In case of emergency... SOS .tel

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 21 June 2009 09:11

Business IT - Technology

The recently launched .tel top level domain was designed to be a on-stop-shop for all an organisation's or an individual's contact information, but one organisation KFA Technologies, has set up a .tel web site to be one-stop shop for emergency services phone numbers worldwide.

According to KFA's founder,, Francois Amigorena, the site, http://sos1.tel "is probably the most ambitious .tel site created so far...It gathers the emergency phone numbers of 134 countries worldwide and takes full advantage of the competitive edges of .tel technology."

KFA says that travellers now simply need only to memorise SOS1.tel to be able to access contact information on PCs or mobile devices to the relevant emergency services in the country they are in, simply by typing it into the browser. It adds ".tel domains are not websites, which means that the data sent back is very quick and also low cost to access.... .tel domains can be quickly updated as there is no web coding or programming required, and any information saved is automatically published to the internet within seconds."

SOS1.tel claims to more than four hundred emergency phone numbers (police, medical, fire, sea rescue, etc) and other contacts in three languages (English, French and Spanish), all accessible via a simple and intuitive navigation tree (SOS1 > Continent > Country).

It says "People are then connected with one simple click. Reporting possible wrong numbers or suggesting additional emergency phone numbers can be performed at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For Australia it lists triple zero, Crime Stoppers, National Security, Rape Crisis Centre, Domestic Violence, Child Protection and Kids Helpline. Clicking on these numbers initiates a call via Skype, if that is enabled (except for 000 which cannot be dialled from Skype).

There are a few glaring omission, the most obvious, given that the site is supposed to be accessible from cellphones, is the universal GSM emergency number 112. Also missing are numbers for the national search and rescue co-ordination centres (aviation and maritime) and the 24 hour national poisons hotline 131 126 (which curiously is not listed in the "Numbers you Need" section at the front of the Sydney White Pages.

KFA Technologies, a ".tel pure player" company, was founded in March 2009 and is headquartered in Biarritz (France). It has already created DotTelFinder (http://www.DotTelFinder.com), the .tel Only Search Engine, and ToutPointTel (http://www.ToutPointTel.fr), the French-speaking .tel community web site, and says it will soon release innovative software solutions for .tel domains owners.