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According Jajah co-founder Roman Scharf, the two companies will be offering a choice of three options to PC manufacturers: a "soft" phone - in the form of a microphone, speaker and software - a package that includes a USB handset that can be plugged into the PC, or instead, the likes of HP, Dell and Sony can opt to integrate a socket for users to plug their existing phone into - turning that phone into an IP phone.

"We don't believe in the software approach because it's a niche for young and technologically-sophisticated users - it's not a mass market approach," said Scharf. "To get this approach ready

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for the mass market, the computers will have to be designed in a different way - we need computers that are built for telephony."

Scharf claims that research company IDC's figures show that more than half of PC users never download additional software onto their PCs after purchase.

"They buy the box, and set it up with a friend, and then they never touch it, and they never do all the fun stuff that the young tecchie guys do," he explained.

He said that Jajah and Intel's partnership offers users an easy to use way of benefiting from IP telephony, with call clarity as good as BT landlines and no firewall issues.

"You get the wow effect of talking clearly for free to somebody very far away in a different country," explained Scharf.

He also divulged that the two companies have a project for IP enabled mobile phones in the pipeline, but remained coy as to the details of the next venture.

"We have discussions with Intel that concern mobile device, but we're not at a point where we can reveal anything," explained Scharf. "But of course, mobile devices are very important for us and they're very important for them, so naturally there is something going on."