I wanted to test the quality of using a VOIP adapter with Google Voice (GV).  It is excellent.  The latency is not noticeable, compared with a 1s-2s potential delay if you are using a soft-phone. You can also send and receive faxes!

Overall, I think with a little effort, you can drop your phone services bill to \$5/month, with no loss in service or quality.

Simple (but technical) steps to reduce/remove your telephone service:

1. Set up a Google Voice account.
2. Set up a pbxes.org account.  You will have your own Asterisk PBX in the cloud for \$5/month.  You need to have a paid account to get access to GV You'll have to look in the forums for details on how to set up your GV trunk, set up your inbound/outbound paths.  Email me if I should document the steps:)
3. Buy a VOIP Adapter.  I got the HT286 from Telephony Depot for \$25
4. Plug in the adapter in your home network (ethernet/wired connection is needed).  Figure out its IP address (look on your router for DHCP leases, and find the newest entry) and configure it.
5. Call *43 to echo test the line.
6. Call a friend.  Have a friend call you.  It's all good!

Reasons (GV limitations) to go with voip.ms instead of steps 1 and 2 above:

1. 1 hour max call length?
2. E911 Support.
3. Number portability