Update On Cheap Phone Calls
by Philly ~ July 13th, 2008
A few weeks back I mentioned a number of ways to get yourself set up on line in the Philippines so that you could call the US or friends and family back home could call you for very little or even zero cost.
One of the faithful here, Marshall who hails from California bought a solution I had not mentioned and today he took the time to have a test conversation with me via my "Skype Out" service and his new "MagicJack" VOIP system.
You know the first time I heard of the MagicJack I got the idea this was one of those "too good to be true" Internet scam sort of offerings but now that I have had a report from someone who has purchased and used it, and I have dialed into their system and talked over it myself (on a Sunday morning, my time, when my ‘net usually runs pretty slow", I think I can say this is a good deal. That’s right, friends, handy-andy, jim-dandy, two-toned, steam-heated, chrome-plated De-Lux telephone plug-in gizmo! Guaranteed not to rust, bust, collect dust, erode, corrode, or explode! Further warranted not to rend, rip, burst or tear asunder!
Seriously, at about $40 for the device and your first year of service, $20 a year there after and 100% free calls this gizmo is hard to beat. I’m going to order one and have it sent to me in the next Alabaman box … I like my Skype service but this one seems better, faster and cheaper, despite their somewhat "hype-Sy" looking web site. Recommended
Related posts:
- More on Making Money in the Philippines — Rethink the Phone
- Using the Phone
- Yet Again With The Phone Stuff
- Moving Plans — Phones
- Cebu Pacific Update
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July 14th, 2008 at 3:53 am
Philly,
The drawback with MagicJack is that your PC or laptop has to be on to send and receive calls.
If that’s the case, then you may as well download some free VoIP software (saving you the cost of the MagicJack unit), use a USB headset and sign up with a cheap VoIP provider
All you’re really getting with MagicJack is free calls within the US and Canada for $20 per year. You’d have to make a lot of calls to make it worthwhile (compared to other VoIP providers). And their international rates aren’t that cheap (coupled with the fact that you have to prepay for your international minutes).
With my VoIP provider http://www.pennytel.com/call_plans.html I pay $5 per month and get 65 free calls within Australia free calls to other PennyTel users and untimed calls to 70 countries at 0.08 per call. I pay 17 cents per minute to call Philippines mobile (MagicJack rate 22 US cents per minute).
I have to say, products like MagicJack are marketed at VoIP “newbies”. If you do some research you can find much cheaper alternatives.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:58 am
You also might want to check out this Blog here: http://broadband-nation.blogspot.com/2008/03/just-what-is-majicjack-good-choice-or.html which doesn’t seem to rate it to highly, although they are fair and say it is “new”.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I also checked out a few blogs and found many people unhappy with it. Many claimed they had money taken out before the 30 day “free trial” and many tried to call customer service and had problems getting a “live” person. Also in the contract you receive many ads on your computer as part of signing up at the cheap price. i will have to think about this one as i think i would rather pay a little more and get better service with no ads on my computer.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
True, it does require having your PC turned on and running, as does Gizmo, Skype etc.
It does have a window on the softphone that can serve up messages. To date, I have only seen Magicjack promos about their long distance service and on how to set up the voicemail (which works even if pc is not running. I would expect to see other ads at some point but it does not detract me from what it does as I won’t be looking at the softphone most of the time. I have not experienced popups, pop unders or other univited contacts.
I have my regular landline phone plugged into the module(a two unit digital Uniden 2.4 GHz with speakerphone and voice mail). When I access the phone a dialtone is present and when making a call, nothing but the phone number is needed - no extra characters to punch in ala Skype (using similar setup).
I will be bringing Magicjack to PI with me on my trip next month and I plan on using it to make calls back to the US utilizing my laptop and wifi I will have access to while there. I will use it to keep in touch stateside on my travels.
