5 ways to get a free phone number, if you have an internet connection

If you have an Internet connection you can get free phone numbers sometimes you can even do free phone calls.

1. GizmoProject 775 area gives you a number in Northern Nevada that is free, you have to give up a credit card number and not forward calls to your cellphone for $2/call if you want this to work. Gizmo has a great Windows, Linux or OS X client that does IM and is really very nicely done. You can even register a second SIP account to it from say your office. It works with SIP phones as well, I have tested the GrandStream GPX-2000, phone and found it to work, although still trying to get the conferencing worked out, some configuration problem no doubt. If you are using Linux will find that the Ekiga that ships with Ubuntu and Solaris works with Gizmo as well. SIPphone is a platform under all of this, it is a great platform, it has been very reliable for me.

2. VoipUser can get you 2 UK phone numbers for free, and you can call out free as well, as long as you get enough calls to your number. It bills the caller at different rates from 3 to 50 pents per minute depending on the number. Feel free to test my UK number at +44(0)7031971255 and yes this is the 50 pents one if I got this right. It gives me calling out credits when I get the calls. From the UK it works at 07031971255 otherwise the rest of the wold it is either 00447031971255 or 011447031971255 for the USA. Not all carriers will let you call a number that is premium rate in the UK. However you can also get a 3 pents/min number from them that works well and is more callable from other places.

3. Google GrandCentral is in Beta, you can get a phone number from then in pretty much the areacode of your choice, haven't tested international and this is a pretty neat service that allows you to give out a single point of contact number that someone can reach you with at home, office, cell or SIPphone. I am mostly interested here in the SIPphone options through Gizmo as that is another way for me to get a free phone number in my area code, now this will be free for a time, I am sure they will charge something someday, but it is a good service.

4. IPKall.com can get you a Washington state 360 area code number for nothing that you can forward to your GizmoProject SIPphone account. It is simple, just give them an email address, you get a phone number and give them a SIP account it works. Used it for over a year without problems, except when they don't get enough minutes called to the number you will loose it as you are not making use of it and they can give it out to another user.

5. SipBroker.com gives you a list of phone numbers, look under PSTN, all over the world where people cal call your SIP phone. Just find a number close to you, then dial the Gizmo style 17475555555 number and it works! press # at the end for faster service.

So this is 5 ways to get a free PSTN phone number. Comments welcome.

Call me if you need help.

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PS a 6th way seems to be available at freedigits.com

PS I mentioned this post last night at a UUASC meeting and have struck out some of the ways that no longer work, but there are at least 5 ways still available from the feedback I got from the audience, SIPgate is the only one I remember, but I bet however that you can find more on VOiP-info.