I am tired of paying large bills for my landline for just a few calls a month. Has anyone tried Magic Jack or other companies besides the big one (starting with the letter V)? Thanks a lot for your advice.
Hydroace
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I've used V and other VoIP services, but landed on Magic Jack after discovering a plugin called MagicFeatures (linked below). It adds several features to Magic Jack, but the bits I liked most are that it only costs $20 (a one time purchase), and it bumps the priority of Magic Jack's operation just a little higher than other software running in your computer - helping keep the call clear of static. I've had no real issues with it for the past 4 years, and really like being able to take it with me while traveling - it's like taking your home phone with you.
Don't count on getting any effective customer service from them though. You're better off looking for answers online. We pay less than $2 per month for our landline, so I'm willing to sort out any issues that crop up myself.
joe r
tried skype with a telephone adapter as a land line replacement... verdict - dial plan too complicated, you need to dial 00 before every number, and # after dialing, call quality was horrible..
tried magicjack as a home phone replacement, with a dedicated PC so that the resources on the PC did not effect call quality - the magic jack plus that is now available will connect directly to your network so that PC resources will not effect call quality... the call quality was better than with skype, and is actually cheaper.. however call quality is still not the best, and they do not terminate calls to several rural destinations where the termination costs are higher... really only recommended as a secondary line...
i tried vonage way back at least 5-6 years ago.. never had any problems with them... most of the troubles that people encounter with them is due to the internet connection or their LAN not being properly configured... would recommend them, especially if you make international calls as they have some pretty good plans that include international calling..
have the ooma, i got it before the monthly taxes thing started so i am grandfathered in with lifetime service with out needing to pay the taxes... very solid service.. no quality issues.. just high up front costs..
there are plenty of other providers out there.. and if you want to get creative you can have free phone service with google voice, you would just need to buy an obi110 from amazon or somewhere for about $50 then configure it with a google voice account for free phone service.. i have not tried this yet, so not sure of the call quality...
Anonymous
I am using Axvoice and Ooma right now. Both have very fine voice quality. Axvoice works good at home as you can block unwanted calls. Both Ooma and Axvoice are offering call forwarding facility so you don't miss your calls even when you are not at home. Ooma with their device is a bit costly ($199). Axvoice is offering free equipment. To cut the story short, you don't need to worry about these phone services. I have already seen some forums where people are discussing issues and problems about Skype. I guess they need to work a bit on these problems.