Why is it SO COMPLICATED to get VOIP on your computer?

I've spend at least five hours trying to get VOIP on my PC computer using Google Voice and was unsuccessful. I'm so frustrated I'm giving up on it for today. All the hardware issues are OK. I signed up for Google Voice and gave them a phone number to verify. I didn't make it to the phone in time to punch in the two digit verification number but the answering machine clicked in and a robotic female voice left a six digit number. I went back to the computer and clicked try again and the message said "Calling now.." but the phone never rang. I did this four times and it kept reading "Calling now.." and the phone never rang once. Then a message came up "Unable to verify."

When I first heard about this Google Voice thing, I thought "oh cool. I can have some basic phone service, so I won't have to walk 3 blocks to the pay phone every time I need to call someone." I had a Virgin Mobile cell phone two years ago but my phone usage didn't justify the $30 per month I was paying to have it. I only make about 2 to 5 phone calls a week.

Why isn't there a service that can help people put all this technical stuff together instead of having to go through all this stuff just to get one element you need to have VOIP? I kept getting these screens asking for verification IDs and sceenames and passwords and there doesn't seem to be universal terminology for the fields. What one company calls a Verification number another company calls access code. At this point I have everything I need. I just don't know how to put it all together so I can have some phone service. Why does it have to be SO complicated?