MAgicJack for your phone service via the internet..

[momof2boys]

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this? I was checking it out online yesterday and it only costs $19.95 a year(i think that was the price). That includes unlimited local and long distance calling. They have a free 30 day trial. I am thinking about getting this and was just wondering if anyone else has heard of it or used it.

thanks,

Gloria

[katilac]

My dad has it as his only phone line, and we have it as a secondary line.

 

It works fine most of the time, once you get the bugs worked out (the computer has to be set not to go to sleep, we had a conflict with itunes, etc). Once you have those things worked out, it's mostly like using a regular phone, except you have to dial the area code for every call.

 

Odd little problems happen on a more regular basis than our land line, say once a week rather than once every few weeks - - dropped calls or whatever. Not often enough to truly annoy us.

 

Of course, if the internet goes out, your phone goes out. We also aren't confident enough in their 911 service, especially with young ones around, to completely convert.

 

Dropping our land line to the bare essentials and adding in Magic Jack saves us $30 per month.

[KLynnTX]

I was coming on to post this question, and I found that it had already been asked...

 

Katilac, I have ITunes also.....What happened? If you can remember that would be great. Did you have to call customer service to resolve the issue? Were they helpful?

 

Anyone else want to chime in here?

 

I really want to give it a try....If I use Magic Jack, I won't have to pay long distance anymore, and I could use the money I was using to pay long distance to pay for my high speed internet....

 

I'd keep my local line, but use magic jack for long distance only.

 

Thanks!

[abbeyej]

My dad bought two. He said one worked great and the other one didn't work at all. The customer service was just horrible -- I don't think I've heard him rant like that since an experience with Sears in the early 80s. ;) He ended up returning both. He said it was a shame, because if they had both worked, or they had been willing to let him exchange the broken one, he might have been very happy.

 

We've had Vonage for five years or so now, and no traditional land line. It works very well and while I don't have anything positive to say about the service there either, it hasn't ever been as bad as what Dad experienced with MagicJack.

[katilac]

We use the highly technical solution of resetting the Magic Jack after we use iTunes :D. (just unplugging the usb and replugging it)

 

We only sync iTunes once a week or so, so it wasn't a big enough deal for us to search for another solution. Both applications want to be the E drive and neither is willing to compromise; electronics can be sooooo selfish.

 

I can't give any thoughts on customer service, as we have never called them for help. dh and I tend to take the path of least resistance where both electronics and customer service is concerned; if we had been in the place of abbeyj's father, we would have returned both Magic Jacks and ordered a new 30 day trial with a different credit card. We have been disappointed so many times by electronics and customer service that we are jaded and cynical, *sigh*.

[kbpaulie]

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this? I was checking it out online yesterday and it only costs $19.95 a year(i think that was the price). That includes unlimited local and long distance calling. They have a free 30 day trial. I am thinking about getting this and was just wondering if anyone else has heard of it or used it.

thanks,

Gloria

 

 

We do not have this, but it was featured on our local new station this week. They shared some thoughts:

 

1) No 911

2) Difficult to uninstall

3) You may not be given a local phone number. Therefore, while your outgoing calls are free, it may cost others to call you.

 

HTH-

KB

[KLynnTX]

Well, if I buy one, I'll buy it from Radio Shack, so I can return it there if it doesn't work.

 

I'm concerned about it being difficult to uninstall.

 

I'd heard complaints about it being difficult to get in touch with their customer service, so I thought maybe buying it from Radio Shack would be a good idea, since atleast they would take it back if it wouldn't work.

 

I dunno. I just really want it to work. I wonder what the poster means when they say you may not get a local phone number? Can you request your area code while setting it up, or do you have to take luck of the draw, getting an area code from anywhere across the USA?

[KLynnTX]

.

[Prairie~Phlox]

We got one it sucks, you really can't use it.

Don't waste your money.

[katilac]

We do not have this, but it was featured on our local new station this week. They shared some thoughts:

 

1) No 911

2) Difficult to uninstall

3) You may not be given a local phone number. Therefore, while your outgoing calls are free, it may cost others to call you.

 

HTH-

KB

 

There is 911 of sorts, but definitely not up to par with 'real' 911. And no internet means no 911. This is one reason we would not consider getting rid of a landline.

 

Difficult to uninstall? I don't get that one - - we changed the computer it was on and just uninstalled it like anything else, no problems. Even if you don't uninstall it at all, you wouldn't even be aware of the software if you don't have the Magic Jack plugged in.

 

don't know about the phone numbers; we did get a local one.

 

Going to basic service on our land line (no long distance, etc) saves us $30 a month, which is a nice chunk of change. You do have to be patient to get that savings, though; if you absolutely want plug in and go RIGHT NOW service, magic jack really doesn't provide that (unless you are lucky and the planets align for you). You have to fiddle a bit.

[springmama]

We have it and love it. We have 911 service, though we've never had to use it so I can't vouch for its effectiveness. We have a local number and even if we didn't, doesn't everyone have long distance included in their phone service anyway? My understanding is that if you want to uninstall it, you just unplug it. We also have cell phone service, so with 3 cell numbers plus one magic jack number I see no need for a land line.

[ravengal]

We tried one out last month, and loved it when it was working correctly. Unfortunately, it had some sort of glitch that only allowed us to use it with a headset, which was a hassle. Since the Jack we used was an "extra" that belonged to a friend, our experience didn't cost us anything outright.