The invention relates to a system that provides telephonic communication over the Internet, and more particularly relates to an Internet telephony system that allows the user to select a service to handle the call, to choose a method of payment, and to call a party by ringing the party's standard telephone. When the user desires to place a call, the user receives rate quotes from candidate telephony servers and selects a telephony server, which connects the call to the receiving party's standard telephone. The selected telephony server handles payment for the call and provides the user with information regarding progress and cost of the call.