Are the days of phone numbers numbered?

MANILA, Philippines - Are phone numbers fading into the sunset?

Some tech watchers think so. How soon? In five years, some of them say.

Nikhyl Singhal, co-founder and chief executive of voice-application startup SayNow, points to social networks and game-changing companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo!, Facebook and Skype as reasons why many people find themselves punching numbers less and less to reach another person.

More people are now finding it more natural to just send an e-mail rather than pick up a phone to communicate. It helps, too, that voice or chat services are available in e-mail accounts like Gmail.

Social networks like Facebook also offer the convenience of sending out messages instantaneously to as many people as needed without having to know and dial every recipient’s number.

Although many still believe that phone numbers won’t really go away, kids today are growing up with no concept of how important telephone numbers used to be. They also probably will never touch, much less lift, one of those big Yellow Pages telephone directories just to locate a number.

Singhal says phones, especially smartphones, will still be an essential communication device for contacting people, but instead of punching numbers, users will just tap their contacts through their social network accounts accessible on their phones.

Singhal’s company has developed a number of applications that introduce alternative uses for the phone. A voice on top of present social networks should further simplify things, he says. This might lead to the demise of phone numbers and give carriers something to think about.

The fact that phone numbers are attached to a device and not exactly to the user is becoming a growing issue as people become used to sending and receiving communications only from those who are on their contacts or “friends” lists.

It’s also a control issue as anyone can dial a phone number without permission, whereas a social network account has settings to prevent strangers from simply leaving any message, useful or not.

In short, despite concerns about security, a social network like Facebook offers more protection and user control than telephone numbers, which can still be the target of unwanted calls even if the numbers are unlisted, explains Singhal.

He believes a voice application on top of social networks will give users more control over who can call them or not, just as they can select who can see their photos online.