The Magic Jack
If you haven’t heard about these then you need to pay attention to this review. It could save you a lot of money. The Magic jack is a Voice Over Internet Protocol device. I know many people are familiar with VOIP, but for those of you who aren’t; it allows you to use your internet connect to make telephone calls. There are a lot of VOIP products out there, but to my knowledge Magic Jack is the cheapest anywhere.
I was really skeptical when I saw the infomercial on TV, so I started checking the internet to find out what was so special about this device. My initial thought was that it was just a cheap scam to get people to give up their hard earned money. Instead I found out that it was a new concept in VOIP that allowed for a good quality call for a few pennies a day.
What makes magic Jack different than competitive services is that it uses its own telephone network which allows it to generate income from other phone companies that use its transmission lines to make calls. What this means is that they don’t need to charge Magic Jack customers as much because they don’t just live off the revenue from selling Magic Jacks and its service. In the end it means you are going to get phone service cheap.
The low cost was enough for me to break down and try the product. I purchased mine early on in the promotion and paid $49.99 for one Magic Jack. It arrived within a few days and I was ready to try it out. The Magic Jack is actually a small USB device that contains some programming that allows audio information to be transferred over the internet to other phone lines. I first tried out the Magic Jack on an older laptop with mixed results. The calls were clear but I did at times get some distortion. At first I was ready to say that my experiment was a failure, but I got to thinking that my laptop runs off a wireless G network connection and with the amount of information my computer sends and receives it was possible I wasn’t getting enough band width for the Magic Jack to work properly.
So I hooked it up to a desktop that stays connected directly to my internet connection. With that the calls improved dramatically. No more distortions, or other static and noises I had noticed when it was hooked up to my laptop. The calls were clearer than making a call from a cell phone. I was really astonished because I couldn’t tell that there was any difference between the Magic Jack connection and a regular land line. I even called cell phones and the reception on both ends was fantastic. Finally an inexpensive device that worked as advertised. The only frustration I have had with it is the occasional automated system that appears not to like long series of button pushes, such as an account number. However I must note that it has not been all automated systems, all of my credit card companies for instance work just fine, but my local bank’s system is another story.
The really great thing about the Magic Jack is that you can use regular phones with it. I happen to have a Uniden 5Ghz cordless phone system, so I hooked it up directly to the Magic Jack and I then had 5 extension phones working throughout the house. That was great. The unique thing about the Magic Jack is that it must be plugged into a USB port on a computer to be used. While I was concerned with this at first, I have discovered that I can split the line and I now have a wireless transmitter that creates an extension jack for my Dish network STB (say goodbye to those pesky tack on fees), and I have my cordless and corded phones all working just fine. I have even been able to send faxes from my fax machine over the VOIP connection.
A view of the magic Jack software
So you are thinking great you just did what Vonage or Skype can do, and I would say your right. The difference is the cost. My land line ran me about $60 a month, and the other VOIP services run anywhere from $30-$50 a month. The Magic Jack beats them hands down. After purchasing the Jack for $49.99 I was given 1 year of service free with the purchase. After I connected and picked my phone number I was given the option to get up to five extra years for $10 a year. I jumped on it. I just got 6 years of unlimited local and long distance phone calls for a grand total of $100.
I cancelled my landline phone and with it one less irritating bill each month. Some other cool features are I can forward my calls to my cell phone or any landline phone; I have free voicemail with email notification. And the Magic Jack is completely portable. If you want to take it with you while traveling all you need is a computer and an internet connection and calls will go right to your location and you can make calls for free right from your hotel room.
As long as you have a good high speed internet connection and a modern computer I recommend getting a Magic Jack and ditching the phone company.
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