Magic Jack is a cool little device you simply plug in your computer's USB port and connect any phone to it. It is really cheap and the service works fine for the technologically savvy people. The clarity is usually decent and the service is pretty dependable. But the Magic Jack does depend on your internet connection and your computer. Magic Jack is equipped with all the needed features that your current telephone provider offers including voicemail, address book, call waiting, caller id, etc. Although the Magic Jack performs decently, there are a few snags you should be aware of.

First off, Magic Jack requires your computer to be on at all times and the Magic Jack program to be constantly running. For my personal situation, this causes little concern because my computer is almost always running, but if you are one of those people who pinches pennies on electric bills, leaving your computer on can rack up your electric bill. But keep in mind, even though your electric bill may increase, your phone bill savings will be greater and the sacrifice is worth it.

One big problem I have with my Magic Jack is the voice quality can be absolutely horrible if I am on the phone while uploading something. Magic Jack doesn't take much bandwidth, but when your internet connection is already maxed out the voice quality suffers. If you have online gamers and chatty daughters in the same house, it may not be a good idea to switch to Magic Jack as your primary telephone service.

Another annoyance with Magic Jack is it only supports one telephone unless you have the ability to interconnect it to your internal wiring. Magic Jack can power all your phone jacks but you need to have some knowledge about telephone wiring in order to interconnect your other telephones. Magic Jack will not provide support for this because if there is a problem, they can not be held liable.

If your home has an alarm system, Magic Jack may pose a problem. I am certain an alarm system can be wired to Magic Jack, but I am not sure that all alarm systems will function properly with it. If I were paying a monthly bill for a house alarm, I wouldn't trust Magic Jack to serve the purpose.

Faxing can lead into problems with Magic Jack too. I managed to get my fax machine working with my Magic Jack, but it took me a while to figure out how. For some reason, Magic Jack doesn't like fast dialing. You may need to adjust your fax machine's dialing speed to make it work with Magic Jack. I conquered this problem by manual dialing when I fax. This way I can control the speed in which I dial.

In conclusion, I am happy with my Magic Jack. The savings (compared to what I was paying) out-weigh the negative factors. Probably the most important factor in receiveing good service from Magic Jack is to have a good internet connection and a clean computer. Your computers resources will affect the performance of Magic Jack, so it is vital to keep your computer clean and virus free.

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