I agree with the above posts about voip.ms. I have no other ties to them, BTW.

I am in the process of porting a couple of numbers over and setting up my account. I have nothing but good things to say about their service and help where needed.

It is a bit intimidating because of all the features, but there is great help available and for most people, the defaults are just fine.

You can have incoming numbers from virtually anywhere in the world, and you can turn them on/off whenever you want. Some have a small fee to set up, the rest a very nominal monthly cost (a few bucks I am talking about). If you need a "local presence" in some remote city or country, you can get it here cheap. If you have friends/relatives/clients in remote places they can reach you with a local call. You can have a branch office in London/Paris/Budapest or wherever you want.

About all you need to get started is a less than $50 ATA box (I got my OBI110 from Amazon) and a pre-payment of whatever you want to get started.

The phone lines can then ring to any ATA box, IP phone, smartphone with an ip app, or your cell or landlines. You can forward to international numbers, also.

Rates are miniscule, a few cents a minute to land-lines everyplace, and to mobile/cell phones with their usual surcharges where applicable.

I am so excited about firing the "phone company" after all these years of putting up with their high prices/fees/taxes for an antiquated system.