Z-Tel Communications, Inc. was founded in the wake of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The establishment of the Unbundled Network Element-Platform (UNE-P) enabled competitive telecommunications companies to provide telephone service to end-users over incumbent local telephone service provider networks for the first time. With the promise of UNE-P before them, telecom industry veterans Gregg Smith and James Kitchen envisioned a new kind of integrated, affordable communications service. In January 1998, they founded Z-Tel Communications, Inc., a unique communications provider focused on bringing the power of the Internet to traditional telephone service. Z-Tel's flagship residential service, Z-LineHOME™, bundles local and long distance telephone service with popular calling features and proprietary features such as Find Me, a multiple-number call forwarding feature. The Z-LineHOME Unlimited plan adds even greater value to the bundle, with both unlimited local calling and unlimited nationwide long distance in a single plan.

Z-LineHOME Unlimited includes Personal Voice Assistant (PVA™), a new voice-activated feature offered exclusively by Z-Tel. PVA enables customers to store contact information in a "virtual" address book, then make calls, send voice emails and look up contact information - all using only simple voice commands - from any phone, anytime. Their groundbreaking business telephone service, Z-LineBUSINESS™, provides local and long distance telephone service, popular calling features, plus a host of enhanced communications features designed specifically for the needs of today's business. Z-Tel was the first national local telephone service provider in the U.S. They offer service to residential and business customers in most states, and cover a larger geographic area than any regional Bell company.