Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - Does anybody else use the MagicJack???

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Does anybody else use the MagicJack???

I heard of it from Clark Howard's radio show and seen the commercials on TV. They look like a good deal if they are a sustainable business.

I haven't had a hardline in three years. Who would want to call a house when they can call all the residents of the house directly?

Its been rolling since early 2007 I think, I usually give new technology a year or so before I feign interest, just to let them work the bugs out. Heres a more recent review.

Quote:

It's about the size of a matchbox and plugs into a PC. After plugging a regular phone into the MagicJack, the user can make and receive calls much like using a regular landline.

In January, just after the broad advertising campaign started, YMax was selling a few hundred MagicJacks per day, said Jim Donlon, its chief marketing officer. Now, it's selling 8,000 to 9,000 per day, and the company is on track to have half a million subscribers by the end of June.

That's a meteoric trajectory in the phone business, propelled by the pricing: The MagicJack costs $39.95, including one year of free calls in the United States and Canada. Another year of service costs $19.95.

"It's extremely low-risk. Most people I know are willing to gamble on 40 bucks," said TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert, who follows voice-over-Internet providers.

Unlike most voice-over-Internet Protocol — or VoIP — providers, YMax is licensed as a phone company in the continental United States and operates a wide network of servers to carry its calls. VoIP providers generally outsource that side of the business.

Comcast, the fastest-growing cable voice provider, signed up a net average of 7,100 customers per day in the first quarter, ending with 5.1 million on March 31. Vonage Corp., the leading independent provider of VoIP that works with regular phones was averaging 334 per day, for a total of 2.6 million.

YMax's subscriber numbers are "significant," Beckert said, but he noted that its revenue is much lower than that of competing providers because it charges about as much for a year of service as its rivals do for a month. Even eBay Inc.'s Skype, which uses computers for calling, charges significantly more.

It's unclear what effect the MagicJack is having on competitors.

YMax Chief Executive Don Burns said many customers buy a MagicJack as a complement to a cell phone, compensating for poor cell coverage at home. When the computer is off, the service can be set to forward incoming calls to a cell phone.

Burns and inventor Dan Borislow founded the company, financing it largely themselves. They're telecom industry veterans — Borislow pioneered selling long-distance service to AOL subscribers in the 90s and Burns was the CEO of Telco Communications Group, which provided discount long-distance calls.

Burns says YMax's structure helps keeps cost low and call quality high. In the future, the company plans to sell advertising that shows up on the PC screen while calls are being placed. It would use its knowledge of the customer's location to display relevant ads.

Even so, Beckert is skeptical of the business model. Like YMax, Vonage has recruited customers by TV advertising for years. But Vonage has consistently lost money.

"I'm still not sure how you make money at $20 a year," Beckert.

MagicJack's next moves are to get on the shopping channel QVC and possibly expand sales beyond the Web and call centers.

"We have big-box retailers jumping at this," Donlon said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25199760/

I haven't seen any ads whatsoever on my MJ PC softphone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by twistedmosaic

I haven't had a hardline in three years. Who would want to call a house when they can call all the residents of the house directly?

Are you saying you prefer cellphones???

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveOrion

Are you saying you prefer cellphones???

Yep. I just don't understand land lines anymore. Do you not have a cell phone? Do you need it for business reasons? My wife and I both have cell phones with more minutes than we'll ever talk a month, so *shrug*...I don't see the need. I spend the $12 a month on netflix instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by twistedmosaic

i had a cell phone once, i threw that annoying piece of machinery into a creek. i would much rather have a land line. i hate being bothered when im out and about. if i want to talk to someone on the phone, ill go home and talk. if there is an emergency, ill use a friends cell or a payphone. just my 2 cents on cell phones.

as for the magic jack, ive had no experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveOrion

I also have a cellphone but I own my own business and cellphone coverage is inconsistent at best. I need a hardline & wireless, no need to chance a potential client because of unreliable cellphone coverage.

Our cell coverage is nothing to barely nothing at best where we live. My cellphone is useful for my jobs though as it picks up halfway to Pullman with some kind of service and anywhere else.
Our landline is supplied by Time Warner Cable through the cable line which is admittedly not cheap but offers long distance, and other things with their package.

I do use MJ as a back service to my Onesuite.com account.

I got no landline though and uses Onesuite voip for incoming calls and overseas ones. MJ for backup and some within the U.S. calls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveOrion (Post 2474548)

Isn't that what voicemail is for? I mean, you aren't home and near your phone 24/7 are you? I've never really understood this argument for landlines. Not being a prick about it, just asking for more info on this line of thought. Maybe I'm missing some vital part of the concept.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSJTWIZTA

Uhm, really? Just don't answer? Or turn the phone off? My mom used to say the same thing, until we forced her to get one while I was deployed and she didn't want to miss any calls from me. Now I'm home and she's not willing to give it up at all. In fact, we turned off her landline since then. She prefers the cell and she's a total technophobe.

I've thought about the MagicJack too. Might get it soon. I had Vonage for over a year but just really didn't need it so got rid of it. I use my cell phone for everything. I have unlimited minutes, both local and long distance. Other than having to change my phone number because of a crazy-ass ex-girlfriend, I've had zero-trouble with my cell. I'm careful about giving my number out so when I get a call I know it's somebody I Want to talk to. And if I'm busy I just don't answer. But at $20 a year, MagicJack does sound cool. I'll have to think about it. It's just not really a need.....

I still have a landline, my DTV and home security system require it. The price is a different story though, what started out as a $25/month bill has blown up to over $60/month.

I am looking into alternatives now, seeing who offers what plans and for how much. I will not go VOIP, if I need to reboot my router because of internet issues, either the phone is down anyway, or it will cut me off. I am just not ready for that yet. I also have a cell phone, but the plan is very basic and I don't use it that much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MontanaXVI (Post 2507341)

Your DTV could survive without and your alarm could possibly be upgraded to wireless :)

Society is too attached to phones, it's like being on a leash 24/7. Cell phones, home phones, work phones, internet phones. Not a single moment in the day when someone is just free to be unreachable.

I have 5 bars everywhere I go. Cell phone for me.