Patent ID: 7693139

Claim:
A computerized method for assisting a user in selecting and registering with one of a plurality of packet-based telephony service providers, the method comprising: determining, by one or more computing devices, whether a user has registered for service with one or more of the plurality of packet-based telephony service providers; in response to determining that the user is not registered with the one or more of the plurality of packet-based telephony service providers, providing, from the one or more computing devices, to the user a list of packet-based telephony service providers, wherein said packet-based telephony service providers on the list do not provide telephony service to the user; providing, from the one or more computing devices, one or more parameters associated with each of the packet-based telephony service providers on the list to the user, said one or more parameters including at least one of the following: a reputation of the packet-based telephony service provider, a geographic region served by the packet-based telephony service provider, a language supported by the packet-based telephony service provider, and pricing of the service of the packet-based telephony service provider; receiving, at the one or more computing devices, from the user a selection of one of the packet-based telephony service providers on the list, said selection being indicative of the one or more parameters of the packet-based telephony service provider desired by the user; storing, at a memory area accessible by the one or more computing devices, information indicating that registration of the user with said selected one of the packet-based telephony service providers is pending; sending, from the one or more computing devices, registration information of the user to said selected one of the packet-based telephony service providers, said registration information including confirmation that registration is pending for the selected packet-based telephony service provider; and receiving, at the one or more computing devices, information from said one of the packet-based telephony service providers indicating that the user is registered therewith, and modifying the stored information to indicate that registration of the user with said one of the packet-based telephony service providers has occurred.