Various advances in technology have changed the way we make long distance calls. From the traditional landline phones to cellular phones, to computers and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) devices, technology has affected the way everyone communicates. This has led to long distance phone services that are not only different in terms of the quality of reception but also the cost involved with making long distance calls. Today, one even has the option of virtually free long distance phone calls, but with a comparatively lower quality than the traditional long distance services using regular landline phones. However, the savings is worth the decreased quality for many people.

Long distance phone services can be broadly categorized into four groups. These include landline to landline and cellular phone service, cellular to cellular and landline service, calls made from a personal computer or VOIP device to landline or cellular phone service and PC to PC voice communication services.

The leading traditional long distance service providers (where the calls originate from land lines) in the U.S. are Sprint, AT&T and MCI Worldcom. Traditional long distance phone calls are still the most expensive option, despite fierce competition amongst these providers.

Calls made using a computer or a VOIP device to landline or cellular phone service use Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to enable long distance voice communication. They use the Internet to transmit the voice and provide a cheaper alternative compared to landline and cell phone based long distance services. However, the reception quality is not as good and sometimes there is a time lag in the voice transmission. The leading providers of this category of long distance services include DeltaThree, Dialpad, MediaRing, Net Caller, and Skype.

PC to PC voice communication also uses VOIP and is usually free. This service is available through the instant messenger applications provided by MSN, Yahoo, AOL and Google. This is not the highest quality and does not use a phone handset the way VOIP phone service does. To communicate using voice chat over instant messaging programs, both users will need a headset and microphone.