Let your out of town friends call you for free

Did you know that you can get a local phone number in many area codes for free ? Suppose you live in California, but have a friend in Salt Lake City, Utah. Normally, they have to make a long-distance call to reach you. With services like Google's grandcentral.com, you can get yourself a phone number in the same area code as your friend, and forward it to your home phone number. Then, your friend in Utah can dial you up with a local call. GrandCentral is also great for using as a "disposable" phone number with salespeople, purchases, etc. It has features that allow you to send certain callers straight to voicemail. It's like an automated phone screener. See grandcentral.com for more info.

Update: Grandcentral.com is now Google Voice.  It's still free, and has all the features above, plus more.  However, you cannot currently get instant access. You have to register for an invitation here.

Similar Services:

SipGate: Their SipGate One service is free, but the phone number that comes with it is only free in a few limited area codes.  Other areas codes come at a cost.  Incoming calls are free, and the first 200 minutes of outgoing calls are free, but charges apply after that.  In any case, you can try it for free without using a credit card.

iCall.com: They have a free service for outgoing calls to the U.S., but it's $9.95 if you need a personal number.  You can have people call you on the free plan, but they have to call an access number and punch in your "extension".

VoipCheap.com: Free outgoing calls to many destinations.