Concerns about .tel
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As many of you have figured out, I am strong supporter of .tel, and have invested in both Landrush and GA domains.
But now I feel I must slip on my "skeptical" hat because there are some issues that need to be addressed at the registrar level.
IMHO, the registrars have done a poor job of getting telhosting credentials out to customers. For domainers, this is an irksome problem, but not an impossible one. We are familiar with registrars and their sloppy ways of communicating with customers and can often figure out how to negotiate incomplete and hidden information.
However, John Q. Public, non-domainer, who has just regged a .tel domain because he has heard that he doesn't need a website, will run into an immediate snag because no one (my three registrars, at least) offers the user a step-by-step directions for setting up telhosting. Moreover, if he tries to use his registrar sign-in, forget it. It won't work, and neither Dynadot or Dotster tells you this (although once you figure out Dynadot's panel, at least you can configure your own sign-in ID and password).
Telhosting Credentials. I never did receive telhosting credentials from Dynadot. I was left to my own devices--again, manageable for those of us who are used to TWTW, but disaster for newbies who will find the whole domain thing bewildering.
Dotster did send credentials. However, Dotster decides your sign-in ID and Password, both of which look like auth codes. And after I lodged a complaint, I was told (three days later) "too bad." So what happens when I can't remember my user ID OR my password? I have printed out a copy, but, still, a user ID and password need to be intuitive to the user, while being complicated for a hacker.
Domainmonster sent nothing in way of credentials, plus they have this weird system where you must "configure" each domain individually (Dotster and Dynadot have already done this for customers). And while you're configuring domains, you don't log in (????), you just access the configure button and do each domain individually on the telhosting panel. WTF???? Now a non-domainer will have no idea what to do with that configure button, and it might even alarm him or her. Also, I suspect if you forget and reconfigure a domain with contact info already posted, you will wipe out all your inputted info, like wiping out a hard drive. Yikes!
Now your domains have been configured. Fine. Now how do you sign into your telhosing panel? Again, no guidance. I tried my Domainmonster ID and Password. Nope, didn't work. I found another purple button for .tel apps (iPhone, etc.), with one of those complicated ID/Pass combinations, but it said nothing about using it for telhosting. It just said, "These details may be required by some of the applications listed below." (Menu with Outlook, Balckberry, iPhone, and Windows apps)--Absolutely nothing about using this ID/Pass for telhosting.
Okay, so I figured it out, but what about John Q. Public, newbie? He is likely to throw up his hands and just give up. He will NOT likely fill out his contact info at all, and will just allow the domain to expire.
Another dead domain hits the dust, on its way to Snapnames, Pool, and NameJet.
To give due credit, Domainmonster is good about answering queries fast (usually within 4 hours), unlike Dynadot (whose tech support seems to have vanished into thin air) and Dotster who takes 4-5 days to answer a simple question. All registrars need to offer a telhosting FAQ page, which would take some of the burden off tech support.
My point: this lack of organization and standardization among registrars does not bode well for the TLD.
If we want newbies to adopt this no-website-required TLD, then they need to have a way of accessing telhosting easily and with clear step-by-step instuctions. For example, I notice that registrars have no problem sending out invoices, so why not send out telhosting instructions at the same time?
On their end, Telnic has done a great job of creating a simple card for display on mobile phones and PCs. In my opinion, this is a strength and the major reason I decided to invest.
However, access to the telhosting panel and telhosting management needs to be simplified and streamlined and consistent across registrars. While I can appreciate Telnic's "hands off" policy regarding how individual registrars manage their telhosting configurations, it seems to me that unless simplicity of use is not addressed, we MAY be seeing the demise of a TLD, simply because it has been advertised as as webless and hostless domain, designed for people who do not wish to pay for hosting and who want a simple and fast way to set up a contact card.
In short, this TLD is being marketed to a user who does not understand funky registrars and their on-the-fly culture (and strange TOS), so registrars need to understand this and act accordingly.
I realize that the telhosting system is currently maxed out and that glitches are a part of any new system, but from what I can see, the registrar problem is systemic and ongoing.
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