A while back I stumbled upon the Magicjack device and I was in awe. I thought “these guys are going to take over the world of VOIP”. At the very least I thought they would get insanely rich and become a household  word.

Let me begin at the beginning. The ad on the Internet said that I could use Magicjack with my broadband connection and any PC to make and receive calls. The concept was cool. I could carry Magicjack around in my pocket and plug it into any broadband PC taking my “land-line” anywhere I went. No per minute charges, no monthly bills or taxes. If I was at home, Magicjack would plug in to my home PC and when someone called my Magicjack provided phone number it would ring and I could answer. Then if I wanted to make outbound call I could just unplug it and take it with me.

Then if I went somewhere else that also had a broadband connected PC I would just plug it in, with the same convenient results. My calls would come to me anywhere and I could dial out for free as well. If someone called me in-between destinations, Magicjack’s voicemail would take my message and I would get voicemail when I plugged Magicjack back in.

The features looked really really good. They even had a way to make emergency 911 work. The price was amazing. $39.95 for the device and one year of free service. I opted for the extended 5-year plan at an additional $59.95 (locking in the low price).

So, you may ask… why write a review? Why not just write “buy a Magicjack right now and start saving”.  Well, actually I can’t get mine to work properly. Sounds stupid right? Not only did I buy this gizmo that I can’t make work, but I bought 5 years of additional service. Here’s how the deal went for me: I ordered the  Magicjack online with my credit card and it arrived in a few weeks. I plugged it in and like “magic” it loaded the software. Then I was asked to select my new Magicjack phone number. What? My area code is not available? That means people calling my new Magicjack phone number would have to call long distance! THAT SUCKS!

OK, well, the Magicjack is guaranteed so if I decide not to keep it they will refund my money. So I try it any way. I think to myself, where would be a good place to have a fake “satellite office”? Miami is the biggest city near me and some of my in-laws live in Miami. Having a Miami number would let them call me for free and it would make me seem like one of those big “Miami based” production companies. Maybe it would increase my out-of-town business. I can add it t my website and business cards for that “big time” look. But wait! I could get a number in Los Angeles or Hollywood! I could have a New York number and it would seem I was a huge multi-city company. All good ideas. I’ll start with Miami and add the others later, I thought…

After I picked the number from a wide selection of possibles I was pleased with the fact that Magicjack would be willing to change the number (once) if I changed my mind. So now with my new Miami number firmly carved into my imagination I went to set up the voice mail. Quite impressive. Lots of features. Then I tested the Magicjack by making an outbound call. I dialed my cell phone and let the cell phone voice-mail pick up. Wow, that sounded great! It was clear and with a rich tone.

Now test number two, actually call someone. Using the “soft-phone” on-screen dialer and a headset plugged into my PCs sound card I dialed my sister in Miami (eager to use the free long distance). She answered.

I said “Hi sis!”

She said “hello?”

I said “It’s me, Joe”

She said “hello?”

I shouted “can you hear me?”

She said ” I guess nobody’s there” and hung up.

Well that was not nearly as cool as I had anticipated. So I started figuring stuff out. I figured out how the Magicjack uses the sound card and then I set it up properly. I tried to use the setup process that Magicjack suggests but that did not work. I finally ended up adjusting the advanced audio properties in control panel. A call to my cell phone proved that I could make a call with my PC and a headset to anyone with any type of phone.

Step two! I will now plug a cordless telephone into the Magicjack and make a call with a “regular” phone. I would be able to roam around my home or office to make and receive free calls. Too cool. Free calls. OK, well, really really cheap calls with no per minute charges. In goes the plug. I pick up the phone and VIOLA! I hear a dial-tone. Now for the first call. I press a button. Nothing. I press another button. Nothing. Back to the website and look up a solution.  It says “may not work with all phones”. Well that’s OK, I have lots of phones. Since I dumped my local phone service and use just my cell phone at home I have at least 5 phones laying around. I tried them all. No go.

So I started buying different types of phones and I even found a real old fashioned phone from the Ma Bell days at a thrift store. They didn’t work either. So I tried their  ”chat with a real person” VIA the Internet. After 30 minutes waiting in the “chat-box” I get someone. That guy may not have been a native English language person based on his choppy wording. He was a real condescending jackass too. I kept trying to tell him that I had tried everything and that I felt my Magicjack was defective. He ignored me and made me go through every tiny little tweak and click from A-Z and one to a thousand. I told him I was very experienced with computers and he would ask me if I was pressing the correct mouse button. After an hour of doing all the crap that I told him I ALREADY TRIED, he told me to re-boot the machine and “that might work”.

 BULLSHIT! The only reason he suggested that was because it would make me go away. Obviously the only thing RE-BOOTING will do is dump the chat and disconnect my internet. That means WAITING ANOTHER HALF HOUR to “chat” with someone about making the Not-so-Magicjack work.

So basically I gave up. But the price is so low even the extra number with voicemail is worth the money. I looked into it.  With Magicjack you can forward your calls to any phone or use the soft-phone with your PC to make and receive calls. Even if the “real phone” won’t work with my Magicjack, it’s worth the money. Here’s what you get that I can verify as working:

- A phone # in almost any city in the USA (forward to any phone you wish)
- A great voice mail that emails your messages to you
- A gizmo that automatically installs the software for the above stuff on any PC - fast

All that for $39 a year, or less depending on what you sign up for. I priced those first two services, a phone number and voice mail that uses your email to give you the messages. Those two services alone cost anywhere from $9.99 to $19.99 a month and usually come with start-up costs as high as $25.

 To me, the services that I actually do get are worth the dough. Even if I can’t plug in a “real” phone, the Magicjack provides valuable services that cost more elsewhere. Maybe some day I’ll get the phone to work. Maybe I’ll buy another Magicjack some day and I can verify mine is broken. Now then I’ll be getting somewhere. Gee… I hope it’s broken.

 BUY MAGIC JACK AT [1] www.magicjack.com