MagicJack: Anybody here use it?

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[City Builder]

If anybody here is using the MagicJack telephone system please tell me what phone make and model you are using, IF you are using a cordless phone with answering machine.

I ask because I've tried too numerous to mention digital phones and all of them produce the same thing... I hear the other person that I'm calling great, however they tell me that I'm breaking up, or that the line is full of static.  So I finally got the idea to plugin an old analog type of phone (think the wall mounted "princess" phones) and now people tell me they hear me great and I hear them great.

However that ties me to the phone due to it being a corded phone and I really need to walk around the home office when people call due to having to dig up paperwork etc, so if anybody is using the magicjack usb phone and is using a digital cordless phone/answering machine please hollar out what make and model phone you are using.  I'm really about at my witts end with this thing but the money it saves me in long distance calls is outrageously keen (when it works properly).

[TomNobles]

I have an old style real small push button hooked to mine and it will cutout at times (analog?). They make 50' extensions.   

[City Builder]

Yeah that's probably what I'll have to do.  I finally figured out why the princess wall phone wasn't ringing, it was set to off for the ringer, however now the wall phone rings, but the digital phone will no longer pick up and answer the calls although it recognizes them and displays who is calling on the handset. 

I guess there must be something about the digital phone not liking to be plugged into a splitter with another phone.  Since we don't have regular phone service here anymore I can't test it to see if it's an issue with magicjack or with the digital phone just not liking to be split at the source with another phone unfortunately.  It answers the calls fine when it's the only one plugged into the MJ so that should tell me that it's an issue with the two phones being split off one line I suppose.

At least now that the wall phone is ringing again I can look at the digital phone on my desk and see if I want to take the call and if not just let it go to the MagicJack voice mail system and retrieve the message from my inbox of my email I suppose.  Just not quite as convenient as being able to hear the people leave the message in case I wish to pick it up.

It's the darndest thing to me that I can call Samantha's cell or my own cell number and it's crystal clear, but when I call land lines anywhere on the digital phone everybody tells me they can barely hear me or too much static or I sound like I'm in a win tunnel (whatever that sounds like), and yet they are coming in crystal clear for me hearing them.  When I first got the MJ almost 2 years ago now, it worked great for about 6 months, other than it is awful trying to fax with it, faxes keep getting disconnected and it's so frustrating I'd rather go pay the $10.00 to send out a fax at the local office supply store rather than try to use MJ for faxing.  AND yet, other people tell me they have absolutely no issues with faxing out on their MJ.

I'm so frustrated with it, I may just go back and get a regular house line again and be done with MJ and thier shenanigans.

Oh if you didn't know yet...

MJ has setup a new thing where they put everybody on recurring billing, so if you don't want that you need to login to the MJ website, go to your account and turn off the recurring billing so that they don't just autobill you when it's time to re-up for your account.  I found that ultra sneaky as I never received an email from them telling me they were going to do that.  I could have sworn that was against the law to do that.

[City Builder]

Oh here's a link to the unofficial MJ forums and instructions how to turn off the auto rebilling "feature":

http://www.magicjacksupport.com/how-to-disable-auto-renew-on-magicjack-t7929.html

[TomNobles]

Thanks, I sure didn't know that. The only time I had trouble with it was when I went to Arizona. I was on roam with my mobile modem and it wouldn't work at all there. Phone would ring but conservation was impossible. On the train between LA & Portland I used it a few times with no trouble. Got some pretty neat looks from people too.   

[dogbisquits]

I used a magicjack for 2 years.

your problem must be the area codes you use, my service was clearer then my regular one was.  during the time I used it I had 2 different phone numbers and 2 different area's from where the numbers came, one way north and one to the west in an upper class area.  It appeared to some people I must have had the big bucks.  That line worked best.

If you go into your homepage on line you'll be able to get a new phone number from them, I believe they allow you to switch this one time for free.

[dogbisquits]

also with my magicjack I simply relied on it's own voice message retrieval which works when its not on your comp, again I had thought what a savings I'd have if I bought a small box comp for $150.00 and added it as a second computer, you know a green energy saving emailer comp. They cost pennies to run, something Japenese, I could keep perminant magicjack for $20.00/yr instead of $500.00 to $1,000.00/yr., pretty inventive if I must say so myself, the only other option is to run your normal comp nearly 24/7. Magicjack even has an emergency 911 type feature which you tune for your area I believe, it can be your only phone.

[TomNobles]

Yes, you can change your number once, after that it costs $5. While in Arizona I had it on my laptop and voice mail worked fine but I couldn't use the phone with it. I think it was because the modem was on roam there because in CA it worked fine.  911 depends on the address you have listed, change the address and it will change the 911 hook-up.

[City Builder]

Unfortunately, too late to change the number now.  We've had it now for the past 2 years so everybody and the milk in their refridgerators got the number so would be too much trouble to change.  Plus we got really lucky to get our prefix (666) (which is not the prefix of anyplace around where we live, around here everything is a 32# number where # could be 0 through 9, except 2 and 3 I believe for some odd reason.

Oh well, I'm not that opposed to using the MJ voicemail instead of our own answering system since my own personal computer is on pretty much literally 365 days a year 24 hours a day, although since building this new computer last week I have been wanting to set it to sleep when I'm not using it to see if we conserve much money per month on electrics here, and I have the gnotifier that pops up whenever a new email is received so shouldnt be too much of a delay to get the message I suppose.

[dogbisquits]

Check this out, since that was a secondary phone and I had really no idea who was next to call I added a message to voice mail I found as a wav. file on line, it was the character of the Butcher from gangs of New York screaming;
was funny to me is why, this is the quote:

William Cutting: THEN MAY THE CHRISTIAN LORD GUIDE MY HAND AGAINST YOUR ROMAN POPERY!

I thought that would leave them thinking what the Hell when they recieved that as a message and wondered who the heck they called. You really have to hear it on a phone for shock effect, makes me laugh thinking about it, but if you wanted to leave me a message for that short period you had to trust you had the correct phone.

I chose a few other funny songs and such too and one that claimed you had reached the help line for assholes too.

the phone had all my accounts and sign ups and stuff I didn't exactly care so much about on it, allot of times the people who called would start out saying ummmmmmmm, before coming to and speaking what they wanted.