Has anyone heard of Ooma? You pay a one time fee for the phone service and the rest is free.

Home | Ooma

Any thoughts?

Its VoIP. You buy the equipment (for several hundred dollars) and then the calls are free.

http://www.ooma.com/products

Also:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/18...phone-service/

The other advantage is you can take the phone anywhere.

Well it appears to be a Voice Over IP (Internet Telephone) solution.
The fee covers the starting hardware and setup.
All good and easy enough, but your all kinds of knackard if the internet connection fails.
You still need to pay your ISP for internet service and possibly the telco for the actual phone line as well.

Not a bad idea really, but only really useful if you use the phone A lot.

Skype to Skype calls are free, but you do need a PC or Skype enable cell phone.