First, do no harm
A PhoneGnome customer responded to a post on a blog called VoIP Lowdown in which the author (who doesn’t appear to have a PhoneGnome) seemed to be confused about a few details, saying:
It’s not clear from the FAQ is whether the PhoneGnome device has a bypass switch for local calling… no bypass on the PhoneGnome means you have to pay for a “plain phone” calling plan from them. Or you have to unplug your phone and line from the PhoneGnome each time you want to make a local call. Then plug it back in. Obviously wouldn’t be an enjoyable experience.
An actual PhoneGnome user responded with some very clear words:
1) the $14.95 calling plan to which you refer is an optional long distance plan to the lower 48 states and Canada.
2) I’m not sure what you mean by ‘bypass’ above. When you buy a PhoneGnome, you plug it in, it autoconfigures as you point out, and you start making calls.
If the call is “local”, it goes out over the regular PSTN as it would have before you installed PhoneGnome. If the call is long distance, the call is placed via the PSTN as it would have been before you installed PhoneGnome — except for the case where you’ve signed up for one of the plans here
http://www.phonegnome.com/minutes.html
But, again, those plans are optional. I happen to use one, but they may not be for you. If you are not using one of the optional plans, the LD call will show up on your regular bill you’ve always received from your local telephone company – same as before you installed PhoneGnome. Finally, if the call happens to be to another PhoneGnome or a SIP user known to PhoneGnome, that call goes out over your broadband connection, and adds nothing to any of your bills, Internet or telephone.
I like PhoneGnome because it “first does no harm”, which is saying a great deal given what some other VoIP services expect you to do with your landline. That is, cancel it. Much as the phone company rubs me the wrong way, I still get value out of my landline, and as long as that landline works at a price I’m willing to pay, I want to keep it.
So install PhoneGnome and use your phone as you always have. When you’re ready to add an economical LD calling plan, you can do so at your convenience.
So looking back, there is a bypass notion in PhoneGnome, but not quite like you’ve described. If I have an optional LD plan, I bypass the LD carrier configured on my line at the local telephone office. And if the call is to another PhoneGnome or SIP user, I bypass the PSTN altogether. But in none of these cases must I key the phone in a special way to affect the savings – PhoneGnome just does the right thing automatically.
That’s good stuff. I wish I had said that. 
