What is Phone-DNS and Why we can’t implement it now

DNS is the Domain Name System, the mapping of IP address to domain names (e.g. for websites like http://example.com). As the IP addresses are hard to remember, we have adapted the system of mapping the IP addresses to their respective FQDNs (Fully Qualified Domain Names). We just type the website address in the URL bar and the DNS server converts it to its respective IP address, which later serves us.

We all have phone numbers stored in our phone’s memory, mapped with the names. When we want to contact someone through our phone, it serves as a DNS server for us where we can just tap the name and the phone dials the number. Thus we all have a tiny DNS server in our pocket, but what if we combine all these tiny servers into a globalized service. Not like truecaller or something, but a more concrete and reliable service.

There has been Telephone number mapping service, for unifying the International telephone numbers with Internet addressing and name spaces (ref: Wikipedia). There can be something different of the same kind. For primary purpose, each person owns one phone number, or take it two. Each number can be mapped to usernames like @bhumish. The second number can have different username like @bhumishgajjar. This mapping can be stored by every ISPs, which can later be combined at higher lever for making it globalized – the same way DNS works till the root servers. For example, my number 91 9090 90909 is mapped to @bhumishg, and so while tipping my number I’ll say ‘My contact number is bhumishg‘. Whenever you dial @bhumishg from your phone, first your ISP will check the mapping and then connect it to me. In the current scenario, our phones remember the things for us, but what if we lessen the burden of our phones too? Just like our twitter handles, we can have unique usernames for the phone numbers. Also, it will be cool having the phone numbers like @h4ck3r or @cutegirl.

Why can’t we have such system?

There can be some issues with setting up such system in the current scenario with increase in technology/devices and the big-data of phone numbers. If it had been early days of the Internet and Mobile phone systems, possibilities of phone DNS could be higher. The number of phone-numbers is increasing at a very fast pace, and the initial setup necessary for these numbers is difficult. Everybody is used to the normal phone-number and name system, and implementing the new (easy) system would be tough for the companies as well as it would be hard to adapt for the users. Plus the infrastructure to be set-up by the ISPs is huge. As ages have passed since the evolution of Internet-DNS and phone numbers, it is now not possible to set it up again.

The idea is great, but the time has passed. Just like IPv6, now we are in need of extending the phone number range also. The ISPs are taking appropriate steps country-wide, but if they can apply some global changes while designing the extended numbers, it would be better.

Here’s an IP: 70.40.203.119, copy-paste it in your browser, enjoy!