You've seen it on late night commercials and you've probably wondered if this thing really works or if it is just another gizmo. I received one as a gift about 2 years ago. I was so excited at the thought of finally giving up my telephone service and only having one phone bill a month which is for my cell phone. I plugged the magicJack right into my computer, it fired up and I thought I was ready to go. Well...it worked, but I constantly heard beeps that were piercing to both my ears and to the person I was calling. Then there were white-outs. As if the phone went dead for a few seconds. So, much to my dismay, the magicJack went into my desk drawer where it sat for the next 18 months.
About 6 months ago, I stumbled across an article on the internet that said that magicJack had an upgrade to their software. So, once again, I decided to try out my magicJack and see if there was a difference after the upgrade. I plugged it in again and after installing the upgrade, my phone was working and I was able to make calls. The only problem I had was that I couldn't get my phone to ring. My computer speakers would ring, but not my phone. After spending some time with magicJack's customer support, we determined that it was the actual magicJack that wasn't working. They shipped out a new one which I had two days later and it solved the problem right off the bat. Since then, things have changed drastically since my first experience. No more beeps, no more white-outs, and crystal clear calls. And... no more monthly phone bills for a land line.
I use my magicJack both as my business phone and as my home phone. I often have to connect to a mainframe in Texas in order to conduct client interviews. This is how I have my system set up. People from across the country dial my 800 number which is routed into a call center in Texas. Their system routes my calls to my magicJack number in New Jersey. My magicJack rings, announcing a call from my 800 number. I then bring up my online business screen that is connected to the computer in Texas. I have a headset that I connect to my phone. So, I am entering data into a mainframe in Texas from my computer in New York, while speaking to the client on my magicJack with my headset on. To top it off, these calls are all recorded from the phone system in Texas. And believe it or not, it all works without any problems.
The beauty of this little device is that you can get it to work within minutes. It simply plugs into one of the open USB ports on your computer and starts installing itself. Then you tell it a little bit about yourself such as your address for 911 calls, you pick out a phone number, hook up a telephone, and you are ready to go. One of the biggest misconceptions that I've read is that people think that you have to sit at your computer to use your phone. It is simply a phone jack. Think of it as if the phone company came to your house and installed a new jack on your baseboard molding. I have two portable talking Pansonic phones with caller ID. One base and one extension base. The phone cord from the base plugs right into the magicJack and you plug in the electric cord from your phone into an electrical outlet. (Just the same way you would hook up your phone to any phone jack.) So, my base phone sits on top of my desk. The extension base sits in my livingroom. Both are portable phones so I can walk around using either phone just as you would any portable. Half of the time my phones are sitting right next to me no matter where I am in the house. Oh, and the phones ring just like regular phones. The magicJack has caller ID too. So, if you go into your contact list on your magicJack menu and add the names of your friends to their phone numbers, you will see their names pop up when they call. Because I am using the Panasonic phones with caller ID, my phones announce the names of the people that I know when they call. If you have a phone with an answering machine, you can also set it up so that your machine answers your magicJack calls. The magicJack menu also shows you a list of incoming and outgoing calls on your computer screen. On top of that, magicJack also offers call waiting and voice mail. If you miss a call, you can dial right into your voice mail from your phone or you can go into your email and read a wave file that has been recorded with the actual message from the caller. If you've ever deleted a message by accident, this a nice way to save your messages right on your computer.
There has been quite a bit of concern from people who don't want to leave their computers on all day or all night. In my case, I kept my cell phone which I can use at night for an emergency. If your computer isn't on, the message will still come through to your voice mail. Your phone just won't ring. The way around this is to simply forward your magicJack calls to your cell. I find that most people call both your home number and your cell number if they really need to get ahold of you. I have a Boost Mobile cell phone and I was on the monthly plan. The magicJack has allowed me to switch over to the pay-as-you-go plan which now costs me $10.00 a month. (I don't tend to have long phone conversations when I am away from home, but that may not be the case for everyone.) If you do leave your computer on 24/7, it is estimated that your increased electric bill will run about $12.00 per month on average.
The price of the magicJack is your initial purchase price of $39.99 which includes one year of service. Then it just costs $19.95 per year. You can call anywhere within the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands without it costing you any additional fees. The magicJack works with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Intel-based Macs. A high-speed internet connection is required. It will not work with dial-up or satellite internet.
There are some additional features that I haven't tried out yet. Conference calling is included. You can also take your magicJack with you if you're out of town. You just need to plug it into a computer that has high-speed internet. If you are going to use a laptop, be careful of any type of interference. The same interference that slows down your Wifi connection will also interfere with your ability to place clear calls. The benefit of taking your magicJack with you is that you can continue to make calls to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada from any country. Also, if you call from one magicJack to another magicJack in any country, the call is free. A lot of people buy two magicJacks for this reason. One for home and one for their suitcase, or one to send to someone outside of the country. If you take your magicJack with you from home, not to worry. It will automatically boot up on another computer and bring up your stored contacts and numbers on the magicJack menu.
Lots of people have complained about magicJack's customer support. This is something that they are working to improve. If you buy a magicJack, keep in mind that some stores do offer customer support which you won't get if you buy it at your local discount chain. There are online forums which can provide tips and tricks if you run into problems along the way. If you buy directly from majicJack, they offer a 30-day free trial period.
For $39.99, go get yourself one!
