ALSO CALLED: Internet Telephony, IP Telephony Services, Web Telephony, WWW Telephony, IP LAN Telephony, Telephony, and Internet Protocol Telephony
DEFINITION: Telephony is the technology associated with the electronic transmission of voice, fax, or other information between distant parties using systems historically associated with the telephone, a handheld device containing both a speaker or transmitter and a receiver. With the arrival of computers and the transmittal of digital information over telephone systems and the use of radio to transmit  … 
Definition continues below.

IP TELEPHONY DEFINITION (continued): …  telephone signals, the distinction between telephony and telecommunication has become difficult to make.

Internet telephony is the use of the Internet rather than the traditional telephone company infrastructure and rate structure to exchange spoken or other telephone information. Since access to the Internet is available at local phone connection rates, an international or other long-distance call will be much less expensive than through the traditional call arrangement.

On the Internet, three new services are now or will soon be available:

• The ability … 
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