Lucid Tips

For quite some time I have been looking for a cheap (and I mean real cheap) VoIP alternative. A friend recently told me about magicJack. I checked their web site and was intrigued by the product which is industry first. Online reviews are mixed - some good some bad but I was willing to take the $40.00 gamble. So far it has paid off - in the first week of usage I have been impressed with magicJack. The voice quality is as good as POTS.

My good experience started with the fact that the product was shipped the very next day and I received it in 3 days. The packaging is simple yet impressive - they even included a USB extension which came in handy for me.

The setup was very simple - just plug the magicJack into a USB port (non powered USB hub is not recommended) and the wizard guides you through the install. You choose your user name, password, enter your address that would be used for E911 calls and then finally choose the number (see available area codes). All takes about one minute. I connected a cordless phone with RJ11 connector and I had dial tone. The voice quality is good - there are occasional blimps but nothing substantial.

It comes bundled with a dialer that can be used to make calls from the computer using microphone and speakers. magicJack currently only works on Windows and Intel Macs.

Initial costs of $39.95 includes first year of free local and long distance. Service also includes free Call Waiting, Voicemail and Caller ID. Second year service costs $19.95