One of these firms, Jajah, is a startup that recently garnered venture-capital funding to launch Jajah US, a low-cost VoIP service that allows users to talk phone-to-phone without any software downloads, special headsets, or installations.

The VoIP option from Lycos, the other new entrant in the world of Internet telephony, is linked to sponsor promotions from the likes of Netflix and credit-card companies to help lower costs for consumers.

Two-Tiered System

Lycos Phone is a two-tiered system similar in some ways to content services that offer advertising-free material for a paid subscription and free content for others willing to look at ads.

The service gives free VoIP-based calls to users who sign up with partner companies like Netflix or are willing to receive credit-card offers.

If users want to employ the service without signing up for offers, they must pay one cent per minute for U.S. calls.

Those who do sign up with partners will pay that rate after exhausting their allocated free minutes. The service also offers movie previews, PC-to-PC video calling, and text-messaging features.

Simplicity Minded

Jajah got the idea for a stripped-down VoIP offering when its founders were perusing an IDC report, which noted that only 3 percent of Web surfers had VoIP while 95 percent used search engines.

"We realized that we have to make VoIP as simple as searching keywords in Google," said Jajah cofounder Roman Scharf. "From then on, we focused on creating a system that anyone can use."

The company is optimistic that its service will draw customers that have been eager to employ VoIP because of its cost savings but have been held back by perceived technological complexities.

The Jajah system lets callers type in their landline or mobile phone numbers at the company's Web site and insert their desired destination number. Jajah then calls both parties on their phones, effectively making the VoIP link-up seamless.

Calls cost 1.7 to 1.9 cents per minute in the U.S., with international rates based on the country being called.

"We've put a great deal of effort and expense into development, and we think the result will be greater VoIP adoption," Scharf added.