First, you need a broadband connection. I have cable modem.  Then you can either hit up your ISP about this or vonage.  You get the Motorola ATA box which basically converts analog phone signal to digital signal and sends it over the backbone of the net. ÂÂ
What's nice about this is all the doodads that the baby bells charge for is included in this 24.99 price.  Like call ID call waiting, free voicemail w/ email integration and an attached wav file, call forwarding, alternate numberif the system goes down (as in have it ring to your cell phone)
YOu get a much easier to read bill, *67, *69,  auto redail, etc.........too much to list here.
I have had dropped calls and sporadic outages of my connection but I expected that.  The motorola device is less than a month out in the field so there's bound to be issues.
Compared to 70-80 bucks on my sprint bill, this is gravy.
Downsides......if your power goes out, so does the phone!  I will be installing a UPS to power the ATA box and the modem, screw the PC.....so that I can have phone service.
ALso, 911 does not travel through POTS so there is another network it uses and you have to sign up for that by plugging in your street addy, etc. ÂÂ
In my plan I get 500 minutes long distance.  Billing is done cc only, no paper bills and no EFT.......yet.  you get billed once per month, plain and simple.  IF you go over 500 minutes, then LD in US and canada is 3.8 cents per minute.
I can call relatives in UK for a nickle a minute.  Yes, I said a nickel.  LD, overseas call my friend.  This is WAY cheaper than ATT or MCI can even dream of coming close to.
All the setup and features of your account is web based.  You can access voicemail anywhere in US by dialing a local access # then your 11 digit phone number then a password.  Calls from one vonage user to another are free and don't count against your minutes.
Check it out.  Yes, its got teething problems but overall, I think this will work.  YOu can work it with routers in your setup, I have a Lynksys that I will be installing next month.
PS you can more than likely keep your old ph number by checking on the site to see if it rolls over.
Oh one more thing........you're probably thinking how do I utilize my existing phone jacks?  Simple, open your access panel on the outside of the house.  Pull off your phone wires which leaves your wirng juice free.  You cannot plug in the ATA adaptor into "live" phone jacks as the voltage in the line will cook the adaptor.  ONce the lines outside are pulled, then you run a second phone cord out the second port on the ATA devicve into a jack.  PResto, all jacks are now "live" via your ATA device.
Hope this helps.
PS SOund quality on a siemens 2415 phone is ok unless I am pulling down large files off the net. Then it gets a bit choppy but its very rare that I am on the net like that and talking. You can adjust the bandwidth to bias towards preserving voice quality over download speeds.
I would imagine on a regular corded phone, its just as good as the POTS.
