My mother-in-law wanted to speak to me.
In the cliché sitcom world, this would mean trouble. But my MiL and I get along great – I'm her only son-in-law.
Turns out, she had a tech question. She wanted to know about MagicJack. (Yes, it's actually spelled "magicJack" with a lowercase "m," but that looks weird, so I'm going to spell it with a cap "M.")
You've probably run across (but not watched) the sleazy late-night infomercials (or is that redundant) or seen the loud commercials on some late night cable show – WE NOW OFFER PHONE SERVICE FOR JUST $1.70 A MONTH WITH MAGIC JACK!
My MiL ran across MagicJack at her local Best Buy. She was drawn by the offer of just $20 a year for phone service, including long distance, and thought that'd be cheaper than paying her local phone monopoly more than twice that a month.
But MagicJack's used car marketing makes Ron Popeil's appeals for Ronco products look dignified by comparison and doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.
I happened to have a MagicJack; I've had it ever since they introduced it and got a pre-production sample back in 2007 or 2008. I must have played with it at the time but didn't remember enough to offer any cogent device.
So I contacted MagicJack and they sent me a more current production sample so I could properly advise my MiL – and tell you about it.
How MagicJack works
First, you need a computer and broadband internet connectivity, such as from your local TV cable company.
Like Skype, Vonage and phone service provided by your cable company, MagicJack uses the internet to place calls using a technology called VoiP – Voice over Internet Protocol.
MagicJack is otherwise pretty straight-forward. You plug the matchbox-sized MagicJack gadget into a USB jack on your computer. MagicJack comes with a six-inch extension USB cable is case your PC packs its USB slots too tightly together (the MagicJack itself is a tad chunky).
On the opposite end of the MagicJack is a regular old standard phone jack, into which you can plug any regular old standard phone.
When you first plug MagicJack into your PC (the company says you can plug it into a USB hub like this one, but it's not recommended), MagicJack's software is automatically loaded onto your PC. You double-click the MagicJack icon and, after a minute or so, you can begin to make calls on either an attached phone or from your computer screen (assuming you've connected a headset/microphone combination – or nothing if your PC or Mac has a built-in speaker and mic).
But MagicJack can't replace your landline until you register it and MagicJack assigns you a phone number.
Here's where things get a little hinky.
I'll save what?
As you wind your way through the registration screens, you will encounter several MagicJack options and offers. MagicJack service is $20 a year – that's no con – but you can opt for its "platinum preferred plan." According to the offer:
That's 5 years of Phone service for less than most people pay in a month. 60 months (5 years) multiplied by $60 a month equals more than $3,500 in savings. Plus, with the Platinum plan, you will also receive a 5-year "No Questions Asked" full-service warranty. Never pay a monthly phone bill again for 5 full years.
What $60 a month? Is that supposed to represent what most people pay for their current landline?
This whole $3,500 thing is a case of preaching to the choir and needlessly confusing. We've only arrived at this screen because we're tired of paying a monthly landline phone bill and are completely aware of the MagicJack savings. All this $3,500 nonsense does is confuse a legitimate offer: instead of paying $20 each year for five years of MagicJack – a total of $100 – pay just $70 for those five years upfront. I'm assuming this is actually SIX years, since your first year's fee is included in the initial $40 hardware purchase.
In any event, this is a great deal – if you like MagicJack. My advice is to try it first. There is a 30-day free trial offer on the MagicJack front page. You give them your credit card info and you'll be charged the $40 when you register for the free trial. If you send them back the MagicJack within the 30 days, your credit card will be refunded for the $40 and any shipping costs.
If you keep MagicJack, you can opt in for the Platinum Plan later – the offer is ever-present on the on-screen MagicJack app.
Other deals include choosing a vanity number – your last name, for instance (as long as it's seven letters or less), for an extra $10/year, or choosing your last four digits from a list for $3/year. On the former, considering your overall savings, a vanity number could be fun and worth it, or you may consider paying 50 percent more than your whole annual bill to satisfy your ego a waste of money. On the latter, you have to scroll through seemingly unending lists of consecutive numbers – to me, a giant waste of time.
Among the other offers is international calling. You can buy a prepaid amount and, from my brief survey, rates seem to range from 2.5¢ to 44¢ a minute. Rates for every country are listed.
So far, so good. I plugged in the MagicJack, connected a phone, picked up the receiver and heard a dial tone. I called my own landline and the call went through and everything seemed fine. Time to call my mother-in-law and find out how MagicJack worked under real-world conditions.
Tune in tomorrow for the results.