I set up a Skype UK number late last year and it works pretty well. If a text is sent to the number it is converted to a voice mail. Cost is under $40/year.
Now that we are in the UK my wife got an O2 SIM card and number, and there is a free app called TuGo that can be installed on up to 4 mobile devices so my wife has it on hers and I have it on mine. This means that wherever we are in the world, as long as we are in wifi, we can receive and make calls, texts and pick up voice mail as if we were in the UK.