magicJack - New VoIP Player launches

March 8, 2007
magicJackmagicJack, a new VoIP service provider, allows cheap phone calls from a computer using a USB device that connects on one end to your PC and your home analog phone on the other.  It has an interesting pricing model that is reminiscent of SunRocket's $299/year one-time fee - though much cheaper. The MagicJack sells for between $29.95-$39.95, and then there's an annual license fee of $19.95 for unlimited calls in the U.S., Canada and portions of Europe. Compare that with Vonage's $24.99/month for unlimited U.S. domestic calling.

According to MagicJack, it's a simple 45-60 second setup.
1. Plug any phone cord into the magicJack
2. Plug magicjack into a USB port on your computer.
3. Wait 60 seconds for completion screen to appear, then dial your phone and talk for free.

It features Follow-Me, free calls to the U.S. when you take the magicJack to any country. Call Forwarding, CallerID, Call Waiting, and Voicemail will be available April 2007. Don't expect e911 emergency services though.

On a related note, I have a similar product in my VoIP labs called myJabber. It too is a USB-based VoIP device, though myJabber is more similar to the Vonage V-Phone I reviewed since they both uses a softphone for calls rather than an actual analog phone like magicJack does. Essentially, magicJack is an analog telephony adaptor (ATA).

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Comments to magicJack - New VoIP Player launches


  1. Donald Burns :
    March 17, 2007 12:59 PM

    Dear Tom Keating:

    The magicJack product allows a user to access free inbound and outbound U.S. calling, but your review has one inaccuracy.

    Th outbound calling feature, associated with the magicJack, will come with full access to E911 and 911 service where available and subject only to the same limitations that effect other VoIP aplications like power failure and lack of broadband connection. Full E911 and 911 terms and conditions will be available at launch.

    Watch for our official launch in April.

    Donald Burns,
    Chief Executive Officer


  1. geekyfun :
    August 2, 2007 7:38 PM

    This review needs to be updated. Magicjack has been released for at least a couple of months now. While searching for the reviews I came across this website and another one with a short pointed review http://www.recipedelights.com/voip.htm#magicjack


  1. Karan Bheda :
    November 4, 2007 8:35 PM

    I bought MagicJack a month ago.
    Though it is a great piece with awesome voice quality and easy of installation, I would rate it 1 / 10 when it comes to reliability.
    I sent it to India where they have broadbacd connection. And yet I am never ever able to make calls on the MagicJack. It works only 50% of the times. So it really defeats the purpose. I did rather pay a few $$$ more and get Skype, Vonage so atleast get 100% reliability.

    I do believe that its got a great potential but right now its in a very immature stage. But it surely has the ability to give Skype, Vonage a hard time. But thats 6-12 months later CETAINLY not now.


  1. Praveen :
    December 19, 2007 3:26 PM

    Has anybody else sent/used this phone oversees/India and can tell if it works and receives calls?


  1. Techezy :
    December 30, 2007 5:12 AM

    For a detailed review on using the device overseas and it's limitations take a look at my review on techezy.com


  1. Tyler Barker :
    January 29, 2008 11:22 AM

    I put a magicJack on my PC about ten days ago and am guessing that people giving this thing positive reviews work for the company that manufactures it. Either that or these people are the type who enjoy spam and popup advertisements. For anyone reading this, I don't want to waste your time, so here's the scam behind magicJack and why you should avoid it like the plague: ADS POP UP ON YOUR SCREEN EVERY TIME YOU MAKE OR RECEIVE A PHONE CALL, INTERRUPTING WHATEVER PROGRAM YOU ARE WORKING IN.

    Even though you use your regular phone keypad, every time you use magicJack, a telephone keypad pops up on your screen. Why does an unnecessary telephone keypad pop up on your screen, when you are using your regular telephone keypad? So these jerks can force you to look at the advertising that's on the popup keypad. You can almost rest assured that this little magicJack device is also tracking your every move on the Internet so it can target these annoying popup advertisements. The reason I believe this is because my PC slowed down considerably after I connected magicJack, so much so that there is a noticeable lag whenever I type something in MS Word or Outlook. When I turn off magicJack, my PC works fine.


  1. Steve Graeff :
    February 2, 2008 2:59 AM

    I ordered it on Sunday night.. got it by Wednesday mail. Plug it in my Gateway laptop with Vista.. Installed the build-in software, registered it in 12 minutes and made my first call in 15 minutes after plugging it in. I would rate it pretty simple to get it up and running.. THE quality on the calls? ITS better than Yahoo! or skype... but no match to Vonage. Its okay as a cheap alternate 2nd phone.. But as your primary phone.. don't even try it! The sonda quality is okay..whether you are running a program or not. It will skip.. and hopefully they can work on it!! from 0-10.. 10 being the highest would rate it 6.5 will prolly keep it... even if I use it sparingly.. HAD high hopes that it would be like Vonage.. its not good enough to replace it!!!!


  1. Byron Smart :
    March 15, 2008 2:02 AM

    Well it is 40 dollars for a unit and a years worth of service. It is excellent! It is not meant to have cheap Indian outsourcing firms to use this. THUS IT SAYS YOU CAN ONLY USE WITH THE USA and CANADA. Though you can kinda of fool it, you cheap outsourcing scumbags have no clue what you speak of. They made it this way to prevent corporate scumbags that illegally outsource and scam to have the SIP prevented from quality. Stupid people that bought 20-200 and try to set them up on a cisco catalyst are going to get the cheap quality they deserve when running outside the US and Canada. Because they wanted to not listen to what they bought and scam as usual


  1. Tina :
    March 18, 2008 12:22 PM

    Well, my husband ordered this piece of crap which worked for about a week and we were only supposed to be charged 39.99 but, they charged us $170.00 and no contact info came with it no return or anything DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY PEOPLE!!!!!


