MagicJack and the VoIp Beanstalk

What is MagicJack anyway? It's an entirely new VoIp service. It blows away anyone else I've seen out there in the entire VoIp arena.

Hand Held Credit Card Machine

Here's how it works. Now pay attention. Follow me closely. Make sure you don't miss any of the steps. First, you take the matchbox size gismo and plug it into a vacant Usb port on your desktop or laptop. Second, you plug any ordinary telephone into the other end. The software will setup automatically. It will assign you a new phone amount peculiar to your gismo that goes with you wherever you use the it. Finally, when it has finished, pick up the receiver and make a phone call as you normally would.
Should we go over it again in case you missed anything? uncomplicated as one-two-three, right?

Now, there is a lot more good news to come. First let's talk about the cost. Hold onto your chair for this because it's going to come as a shock. Buying the MagicJack box is the first major setback. It will cost you all of .95. Then come the fees. There is no fee if you want to try it free for 30 days. There is no fee for the entire first year because it is included in the price of the box. By the way, you have your selection of a silver or pink MagicJack box.

On the second year of assistance you are gonna get nicked big time. Your credit card will be billed .95. That's not too bad on a monthly basis when you correlate it to say Vonage and its .95 basic monthly fee. However, the .95 is not a monthly fee; it's an every year fee! That's right; it's an every year fee. You get unlimited local and long length calling in the United States and Canada over the Internet for .95 a year. Think you can deal with that?

Besides free unlimited local and long length calls, does this small box offer any other features? You bet. It is just like all the big-boy telcos with features such as redial, voice mail, 411, 911, caller Id, call forwarding, call waiting, argument calling, and directory assistance. The only distinction is that all of these features are Free with MagicJack. Inbound international calls are free too. Outbound international calls are $.02 a minute.

Another plus highlight is that you don't certainly need to plug a phone into the MagicJack to use it. If your computer has a mic and speakers, that's all you need. It's even great with a headset. You have to remember to agree either you are using a phone or a headset though. The default is to the phone.
What about the transmission quality? I have used it on my laptop with the built-in speakers and mic; I have used it with a Bluetooth headset; I have used it with Usb plug-in headphones and with a quarterly telephone. Plainly put, I found the capability to be superb in all instances. It also works well with Umpcs and the small Oqo. I understand that it may already be ready for Macs or will be soon.

One more great plus for MagicJack is that it offers a free add-in that allows you to dial directly from within Outlook with a nifty MagicJack toolbar. The only qoute is that I never could get this highlight to work on my laptop. Nor could I get MagicJack to work with Outlook's native dialer. MagicJack builds its own scrollable directory as you add numbers called and received from which you can also make calls.

Are there any negative aspects to MagicJack? The riposte is a definitive yes. If your Internet association goes down, you are out of phone service. Someone else qoute is that, at the present time, you can only operate a single line from a MagicJack. So, you could not run a phone line and a fax line with a separate amount off the same device. However, the enterprise hopes to have a unit ready finally that will deal with two lines from the same box.

Now, wouldn't it be nice if MagicJack accommodated the handheld store too with an online catalogue you could use as a VoIp assistance on your pocket pal? Maybe someday. I think you will agree, however, that these are not serious or unexpectable issues.

The only place you can buy your MagicJack at the moment is online at http://www.magicjack.com.

Before closing, let me quote from an avid MagicJack fan who sent me a nice note about her taste with the schedule after I mentioned it in Someone else column:

I am a loyal reader of your column and wanted to commentary about the Magicjack that you mentioned in your latest column. We have been using it for any months now and I want to tell you what a excellent stock it is for international travelers. They just plug it in to their computer wherever they are and either plug the hotel phone into the end of the magicjack or use a headset and they can call back to the Usa just as if they were calling from a Usa number. It has saved us hundreds of dollars I am sure. We have a daughter that loves to be in constant transportation and she has a job that takes her all over the world for weeks at a time. She has the best luck using a headset because not all phones work well with the magicjack. So far it has worked in the following countries: The Netherlands, Germany, Kenya, Rwanda, Jordan. It does not work in the United Arab Emirates as they block Voip. And a someone needs to be connecting to high speed internet for it to work. We do not use it as our home phone as many people try to do but certainly believe they should store it as a clarification for international travelers. We had tried so many programs that could be downloaded to phones, etc. Trying to bring the price down and we had tried Skype but this stock (Magicjack) allows the tourist to call a land line or cell phone at no cost. With Skype the receiving party needs to be on the computer too.

I followed your advice and got the Mio gps. I had had a Garmin 320C but passed it down to Someone else daughter and upgraded. I do certainly like it but the studying curve was a small steeper than the Garmin.

Just thought you would like a small feedback from one of your readers.

Janet D

So, to that glowing endorsement, I add my own, and end this describe with a very high hint that you consider acquiring a MagicJack, unless you are a dummy. Let MagicJack be your beanstalk to the world.

Keep connected!

MagicJack and the VoIp Beanstalk
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