Soft phone
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In computing, a softphone is software that simulates a real phone and runs on a general purpose computer, rather than a dedicated device. It is usually used with a headset connected to the sound card of the PC or USBphone.
Softphones are typically a part of VOIP environments and may be standard-based SIP/H.323 or proprietary. Many implementations are available, like the widely available Microsoft Windows Messenger or NetMeeting.
The most typical SIP-based softphones as of today are - eStara Softphone, Xten, AdoreSoftphone and SJphone. They work fine with most ITSP - Internet Telephony Service Providers, like Free World Dialup and many others.
Very popular Skype is not just a softphone, but a P2P VOIP service. It is not-compatible with all others software and harware.