  1. Tyler Barker :
    March 18, 2008 4:51 PM

    Tina, here's a phone number for MajicJack: 561-317-2834. I'm sure you'll get a voice mail, but it's the only number available for these jerks. If you can't get hold of anyone, just call your credit card company and dispute the charge.


  1. R. Michael Gard :
    March 23, 2008 12:38 PM

    This Magicjack gadget sounds like a typical corporate ripoff to me. I had a similar problem to this when I subscribed to Vongo internet movies by STARZ. There is no customer service access, when I tried to stop the service by mail, I got double-billed. The only alternative left is to cancel my credit card completely; which requires paying off all outstanding balances.
    Kind of a big hassle, for a supposedly "inexpensive service". First you pay the $40 forthe gadget then the $20 for the service; then if you contact them they double up each time --NO THANKS !!!


  1. DONALD A. BURNS :
    March 24, 2008 6:13 PM

    Dear Tina,

    There is a Return procedure on the web site www.magicjack.com. If you only ordered one (1) magicjack, plus regular shipping and no additional years of service, then you certainly should not have been billed $170.

    Please email me with your order number from your original order confirmation email and/or shipping email. I will get rightback to you on what you were billed and a RMA is you want to return the jack.

    Don Burns
    Chairman of the Board
    don.burns@magicjack.com



  1. robert hall :
    April 1, 2008 5:26 AM

    people, please do not get magicjack, not worth it.


  1. IgniteMe :
    April 3, 2008 5:31 PM

    Stop Jerking me around, MagicJack-Off!!!

    I refer to this company as jackoffs because they charged my debit card 25 days into
    my 30 day trial period - bouncing two checks! It's a no-no to give out debit card
    #'s on the internet; but a $1.2 million dollar heart attack & 2 month coma wiped
    out my credit as well as my health. Hence VOIP. Anyway, back to the point. Not only
    did they break their contract with me; they're dragging their heels in giving me a
    refund number; probably hoping they can say that I went over their 30 days trial
    period by not returning their product in a timely fashion. I had to go through the
    hassle of disputing this directly with my bank. PAIN IN THE AARRGGGGHH!

    I was going to cancel in due course anyway - most everyone I called received a wicked echo or couldn't hear me unless I was shouting! YES - I tried all of their "magic fixes" from their website to improve the call quality; To no avail...

    When I first installed this crapware - I found THIRTEEN different applications
    associated with it in my firewall... I disabled nineof them - but FOUR of these
    "services" HAD to be enabled for this POS to work - THREE TOO MANY FOR MY TASTE!
    And they were all named with obfuscating names like "in00000" & such...

    In addition, MagicJackOff would not give me the local area code that I live in - How much you wanna bet they make money off all the local folks that have to call me long distance?! Sheer speculation, I know, but still... Do NOT trust MAGICJACKOFF!!! - Hasta la fuego, Magic Jack-Offs! - POS's!


  1. Len Lambert :
    April 5, 2008 10:35 PM

    Ordered during "free" trial promotion. Card was not supposed to be charged until after 30 days. Got charged PRIOR TO RECEIVING the device. Received device, it did not work. Spent over 6 HOURS with tech support, no one could fix the problem! Tried the same remedies 5 different times, to no avail. When I asked to send it back, they refused to give my money back, even though it was never installed and was on Day 1 of the trial period! Every tech REFUSED to take my return. I filled out a complaint with the Attorney General and have hired an Attorney to get my money back!

    MagicJack is a SCAM!


  1. jack :
    April 23, 2008 9:34 AM

    I have had a great experience with Magicjack. Quality great and setup was easy.


  1. Vic :
    May 1, 2008 3:43 PM

    Just got my MagicJack yesterday and installed it right away. I just follow the instructions and did the magic fix also and then called my brother in Texas. I got connected instantly and was talking to my brother without any problems. At night, I decided to call my niece who is in Dubai but before i can do that I have to bur the pre paid thing which cost me $10.00 for 43 minutes. It's more expensive than the phone card but I was just testing the magicjack. I am very satisfied with the results since i was connected and was able to talk to my niece for the whole duration of the money put in. Because of that I decided to order three more so that I could send it my niece and to other relatives of mine in other parts of the world. Very important is that you should have a High speed internet connection.

    So I really don't know why there are a lot of you guys having problem using the device not unless your not what you are!!!!


  1. Jacquie :
    May 1, 2008 8:30 PM

    If anyone has the phone # for MagicJack could you please e-mail it to me, so I can cancel it. It is only free if you call someone eles with a magicjack. They don't tell you that until you are connected. Thank you in advance. Jacquie


  1. billo14 :
    May 2, 2008 11:16 PM

    I'm with Jack and Vic.

    Received the device about a week ago. Works fine, and quality of call is much better than cellphones, or at least as good. We use at a summer place on wireless broadband. Eliminates a more expensive cellphone solution there.

    We have used Vonage since 2003, and Vonage is slightly better quality, but magicJack has the price advantage.

    Checked my online Visa account and no billing has occurred for even the shipping cost.

    As currently working, magicJack is a keeper.


  1. AdwarePhobic :
    May 3, 2008 1:43 PM

    Amazing how many users are willing to accept adware programs, especially when they have to PAY for those programs. Read their terms of service policy, section 11, Advertisements. Their magicPage software that must run on your host is adware. Oh joy, you get to pay for spam.


  1. Albertha Anderson :
    May 12, 2008 8:01 AM

    I ordered three magic Jacks. One for each of my two daughters and one for me. None of them work on with our vista operating systems. I have tried to contact the company but to no avail. The "live person" contact does not respond. They charged $200.00 to my credit card right away. There is no return address, or anything. WATCH OUT FOR THIS SCAM.


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