So in our internet age of free wireless access points, cheap laptops and mobility, cell phones are still expensive. As anyone who has a phone your looking at the very minimum 20$ a month just to keep one up and running, and your social life popping. As if you don't have a phone number you can be reached on you will fall out of the radar of a lot of people, and don't even think about trying to get anything but the shittiest of jobs. Thus the whole cycle of poverty, but in our information age there are other solutions. Looking around for a friend I was able to set-up a couple of private voicemails in only a few minutes and they now are e-mailing me voicemails, so if I can get on-line I can stay in touch via the good old POTS system and not seem like such a cyber-geek. This stuff requires a little bit of computer knowledge and obviously a place to check your e-mail at, but even the library or your local community technology center should suffice.

Here the services are, Evoice and K7.Net

From the little I've used them Evoice seems the winner. Neither will give you a local #, unless you happen to be in the seattle area, but with Evoice you get a Voicemail that is forwarded to your e-mail and with K7 you get a fax and/or voicemail #, but it says please transmit your fax or leave a voicemail after the beep. Which will probably let your potential employer or whoever now you don't have a real phone #.

The other option which requires long distance to call into is something known as LaserVoicemail, and it can be set-up via a phone interface just by calling (206) 376-1000.

Yeah, perhaps this information isn't too useful, but these services were available unlike GrandCentral, which google recently bought out and requires invites, and PrivatePhone which is no longer going to be free after last month, that I think netzero was down with.

Keep up the Freevolt.