Over the last few months I’ve been closely following the blogs and growing media coverage on the magicJack, the coolest product to hit the marketplace in a very long time.

For those who do not know or do not have a full understanding of the magic behind the magicJack (and how its different from all the others…) my product overview is below.

magicJack is a USB phone jack that allows users to make FREE local and long distance phone calls anywhere in the US and Canada. Users can bring their magicJack anywhere in the World and make FREE calls to the US and Canada, as well.

It’s easy to use. After plugging the magicJack into the USB port of your computer, the software that resides in the magicJack self-loads, a brief & standard registration process follows (during which time you get to choose a telephone number for your magicJack from a large inventory of area codes/numbers in most every major metro area in the US)and when done you simply plug any standard corded, cordless or portable phone (headset or Bluetooth also works) into the magicJack, pick-up the phone and dial-tone has been delivered! You’re free to make FREE phone calls anywhere in the US and Canada! So, much better than other IP telephony options since it can be used with ANY regular phone and you get your own telephone number for LIFE!

Initially, I was not sure how the call quality would measure up since its extremely inexpensive — man, was I wrong! A mere $40 buys you the magicJack plus the 1st year of local and long distance calls and then its only $20 per YEAR for additional years!! You can not be beat that price for all the FREE local and long distance calls you can ever make in a year!! I started making calls immediately and I was AMAZED at the clarity and quality of the phone calls! Everyone I called agreed with me that the call quality was just as you’d expect from any landline.

The magicJack proves you do not have to sacrifice phone call quality for cost!
But, let me take you back in time a bit since I did some research before I bought my magicJack. Being a techno-savvy guy, I always research a product, its roots and its history before I give it a shot. After hearing about the product on a few techblog sites,I happened to catch the companies TV commercial recently. So, I began my own research.

Overall, the magicJack has been hugely embraced by bloggers and the major press alike. When visiting the company’s website http://www.magicjack.com I was quickly impressed by the Tier 1 media coverage the product has received. Excellent reviews by NY Times, Boston Globe, LA Times, LAPTOP magazine, CNBC and video clips of consumer reporters raving about the magicJack on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox News. PC Magazine just awarded magicJack with its Editors Choice distinction!

Then I read about the founder of the company and inventor of the product, Dan Borislow. He has over 20 years experience in building successful long distance telephone companies. His previous company struck a deal with AOL and carried AOL long distance customers on their long distance network. He came up with his latest invention and has spent his own money on R&D of the magicJack — and, then constructed a nationwide telephone network that is one of the largest and newest telephone networks in the industry and is certified as a CLEC in 50 US states! The magicJack is backed by its own telephone network and is operated by executives who have extensive experience in the telecommunications and internet business. This is a HUGE differentiator between magicJack and any other company, including Skype, Vonage and others, in the space who are not telephone experts and are not certified in (even) a single state in the US!

From what I have seen, the company just expanded its online TechSupport platform, accessible from www.magicjack.com to a 24/7 online chat service. I think its intuitive (and smart business) for the company to rollout an online tech support system, via their website for the following reasons:

1) The super ease-of-use does not require a lot of support;

2) Users are already online; and,

3) The low product price point is a huge benefit to consumer but does not allow for a large & very expensive live phone CS center.


Also, from all accounts, Dan Borislow is an inventor that wants to stay in touch with the people who use his product. In fact, the magicJack website has a link to send Dan an email and its reported that he replies to every one!!
I’m a very happy magicJack customer and I can’t wait to watch this company soar, as it saves millions of people around the world thousands of dollars per year!!

I am not actually Dan the Inventor but I have a few concerns listed below regarding the Terms of Service that I find disturbing
These are directly from the website which I might add could use some improvement the YMAX site is much better. The ticker for instance has a number on the home page and when you go through the mac download instructions it’s completely different. I understand it must be difficult with all the competition out there trying to squash this product, not everything is as it seems on the internet however, I find it a little unsettling to see so many negative comments being posted almost 10 to 1.
With that said My experience has been mostly positive.....but…

BY COMPLETING THE REGISTRATION PROCESS AND CLICKING THE ”I ACCEPT” BUTTON, YOU INDICATE YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT AND ABIDE BY THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MAY NOT USE THE magicJack DEVICE OR DOWNLOAD OR USE THE SOFTWARE.

9. Payment
…….You agree to be responsible for any applicable taxes, fees, or charges, now in force or enacted in the future in connection with the license and your use of the magicJack device.

10. Privacy Policy
You understand that by using the magicJack device you consent to magicJack’s collection and use (as set forth in the Privacy Policy) of this information, including the transfer of this information to and from the United States and/or other countries for storage, processing and use by magicJack, its affiliates and business partners to provide you with information about communications-related service. http://www.magicjack.com/privacy

11. Advertisements
You also understand and agree that use of the magicJack device and Software will include advertisements and that these advertisements are necessary for the magicJack device to work and for the service to be free in the first year of the agreement (and subsequent licenses to be at minimal cost). Advertisements will be served through the magicPage™ Software. magicPage™ Software attempts to serve local advertisements and classifieds using a completely automated process that enables us to effectively target dynamically changing content. Our computers may analyze the phone numbers you call in order to improve the relevance of the ads.

13. Modification
magicJack reserves the right to modify or discontinue the magicJack device and Software, temporarily or permanently, with or without notice to you. We will not be liable to you or anyone else in the event that we exercise our right to modify or discontinue the magicJack device or Software

17. Limitation of Liability
magicJack will not be liable for any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages whatsoever (including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits or confidential or other information, for business interruption, for loss of privacy arising out of or in any way related to the use of or inability to use the magicJack device or Software, even if magicJack has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

22. Waiver and Severability of Terms
Even if magicJack does not exercise or enforce any or all of its rights or any provision of this Agreement it does not mean that magicJack waives the right or provision, and we still enforce those rights and provisions later.

With all that said I think some legal jargon here could concern a few people that actually read this before clicking I ACCEPT.

By the way The Magic Jack works great, you did it again! By the way what are all these agreements with BellSouth and Verizon and why is MJ not public to be traded I would like to capitalize when the big guys wanna buy you out?

good luck at the races with my $40

Dan

Amazing how many users are willing to accept adware programs, especially when they have to PAY for those programs. Read their terms of service policy, section 11, Advertisements. Their magicPage software that must run on your host is adware. Oh joy, you get to pay for spam.

so good to see someone who would like to pay 40 a month for voip and also pay for call to others outside of network. see skype.