The timing of your reply -- more than three months after the last reply to this thread -- was quite coincidental, given that just yesterday I got an email from Callcentric telling me that they were cancelling my free phone number -- and thus, presumably, my E-911.
Specifics: I had gone the route suggested by many here and signed up for a free (for inbound only) NY state number -- area code 914 in my case -- to get the E-911 that comes with it for $1.50 setup fee + $1.50/month. And it was billed monthly to a credit card, no problems.
The catch I had been unaware of, until the email they sent yesterday, is that their terms have a clause that you will lose the free number if you don't receive at least one inbound call (of at least 1 minute) every three months. My bad for not reading the terms -- at least the section for free numbers -- though it's odd that requirement wasn't mentioned in any of the posts that I came across here, even the most recent one.
So I went into my CC account, requested another number in area code 914, and it gave me the old number back. I didn't have to make any changes to my setup, and 933 still shows E-911 as active (I will keep monitoring for awhile). I have created a reminder to myself to call the NY number from another phone every two months (two to be on the safe side) to keep everything active.
I got another $1.50 E-911 charge to my CC today. (No $1.50 "new" setup fee, though maybe that's forthcoming?)
So It sounds as if your approach may be have been the better way to go. but at this point I'll probably stick with what I've got for my current installation, instead of paying another $5-$8. However I'll soon be setting up another Obi200+GV for another location, so I'll probably do what you suggested with that one, especially since I do not have GV forward incoming calls to the CC number (I don't care about CNAM, and in addition forwarding to CC seems to add more latency).
So thanks for the tip! Though I do have to say I'm confused by your comment, "I will have recouped the $5 by saving $.45/month vs the $1.95 north america basic plan." I thought Pay-As-You-Go was free other than the 911 $1.50 setup and $1.50 monthly fee, so I don't understand your comparison. Are you using Google Voice? And the Obi200?
EDIT: Meant to point out that (1) The email that said my free number had been discontinued didn't mention 911 at all, and (2) I called 933 immediately after reading the email, and 911 was still active even then. I wonder how long that would have lasted had I not added back the free number?? Also, have made a number of other minor edits/additions since original posting.