MagicJack, is it better than skype?
I have been using Skype for over a year now and love it. I have purchased the premium services and have my own phone number, voice mail, and unlimited calls to anywhere in the US and Canada. I have been very happy with the service, but don’t always like using headphones with my computer to make calls.
Well now it seems that a new solution to peoples Voip needs has been created, MagicJack . MagicJack seems to be very comparable to Skype. The price is a little cheaper at $20 a year. It also is neat in that everything runs off of the USB device, so you can just unplug it and take it with you. The biggest advantage is that the you can connect a regular handset into the usb device and use your telephone as you normally would. I would suspect that you could even backfeed the device into your existing house wiring if you would like to do that.
According to the review at http://www.getusb.info/usb-review-magicjack-phone/ the Voip phone software has the following options.
* Menu – Switch to headset, download Outlook plugin, and other configuration options.
* Contacts – This is your list of contacts for quick reference.
* Calls – This provides call history. Using this feature allows you to quickly and easily reconnect to past calls.
* Favorites – This lists your favorite contacts like Mother In Law, Sister In Law etc.
* Redial – redial
* Vmail – This lets you set your own voice mail. To set MagicJack voice mail message you must login to their website and select user options to set voice mail for different locations. I also like the fact MagicJack sends an email with the .WAV file of the voice mail.
* 411 – Is an internet linke to Free411.com.
* Google – A simple hot link to Google for web searching.
* 911 Address – This function defaults to your original entry in MagicJack, but it also gives the benefit of adding multiple address in case you use this at work, home, families houses etc.
At being only $20 a year with a free 30 day trial I am tempted to go out there and get me one, to see how it works. I like the idea of just taking it with you. I wonder how it does compare to Skype, which seems to be getting cheaper and cheaper and has some really great functionality.
Please do not get it because i got one over 6 months ago and the sound qulity sucks skype is more but its worth it
Posted by Charles on September 22, 2008 at 04:25 PM EDT #
I am a second year user of MagicJack and the service is actually quite good. It is fairly cheap and unlike Skype (I looked at Skype) you get package deal with telephone number and unlimited US calling included.
The voice quality of my calls have always been excellent. I did experience some echo with my old unit, but the new units have echo cancellation built into the hardware. As with any VoIP service there can be hiccups.
It is important to realise that any VoIP service will require proper bandwidth to the internet. The down rate is usually not a problem, but many ISPs don't provide very much up rate to the net and is where a lot of the calls problems originate with people on the other end complaining about the calls. Even so, I have had few complaints from people about the quality of my voice even when I have a lot of network traffic occurring at the same time as I am placing calls.
Posted by Kimberly on October 29, 2008 at 01:12 PM EDT #
“Most users that are having “trouble” with their magicJack® dongle are usually having connection problems with their computer's USB ports and its power supply to those ports!”
This is the least expensive and probably the best telephone service that I have EVER used!
This service ONLY costs $19.95/year and with a 5 year license extension it costs only $12.00/year! $1.67/month 1st year then $1.00/month each year thereafter.
Don't believe any of the BAD PRESS you may hear about the service. I discovered what the "technical" problem was, because it actually happened to me. I was having audio and connection problems until I solved the technical problem of my computer's USB bus drawing over 500 mA, actually 580 mA, with everything plugged into the bus.
My eMachine computer, Model T2882, only has a 250 Watt power supply and that was working at its limits with all the computer cards and USB devices that I had plugged into the machine were demanding current. The attached article is how I solved the problem for less than $20.00!
http://drbray.blogspot.com/2008/12/magicjack-reality.html
Posted by drbray on December 30, 2008 at 05:30 AM EST #