I also plan to leave a couple of units (pre setup)with my wife’s family. As they have access to pc’s with broadband service in their homes, they will use it to call family members in the US. These units will have US based phone numbers so family members in PI will be able to call my wife and other family/friends in the States without cost to them (they are already prepaid for 12 months service). We family members and friends in the US can then use our cell phones, landlines, etc to call them - depending on where one selects the US area code at initial setup - it could be just like a local call.
I don’t know about you all, but trying to troubleshoot pc problems, installing software, etc from afar is not the easiest thing - so the “newbie”ness of Magicjack is of a value to me - plug it in to the USB port, let the software load - following the simple prompts - plug in the landline - and it is good to go. A headset mic or mic and speakers can be used but for me a regular phone (with a headset if desired) is easier for me and I expect easier for the PI families who will be using it.
As for call quality - overall, it has been good for me so far and of course time will tell. I have used Gizmo, Yahoo, many others over the years and currently use Skype Call In and Call Out. I have had varying results with all of these. I also have used calling cards, dial around and landline international calling services in the past with varying results as well.
For my family situation, this should prove a better way to go for us as we will not have to use calling cards, call around plans, expensive landline international calling plans etc. I am willing to try it - I have certainly spent $46.95 USD and more in the past on phone services and got crappy results, so it is worth the gamble to me.
Magicjack might not be the best solution for everyone, but it is another choice to consider.
…everyone’s mileage may vary…
I will post my results once I have tried it out on my upcoming trip.
Cheers to all,
~marshall
July 14th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
For more info on VoIP try:
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=VoIP
There’s also a discussion forum which, although for Australian users, may have the answers to some generic VoIP issues.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-threads.cfm?f=107
July 14th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
@Laurence: Thanks again, Laurence. I really appreciate you filling us in on the Australian side of the world, becuase I note that I have a number of Australian readers … increasing day by day, thanks folks … and no real way to keep up with the different opportunities and challenges involved in sharing time between the Philippines and Australia rather than between the States and the Philippines. Appreciate the help.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:00 am
@Laurence: Hi Laurence. Like every offer, I’m sure there are some drawbacks … when the perfect product gest invented I hope I am around ;-). But I feel this discussion is mixing apples and oranges.
To put free software for free calls on your computer is certainly easy … I really wonder why so many people pass right buy Yahoo messenger Voice for example …. or Skype to Skpye calls. But you are missing two important points about MagicJack.
1. the $20 a year subscription includes a personal dial-in number, i.e. your ‘own’ US phone number that can be reached from any conventional phone, world-wide. Many folks can’t expect gramnma or Uncle Amos to learn computers to call them free online, and you sure can’t deal with credict card comanies and such without a reachable phone number. MagicJack provides htis for less than half of Skpe’s cost and much less thna Vonage’s cost … if any other company provides an in-dial US number for $20 USD per year please tell me … I orginally had a company that did it for $48 a year, butthey went out of that business.
Two, the USB “dongle” format has the advantage that yu take your software and subscription with you in your pocket and can go onto the phone net from any computer, world-wide with a USB port. It also provides the place to plug in a ‘real’ phone, or even a multi-phone system, again more useful to some people than talking with a computer mic and headphones.
So, like everything else, it’s a trade off.
Is it for newbies? Indeed. That was my purpose in highlighting it … there are more sophisticated ways to do things but this resource is about moving to the Philippines nbot about computer savvy … I’ve been earning my living in one form or another with these dang things since Bill Gates was in elementary school and there are times I really hate the dang things.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Just got my brother in Vancouver to order one for himself. He said there is no “one month free” offers for Canada, so he just ordered it. Thanks for the info. If it works for him, I will order one for myself here. The only problem I have of course is that my connections get cut off - will this cause headaches for me - do you know? I usually know when the car ferries arrive, cuz my connection gets cut off!!! But it is easy to get back my connection, if I am of course here in front of my computer.
Thanks again, Ellen
July 15th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Philly,
I spend waaay too much time reading about VoIP, so apologies for coming across like a “know-it-all”.
