It's magic in a jack - magicJack!

My family (small and large) has always been widespread all over the world. At one point, there was a member of my family living on every single continent except for Antartica (is it considered a continent?). And as much as we like to travel around, we also like to keep in touch with each other. And that's when the problems arise. Traditional communication channels have always proved to be somewhat expensive (ok, very expensive) and always put a damper on our preferred mode of communications: the phone. We enjoyed sending each other emails but it just wasn't enough.

Then along came VoiP (Voice over IP protocol) and the likes of Skype and Vonage flourished. These solutions were great money savers, but often came with some restrictive constraints.

VoIP is the term used to describe the transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over IP networks like the Internet (or any other packet-switched network).

In the middle of last year, a cool new gadget emerged that positively changed our respective telephone bills: magicJack.

At its core, magicJack is a very simple product. It's a VoIP widget that plugs into a computer USB Port. You then add a telephone to the widget and can make calls. The computer has to be connected to the Internet in order for the device to work (VoIP remember?)



Why did magicJack work for us?
First of all, it was very cost effective. The device itself costs $49.99, with a $20 fee per year afterwards.
Second, it was portable. Meaning, my mother who is almost always on the road could carry magicJack with her and call us from any place without having to frantically look for calling cards and the likes.
Third, it provided a US-based phone number. For my family living outside of the US, this was a major selling point. They could call us on for a flat rate as if they were calling from within the US.
And last but not least, magicJack worked to solve our problem because my family did not intend to use it as a primary phone.

I bought it for my parents who live overseas, and I have never had so many 5am "wake-up" calls from my mother (making me sometimes question my decision!).

Despite some technological quirks here and there, the device has mostly been very helpful. My parents are happy because they can contact us whenever (literally!) they want, and we are glad that we can reach mother when she is traipsing around in the middle of nowhere (has actually happened).

I will definitely recommand the device to those of us who have exploded families all over the world but want to keep in touch with them quite often. Buy the device for them (not necessarily for you). It's really easy to use even for the non-technology savvy folks and it really pays for itself.

You can have more information on the website: http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp