The Truth about MagicJack

By Mike McCarthy

I know MagicJack has been around a few years and to be honest, I am considered a late adopter of new technology by nature. I want to see what path this technology takes and prefer others to do all the debugging for me. By the time I decide to adopt the technology hopefully all of the bugs have been worked out.

Now at first I was skeptical of MagicJack promising to add a new or additional phone line to my office or home utilizing VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The claim is that for $19.95 a year you can make and receive both local and long distance calls (International is a bit higher) for free. FREE? No one gets anything for free nowadays, but as I had recently cancelled my land-line (in lieu of cellular technology) I soon discovered I could no longer fax documents. A minor glitch in my decision process I know, but I am saving $45 a month by disconnecting the local telephone service to the house.

So out of necessity, I ran down to my local Staples store and plopped $40 on the counter for a MagicJack device.

When I got back to my office I carefully opened the package (makes it easier to return), read the brief instructions and inserted the device into one of my USB ports. Nothing happened the first time I inserted it, but the second time did the trick. Almost immediately an installation program began and within a minute my MagicJack main window was up and asking me to register.

I clicked on the link provided, registered my device, paid my $19.95 (surprisingly they gave me a second year for free!), selected a local area code and prefix from a list of options and viola! My new telephone number showed up on the display and was awaiting calls. The entire process took less than 15 minutes.

Still skeptical, I grabbed my desk phone and popped in the telephone cable knowing full well to expect a noisy connection with delays. What did I get? A pure, clean signal that even my wife (I called her from it) could not believe.

So now I am a believer. The darn thing delivers what it promises. However, I still had one obstacle to overcome. The computer hosting my MagicJack is in one location (upstairs office) and my fax machine is in a separate location (downstairs family room). "Now what?" I thought. "The fax machine has to stay near a telephone wall jack. Of course, I could move the fax machine upstairs where it was very inconvenient or I could figure something else out."

Pondering this, it occurred to me that my house (like everyone else's) was pre-wired by the local telephone company. Crazy thought I know, but, "What if..."

Outside I found the phone box connecting my house to the telephone company (line is not in use anyway) and disconnected these (they just unplug). Next, instead of plugging my portable phone into the MagicJack, I plugged the MagicJack into the telephone wall jack in my office. I then added a phone jack splitter and connected my office phone to this. Now I have to test it out. The office phone works great. Okay, now to the rest of the house. Taking an old handset, I went throughout the house connecting this to the telephone wall jacks. And what do you know? It works! Crystal clear communication from everywhere. The fax machine also works.

Summary
For $40 plus $19.95 for two years of service I have upgraded my house with its own telephone network. Amazing. Friends and family can now call in (from anywhere in the country) and we can call out (to anywhere in the country) for free. Footnote: I love having my fax in service again.

Here are a few tips you should know about MagicJack:

• MagicJack needs only two things to operate: 1, A computer that is up and running and 2, An Internet connection.
• To my surprise I received an email from my MagicJack account alerting me that someone had left me a voice mail message. I opened the .wav attachment and listened.
• Although MagicJack offers 9-1-1 service, for your safety they recommend dialing 9-1-1 from a cell phone as a first option and only use the MagicJack for emergencies as a second option.
• The device comes with a 6" USB adapter cable you can use in order to prevent accidental damage to the device if inserted on a laptop.
• MagicJack offers replacement insurance for $1 a year. I purchased this in case it does get damaged.
• MagicJack tracks and displays incoming/outgoing calls on its display and even allows me to move these numbers to my own MagicJack contact list.
• MagicJack works with any analog phone. In my case a 5.0Ghz portable phone.

Now go out and get your own MagicJack and start connecting to friends and family for free!