Magic Jack is a new voip phone service that allows you to use your computer and your high-speed internet connection to make unlimited local and long distance calls for a very cheap cost per year. You can make calls to any other kind of phone such as landline phones, cell phones, other voip phones and receive them also.

If you want to know more about this internet voip phone called Magic Jack, then you've come to the right place. I've owned one for over a year now and mostly love using it. I will tell you how to buy one, how to install it, all about the softphone screen features and the pros and cons of using a magic jack over other voip phones.

How to Buy

You can buy a Magic Jack at many different places now. They are available online from the official website, for sale on eBay and also at Amazon. Your local retailers also have them now, places like Best Buy, Walgreens and Wal-Mart.

How To Install Magic Jack

When you purchase your Magic Jack, it will come in a flat package that contains the usb device, a usb extension cord and a phone cord. You will need to provide a phone to plug into the usb device, any regular landline phone will do. I've even used an old rotary dial phone with success.

Plug the usb device into a usb port on your computer. If you need to use an external usb hub, make sure it is a/c powered. The software will automatically start downloading. During this process, you will be asked what area code you wish to use. You can pick any area code that is available, you do not have to use the one for your area or even your state if you don't want to. You will also need to give the address for your physical location where you will be using the Magic Jack for the 911 option. Although this service does have 911, it is recommended that you have another way to use this emergency service in case of a power or internet outage. When the installation is finished, you will have a Softphone screen on your computer's desktop.

Softphone Screen

You can now immediately start making phone calls with your Magic Jack service, but you may want to know more about the Softphone Screen first. It will save all the numbers that you dial for you and will have an address book that you can store them in if you like. You can dial a number by clicking the buttons on this screen or you can also dial them on the phone you are using, as long as it is a touch-tone phone. I like to just pick up the phone and then click the number I want to call...much easier and I don't have to worry about dialing incorrectly. It also has links to Yahoo, Weather.com, Google, AOL, a 411 information site and a button for calling your voice mail.

Magic Jack Pro and Cons

Magic Jack has been very controversial and there is a huge amount of discussion about it on the internet. It seems that people either love it or hate it, depending on their experience with this new voip service. Here are the good and bad points as I see them:

Pros

• Very inexpensive, after the cost of the device the actual phone service costs only $20 a year or less if you purchase more than one year at a time.
• Easy to install, it literally only takes a few minutes from opening the package to being able to make phone calls.
• It is now available for purchase from local retailers, which makes the return process much easier if you decide you do not want to keep it.

Cons

• Your computer needs to be left on all of the time to send and receive calls. However, if you do shut your computer off any incoming call will go to voice mail.
• You do have to have a high-speed internet connection to use Magic Jack. This means you need to have DSL, broadband, cable internet, wi-fi, FIOS or wireless. Satellite internet cannot be used. So if you need to upgrade your internet service to be able to use this device, that is an added expense.
• The customer service for Magic Jack is not always good. Many people have to find out their own solutions to problems that they are having.

So now you have it, where to buy a Magic Jack, how to install it and use the softphone screen, and the best and worst points about it. This overview can help you decide whether this new phone service is something you would like to try to help eliminate your long distance telephone bills. I recommend that you don't throw away your current phone service until you have tried MJ for a few months and decide if it is really for you. The best usage of this service is for an alternate low cost way to make long distance phone calls.