There are a number of Internet telephony service providers competing in the market. There are a wide variety of services offered by different Internet telephony service providers. For example, if you want to make calls to Europe and Asia, there might be a particular Internet telephony service provider that would suit you. If your preference is not for volume of calls to a particular geographical region but your priority is to carry your number wherever you go, you may go for a different Internet telephony service provider. If you are planning to use computer-to-computer VOIP calls, the aforementioned two service providers may not suit you.

The choice of a service provider in this case also depends on the quality of voice and reliability one is looking for. There are certain service providers who may be charging less, but the voice quality they provide is extremely poor. There are others who may charge a higher price, but the voice quality is almost as good as a traditional telephone. Before you sign a long-term contract with a service provider, it would be better to go for a short-term contract and test the quality of services. Many service providers offer ""free trial periods"" or trial periods with a money-back guarantee. Many others offer flexible plans which allow a customer to cancel the contract if the services are not satisfactory. Now not only the new start-ups but also even some of the traditional telephone companies have started offering these services.

The result is that consumers are enjoying a wide variety of packages at very low prices. Many of the companies are even offering these services free of cost. However, one must ensure that he has the required software and hardware devices to take advantage of such offers. Information about Internet telephony service providers is available in abundance online. One can even start utilizing their services by downloading the required software available on their web sites.