Grand Central developed a phone management tool that would allow you to have just one phone number, that could be programmed to try and reach you, for example, at your desk, then your mobile, then ring your PA or even your home phone.

Like Skype, the service uses a combination of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology and the old-fashioned phone system.

But despite the fact that Ireland had an early lead in making its own phone system comply with the international standard that makes services like this possible, there were few attempts here to turn our early lead into profits . . . or even just a startup company that could become Googlebait.

In 2006 Ireland became one of the first countries to implement the telecommunications standard, called ENUM, which can give you almost all the same functionality as Grand Central without having to use Google.

"ENUM has the potential to be a key enabler of advanced IP-based services.

ComReg has been to the fore in encouraging the development of ENUM in Ireland and we are pleased to welcome the opening of IENUM's service which we see as an innovative and potentially valuablenew communications facility for Irish enterprises, " said ComReg chairman Mike Byrne.

ComReg hoped that the introduction of the standard would let Irish companies offer services . . . but for some reason there has been little activity in the space. MyEnum. ie offers a service to consumers using the technology but no one has yet set out their stall with the ambition of Grand Central.