The MagicJack offers some pretty cool things. These include:
- A new phone number
- Voicemail
- Caller ID
- Free unlimited calls to anywhere in the United States and Canada from the United States and Canada
- The ability to use a real (analog) phone that you already have in your home
- The ability to travel with your MagicJack and use it with your own number wherever you are in the world ,as long as you have a computer with a high speed internet and an analog line.
I ordered mine a months ago and the clarity of the phone has gone (where I live) from sometimes clear/sometimes jumpy a few months ago to absolutely crystal clear now. I really like this device.
The device, which is about the size of a large pack of gum, has a USB connector on one end which connects to your computer, and a modular RJ11 analog phone jack on the other side. That is all the unit comes with. When you plug the jack into either the PC or the Mac, and self installing program which resides within the jack, will install on the computer hard drive. If this is the first time the MagicJack has been used, the program will prompt you to enter your area code, and then it will assign a number to you. As I said above, it is working crystal clear for me and has been for some time.
Price - You order this device online from MagicJack for $39.95. This includes the device and 1 year of service. You will get hit with a postage fee (which I believe is $6.95). You will be prompted a few times for other other offers like more MagicJacks and additional years of service for $19.95 per year, and faster shipping. I chose to go with standard shipping and just the single unit, and a single year of service. I didn't need fast shipping and, was amazed that it arrived in my mailbox on Monday and I had ordered it Thursday evening.
Your mileage may vary - My setup is ideal at this time, except for some reason the incoming caller ID doesn't work on my telephone. I am connected to a Mac and it may be a problem that will be resolved in the next automatic and free firmware upgrade. If I look at the computer computer screen when the phone rings, there is a popup box showing me the number which is calling me. I can live with this. Call forwarding is also available on this phone, but it needs to be programmed via the web interface. Also - at this time, there is no way to specify if you want voicemail to be turned on, and how many rings to pick up after. I am sure this will be coming in the future.
Now here are some caveats some people have found. While I believe some are legitimate, I also believe they are expecting a lot more than they should, given the low price point the inventor and company are making. Keep this in mind when you read that the customer service is all web chat style and that it is currently off-shore like so many American companies are now. I have done a lot of business with companies who have sent their customer service out of the US and know the frustration I feel when it seems they agents are reading directly off a script and don't listen to what I have already done. At some time, they will learn to think out of the box - and that will be brought up in one of my next post. The result of course, is that people want expect a full staff of people who will talk with them via voice. I work in a call center, and I can assure you that each call costs our company more than half the price of the MagicJack. That kind of price can not work with the model.
I have suggested to the inventor/owner (Dan) who really does respond personally to email, that he may want to set up a 2 tier system for customer service, the new tier would be a pay service that would route to real people in the states. The original service - the webchat would remain free.
A few other problems to mention. Since the network that the phone system utilizes was built by Dan with his own money it needed to be built from from the larger populated areas to the less populated. Not all area codes are available yet, but they are coming. You can get an area code from an area near you which doesn't cost any extra for you, but it could cause a neighbor across the street to call you long distance. If this causes you a problem, you might want to hold off on your purchase until your area code is available. All available area codes are listed www.magicjack.com, so you can check before you buy.
Dan has also advertised 30 day free trial before they charge you. Some people have found they are charged in advance of he 30 days. This isn't necessarily true. It could easily be that they are seeing a charge hold on their debit card accounts. This is no different than holds put on your accounts when fueling our car.
Dan also can not be expected to know all the nuances of your computer software or what may interfere with perfect communication. Sometimes a simple program running in the background will cause havoc on other programs. Blame poorly written software, or substandard hardware in your system. Sometimes thing will not work right out of the box.
I find it necessary to reboot my computer occasionally. Computers need this sometimes. There is a lot of trash programs leave behind, and sometimes the memory and cache need to be cleared with a restart.
You also may have issues if you are running your computer on a wireless network in your house. Like anything else, wireless is subject to poor communications at times. Think microwaves, etc.
I really like my MagicJack. I realize that if my computer is off, I won't be able to make or take calls - however my voicemail will still work and I can check it when I am back online. The same goes for power outages or web outages.
I also know that I am saving a ton of money. And that is important to me.
Joseph
While the site says that they will soon have the ability to move your current analog number to the Magiv
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