Here’s a similar product to MagicJack:
http://www.voicestick.com/Index.aspx
Their international rates are pretty good….only 14 cents USD to Philippines mobile.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:13 am
@Jim: Hi8 Jim, thanks for the comments. Funny how we will pay (in the US anyway, a fortune per month for somehting like cable TV and sit through hours per week of mind-numbing ads, but advertiser supported telecomm or online ventures often get blasted for defraying costs with advertising. A good point though, so this seems a clear case of pay your money and take your choice. Thanks again, comments really make the place come alive I think.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:15 am
@John in Austria: Thanks John for recommending a better source for more detailed information. I learned a lesson here .. recommending a VOIP service is riskier than recommending a political candidate .. at least people are reading and not sleeping *smile*
July 15th, 2008 at 3:26 am
@marshallmellow: Thanks for the for the furtheri nput, Marshall. As a point of interest a number of Philippine entrepreneurs are selling MagicJack in the Philippines on eBay Philippines today … it’s a very fast-growing market. Time will tell if it proves good in the long run but the only other alternatives cost so much more that it seems a good deal to try. The US phone number is the key … there are dozens of ways to get VOIP calls back and forth but no way I know of to get a phone number that picks up or rings out in the US for $19.95 a year … that’s about the cost of one month for Vonage … so if it doesn’t have instant ‘real person’ live customer service you may be getting something in a tradeoff … it costs 12 times as much to have a call center agent pick up the phone when you call Vonage customer service.
A funny parallel. A company approached the city council in my former hometown in the US, Colorado Springs, and offered to do free to all high speed wireless internet service to the whole city … for free … (including city offices and all city schools) just as Google has down for some places in California.
You know what people bitched about in the public hearing which eventually forced the company to leave? “We want 1-800 number customer service and we won’t accept any overseas call center”. My daddy used to have an expression … some people wuld bitch if you hung them with a new rope.” I think those folks all moved to Colorado Springs.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:30 am
@Laurence: Thanks again Laurence, I’m sure those links will be interesting. Appreciate the help and no one thinks you’re a know it all, I’m just trying to kepe things flowing on all leverls. be well.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:33 am
@Ellen: Eellen two things I’d suggest … don’t buy those Philippine eBay offers as from what I see they are marking it up more thna 100%. And second, if you have ’spotty’ connectivity I would seriously look at Yahoo Messenger Voice … no hardware required and it is the best I have used on slow connections. It will work quite satisfactorily at dailup speeds, which many of the VOIP providers can’t match.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:47 am
ah ok, thanks for that. I was going to ask the family to order in Canada. I just like my own number, esp at that price. My brother has Voip already but it has a monthly charge and this one seems to be better at a yearly charge.
Talking about slow connection, I consider it fast here :)). After Papua New Guinea and the other Sth Pacific islands, where I bring my book to read while waiting for the page to come up, this is heaven compared to that. Hahaha.
I received notice to upgrade my WeRoam 2 days ago. Something must have worked, cuz I don’t get that many disconnections as before…
Thanks again everyone,
Ellen
July 15th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Hi again, Skype does supply an online number as well. Bit higher than MajicJack but Skype has been in the business longer and can guarantee a connection. http://www.skype.com/intl/en/allfeatures/onlinenumber/#
July 16th, 2008 at 11:13 am
That is a great ad you entered for the house in Lapu-Lapu, Cebu
Your website is well put together and attractive.
Malming salamat po
July 17th, 2008 at 9:07 am
@John in Austria: Skype does indeed offer ‘Skype In’ numbers John, I’ve written several times about them here. I am actually a very satisfied Skype user (1-719-966-4295). Skype also has numbers available in 20 plus different countries:
http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/onlinenumber/
(No, Austria isn’t one of them, more’s the pity) so they are a much better choice for folks outside the US … but I don’t want to play one against the other, just presenting a simpler option that can dothe job as well.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:16 am
@DON: Hi Don, thanks for the kind words. I hope it produces some results for you.