Ok I know there had been a thread or two about this in the past, maybe someone has a link. Anyway, I am just wanting to hear from some of you who use Magic Jack. I currently am spending about $40 per month just to have a home phone number, and I am seriously considering trying the Magic Jack instead. How is it? Does it work as advertised, meaning it is essentially indistinguishable from your regular home phone service? I know it's a pipe dream, but are you able to port numbers to it? That is the only thing which holds me back, having to basically reconfigure my life and update numbers for everyone... Any problems, or big quibbles? Thanks guys.
Consider Google Voice instead. The only requirement is that you setup a gmail.com email address. It is free for most calls.
Get google voice to work with your magic jack... Works wonderfully... You can recieve all your calls on your magic jack. In the rare case the phone is down, google voice will forward it to your cellphone, office, or wherever else you designate..
http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html Basically, you sign up for a phone number, then you "sync" that phone number with your other phones (cell, work, home). Give out the google #, and when people call the google #, you can have it ring multiple locations at the same time. You can also have your calls forwarded to your google # - then you get google voicemails - and you can have those voicemails transcribed into txt or email or both. There are other options and functionalities, but I haven't fully set mine up yet.
Yeah, I set one up and made a call in about 5 minutes, but after I disconnected all my internet access was cut off.
I have one and use it mainly for when I am out of the country and wish to call the United States. It works great in that regard.
I have used magic jack for a few months and every time I'm on a call the other person would complain about a reverb or echo in my voice. It's fine for really basic needs but I'm using ooma now. I do not want to have my computer running just to use the phone also.
Ok so this is all good information. I am leery of Magic Jack, but was willing to consider it to save over $400 per year.. but will look at other options too.. So what is Ooma?
I remember now, it wasn't a ripoff, but they're able to store and gather your calls under the privacy agreement. http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/14/magicjacks-eula-says.html
Want "magic jack" software on my evo so I can just use the Virgin mobile prepaid mifi and get calls, unlimted internet for $40 per month.
Who better than Google, Inc. to effectively describe the usage of Google Voice: Link to plugin information To get started, you must be signed in to chat and have the voice and video chat plug-in installed. Simply click the Call phone link at the top of your Chat roster to open up the Call window. From the Call window you can dial a phone number, view your call history or add credit if you'd like to place an international call. Additionally, if you are a Google Voice user, you can enable Google Chat as a forwarding phone and receive calls in Gmail. If you don't want to see the Call phone option in your Chat roster, you can disable it.
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