak.tel. Over the coming months I am going to be using TelPages.com to see whether I can find goods, services and activities that my family and I can use, only by using the TelPages search directory. |  |  | Today is Friday and to start off the weekend in style I'm meeting some friends on the other side of town for dinner and drinks. I decide to book a cab to take me to the venue after I finish work as the bar is in Clerkenwell. I visit TelPages.com and there are 3 search boxes available to me: Who, what and where - very simple and easy to follow. I type in mini cabs in the 'what 'field and London in the 'where' field. The first link is Londonminicabs.tel and I click on this and it brings up a directory of mini cabs in London—so I click on central and then London Connexions where I retrieve the company telephone number and other details. Easy enough! So I call the cab firm and book a cab for 6.30pm. | | Second on my list is to book a hairdresser's appointment for the weekend, ideally on Saturday. I live close to Watford in Hertfordshire so I type in 'hairdressers' under the what field and 'Watford' under the where field. There are 505 results and I select the fist link which is Evolve Salon. The Salon is based on Vicarage road which I think is fairly close by, I have a quick view of the map and find I am just 5 minutes away so it's very convenient. I call the salon with the phone number which is provided and book a appointment for Saturday afternoon. A perfect way of being pampered on Saturday and a great start to the weekend. |  | | And last but not least I've been roped into organizing a birthday bash for a close friend of mine. She loves eating out and lives in St Albans so ideally wants to book somewhere locally. She has asked me to find somewhere quite lively as there will be a big group of 15 people. So I type in restaurants in the 'what' box and 'St Albans in the 'where' box. There are over 2000 results, and the fourth link is Indian restaurants in St Albans which I think sounds like a great idea as she loves Indian cuisine. I click on the link and find a restaurant called Chez Mumtaj restaurant and Saffron lounge bar. I check out the menu and restaurant website, it's a French / Asian restaurant with a champagne bar which sounds ideal for birthday bash. I send on the restaurant contact details to my friend and hopefully she'll think it's a great idea too! |  |
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