TodayISP.com can register Web addresses with a new top-level domain, .tel. The new domain, which stores and encrypts contact information directly into the Domain Name System, has the potential to become a phone book for the Internet.

A .tel domain name links to the contact information of businesses, organizations and individuals. Information can include telephone numbers; links to web site,  including a Facebook or MySpace page; e-mail addresses; instant messaging names.

"It's a simple idea. And simple ideas are sometimes the best," said the managing director of TodayISP.com, an ICANN approved registrar. "It will just need to get some traction."

Because the data is stored in the DNS, rather than on a server, when a person updates a phone number or address using their .tel account, it is automatically updated in the address books of their friends who have their .tel information stored on a smartphone or other mobile device. "There is nothing else like this on the Web," said the director of TodayISP.com. Rather than sending a note out to all of your contacts, like some contact management services, the update is seamless.

Individuals can also choose to display their location, allowing their contacts to see where they are at any given time and opening the door for location-based services. A .tel name managers "all of the different ways you connect with people online," said the communications director at TodayISP.com, the operator of the .tel registry. At TodayISP.com.

For small businesses without a Web site, a .tel domain could give them a web presence. Registrants can also sstore key words, Which are indexed by search engines like Google, making it easier for customer for mobile devices.