For months I have been hearing about the MagicJack phone service on the Clark Howard Radio Show.

So after being fed up with my previous VOIP provider, not being able to change my 911 Service Address when I moved, I decided to fire the old VOIP company and go with MagicJack.

MagicJack Pricing

The magic service is $19.95 per year, that's right, per year. I purchased the MagicJack device at a local Wallgreens Drug Store. The total cost before tax for the unit and the first year of service was $37 and change.

This is by far the cheapest VOIP service that I have tried. Other that I have used have been between $20 and $35 per month.

Installing MagicJack

I had some difficulty installing MajicJack. After the install I received the following message:

Please restart your magicjack and try again [error 401]

After several restarts with no success, I went to Google, and found several articles that said that magicJack wouldn't work on Windows 7. So I installed MagicJack on another computer that I had running Windows XP, and I received the same error message. I then tried it on another computer running Windows Vista, and received the same message.

I then found an article suggesting to open several outgoing UDP ports on my firewall, so I tried this next with no success.

At this point I tried the live chat on the magicJack.com website, and the person on the other end did something to "reset" my account. They then asked me to restart magicJack, and suddenly everything was working. I don't know what they did, but it fixed my problem, and I now have magicJack working at my home.

Here is a screen shot of the magicJack application when it is running.



I have used the blue scribbles to block out things like my 911 service address, my phone number, and the last number called.

Advertising

Even though majicJack is a paid service, they include lots of advertising in the application.
1. The large block on the left 1/3 side of the application.
2. The Weather, and Yahoo links above the keypad.
3. The Google link on the bottom right which doesn't actually go to Google, it goes to a MagicJack page that looks like Google, which then redirects you to Google.

Turning off Powersaving Sleep Settings in Windows 7

One recommendation to ensure that you have uninterrupted phone services is to set your computer to never sleep as shown in the Windows 7 power settings dialog box.

Sleep is a power down condition on your computer where after a certain amount of time your computer shuts off. If your computer goes to sleep your magicJack device will not place or receive calls.

Voicemail in your Email

One of the most convenient features of some VOIP system, including MagicJack, is the ability to have your voicemail messages delivered to your email. You can configure MagicJack to send an email to your email address with each voicemail message attached as a .wav file. This .wav media file can be played on your computer without having to dial into the voicemail system.
I took this one step further, I configured my voicemail to be sent to an email address that I read on my iPhone. Now voicemail messages left when I am not at home will show up on my iPhone email account and can be played from the iPhone.

One great feature that will save some time. If you are considering another VOIP provider, check to see if this feature is available before you sign up.

After reading the fine print on Vonage, I decided to keep my phone number around for an extra month to let people know that my number had changed. Now that it is a month later, I called Vonage to cancel.

First off when I tried to cancel because the service was so poor, they suggested that I talk to technical support, which I had previously talked to. They also offered to give me some period of "Free" service in order to try and get the problems worked out.

When I said no, that is when they informed me that it would cost $43.35 ($39.99 + tax) to close my account out. I wonder what percentage of the Vonage annual revenue comes from the $43.35 cancellation fee.

My experience after using Vonage for several months is to stay away from their service.

Here is the cancellation message from Vonage.

-----Original Message-----
From: Vonage Customer Care [mailto:billing@vonage.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 3:39 PM
To: xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Vonage Final Account Status


Dear xxxxx xxxxx,

At your request, your Vonage service has been cancelled. This email
is to notify you that we have successfully processed the final
charges for your Vonage account in the amount listed below.

Vonage Account Number: xxxxxxxxx
Date Processed: 08/28/2007
Debit Amount: $43.35

As outlined in our Terms of Service, a disconnect fee of $39.99 per
voice line is charged to all customers along with any applicable
taxes. Your total debit of $43.35 includes this disconnect fee, all
pending charges, credits, and applicable taxes. For more information
about our return policy, please refer to our Terms of Service:
http://www.vonage.com/features_terms_service.php.

A detailed online invoice is available through your Vonage Online
Account. You will still have access to your call and billing history
through your Online Account for up to 90 days after this
cancellation.

We are looking out for you! For your protection checking and credit
card information should not be submitted through email. You can 
easily update your payment information through your Vonage Online
Account. Get there fast, click here:
https://secure.vonage.com/webaccount/.

For a complete explanation on how to read your online invoice, please
visit: 
http://vonage.com/help.php?article=1250 ... amp;nav=6.

Thank you for your business and we hope to welcome you back as a
Vonage customer in the near future. We are continuously making
improvements and enhancements to our service - such as innovative
features and expanded coverage areas.

It has been our pleasure to provide you with a better digital phone
service for less. Should your future phone service needs change,
please consider Vonage and visit us at
http://www.vonage.com or contact
Customer Care.

If you have any questions, your Vonage team is available to assist
you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us whenever and however
it suits you!

* On-Line Help Center at
http://www.vonage.com/help.php

* Contact Us at 
http://www.vonage.com/help_contactUs.php

* Or call toll-free at 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357)


Sincerely,
    
Vonage Customer Care

After using the Vonage VOIP service for just over a month now, I have decided that this is not the service for me.

I love the concept of VOIP, but Vonage has just been too flaky for me. The negatives things that I have experienced with Vonage are:

1. The quality of the signal. I have had some trouble with the connection. People have complained that I sound like I am a million miles away. It sounds like I am in a tunnel when I talk, like the old original cell phones sounded.

2. About once a week my Vonage LinkSys adapger locks up and requires a "reboot". I have to unplug it and plug it in again in order to get it working. From the time that it locks up until I reset it, all of my calls get forwarded to my alternage phone number.

3. Services like FreeConference.com were completely unusable with Vonage.


I did try using Skype before I tried out Vonage, it didn't work as well. I have had too many phone calls with people using Skype, that were just too painful.

After hearing about the problems with SunRocket and their failed business lately, I have done some serious research in order to find what I think is a superior VOIP provider, with higher quality hardware, and a better price than Vonage.

One of my requirements was to find a VOIP service provider that is a profitable company.

So, rather than critiquing the new service, which I have been happy with for 2 days now, I have decided to keep quiet, and after a couple weeks, if I am still happy with the service, I will write a review at that point.