A recent TechCrunch guest poster Nikhyl Singhal states the phone number is dying out? After using a UC system for almost 12 months now I can totally agree with Nikhyl. Dialling numbers seem an alien concept. Either my contact is available via a simple click or if they are external I place them in my contacts and never see their number again. I’m positive that dialing a contact from a mobile phone rather than having to look up a number from a landline has led to a large increase in mobile minutes in the enterprise and a decline in fixed line calls. It’s a regular occurrence in an office to see two people talking on the mobile when they are in the same location.
The 10 digit number of course will still be around but there will be a new UI between the user and the dialled number. The closest analogy I can think of is IP addressing. Every form of communication on the internet requires an IP address but less than 1% of people use IP addresses to access content or read a web page.
Soon enough when you want to contact someone you’ll find a contact button on their facebook, twitter or corporate communication system and click to dial. Dialing a number will be a thing of the past.
I’m certain my grandkids will never dial a phone number, or even have one. It’s time to say goodbye to ten digits along with the world’s oldest social network. While we’re at it, let’s kill phone-tree mazes, do-not-call lists…everything associated with phone numbers.
Don’t misconstrue what I’m saying. This isn’t the demise of phone calls. Far from it. People will still talk on their phones. They just want the service to be simple and fun, which won’t entail punching digits into a device to start a conversation.
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