Definition of ENUM: The mapping of „Telephone Numbers“ to Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) using the Domain Name System (DNS) in the domain e164.arpa

The purpose of ENUM is to enable the convergence between the PSTN* and the Internet.

*PSTN = Public Switched Telephone Network, which refers to the international telephone system based on copper wires carrying analog voice data. Telephone service carried by the PSTN is often called plain old telephone service (POTS). See also PSTN on Wikipedia.

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From Domain pulse 2005 looks at the key topics of convergence of telephony and the Internet, and spam

Accessing the Internet with a (conventional) telephone
ENUM (Electronic Number Mapping) is the name of the new application which provides a link between the classical fixed network and the Internet. Contrary to the case in Germany and Switzerland, where ENUM trials are still underway, the Austrian registry, nic.at, is already able to report on the experience it has acquired. The University of Vienna's more than 3000 employees will soon be accessible under a single ENUM domain – whatever the time of day and irrespective of the particular location they happen to be in.

In Switzerland, SWITCH is initially testing the convergence of telephony and Internet in the university sector. As Marcel Parodi from SWITCH reports: "Our test operation is intended to provide information on the particular local situation. All of Austria's experience is beneficial to us." Europe ranks right up front in the international comparison. The world's first international ENUM telephone call took place between Austria and Slovakia.

See also:
ENUM - Intro: Grundlagen, Wirkungsweise und praktische Vorführung von ENUM
ENUM - Erfahrungen aus Österreich
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