System and method for selecting a packet-switched telephony service provider

Abstract

A system and method for identifying location-specific information. The system and method may preferably be used to identify available packet-switched telephony service providers, such as internet telephony service providers, providing telephony service to a desired call destination. In a preferred embodiment, a user enters one or more call criteria, such as a telephone number or a location description, which are transmitted across a packet-switched network to a server. The server determines location-specific information corresponding to the one or more call criteria. For example, the server may determine a location corresponding to the one or more call criteria, and may further use the determined location to identify available packet-switched telephony service providers offering telephony service to the determined location. A least costly packet-switched telephony service provider may be used by the server to place a call from the user to an entered telephone number. Alternative, a listing of available telephony service providers may be transmitted by the server across the packet-switched network to the user located at a user device. The user may then initiate a call by selecting one of the available packet-switched telephony service providers.