Best internet Phone Service?

What’s the best internet phone service?

I’d like something where I can use a microphone and speakers from my computer, dial long distance, and talk to another person who’d pick up by phone. Is there any service that does this cheap, or FREE?

There are some that are free but they’re strictly internet to internet right? Is this skype or google stuff? Is it free? I had a roommate who talked long distance to India for free, but strictly through internet I think. My problem with this is my mom and aunt are highly computer dumb and refuse to use my Chicago computer while I’m in Houston. I bought them a scanner to scan my mail and email it to me but they’re so computer dumb they can’t do this!

I went to a shop and they mentioned MagicJack. See MagicJack.com - But it’s a good thing I didn’t buy it yet because it has complicated terms of service, and the next post will be about it’s flaws!

Here’s from http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/...Off0320581.htm

Magic Jack WARNING DONT BUY Internet
*Consumer Comment ..I love this device!


Read how Ripoff Report saves consumers millions.

Rebuttal Box
Respond to this report!
Are you an owner, employee or ex-employee with either negative or positive information about the company or individual, or can you provide "insider information" on this company?

Victim of this person/company?
Are you also a victim of the same company or individual? Want Justice? File a Rip-off Report, help other consumers to be educated and don´t let them get away with it!

Magic Jack
http://www.magicjack.com
Internet,
U.S.A.

Submitted: 3/24/2008 12:02:38 PM
Modified: 11/20/2008 10:56:13 PM
Iaz family
Las Vegas, Nevada



Ripoff Report Verified Safe
Lets start off by saying Please save yourself the head ache DONT BUY this product. The entire infomercial looks and sounds great but they dont tell you upfront is that its really not a 30 day trial but rather a 15 day trial cause after 15 days they charge your credit card like they did mine.

They dont tell you that if you ever have a problem you WILL NEVER speak to a live representative, cause the company does not have a telephone.

They dont tell you that they are going to redistribute your personal information to other customers in their database like they did mine

They dont tell you that if you wish to send your product back it will take them 45 days to issue you a refund.

They dont tell you up front that in order to have 24/7 phone access your computer can not go into hibernation or be shut off, imagine if you have an emergency at night time when your computer is usually off and dont have access to a phone,? or if you have a burglar and need to contact the police?

When you do call 911 they dont tell you that your actually speaking with a internet computer and not that of your local police department which by the way you have to be sure you give them all kinds of information Home address, name, phone #,etc) before they even dispatch anyone out to your home.(I dont know about you guys but I have small children, who are to young to memorize this information, and trust them to know that in a hectic situation/emergency thay are going to be able to assist this internet operator to get some help in time? I mean what if something ever happened to mommy or daddy and they needed the police but didnt know the information because their to young 5,yrs old?

They dont tell you that you can not make any phone calls that require you to input #s such as if you call your bank and have to input your ss# good luck because every number you press is multiplied by 2 try inputing your account # ssi# or anthing that is requiring verification data of you, sorry you can't so if the company your calling does not have a customer service rep wgile peek hours your out of luck.

They dont tell you that you have to dial your area code to make phone calls within your own city, so to call your next door neighbor you must first dial your area code.

They dont tell you that you can not be on your computer doing work because every time someone in your house picks up the phone or a call comes in a box pops up which you have to minimize, and yes you have to minimize it for every call going out or coming in , trust me its a pain especially when your spouse work is done primarily on the pc, try wrting a word,power point,excel, while every 10 seconds you have a box popping up on your working screen, now you can take care of this problem by simply unplugging your phone, thus eliminating anyone in the home using the phone, or receiving calls, but hey atleast you get your work done without any annoying boxes interupting you.

They dont tell you that once you connect the magic jack to your computer, your going to be using up your systems resources, & have to update all your pc's direct x functions, so if your not a computer garu your in trouble, or you can just call their tech support and speak with someone who can walk you through the process.... oh no wait sorry they have no live person you can talk to if you need any customer assistance or tech support you have to go online and chat with them. by the way good luck getting somone to log in to the chat area to assit you, lets just say that if its less then 2 minutes your one of the lucky ones.

I dont know about you folks but I wish someone would of told me all this before I spent my time and money buying this product cause now the end result is that I have no product as i sent them back and I have no money cause they have yet to date to issue a refund, and I cant speak with no one cause oh yeah there's no phone # to call the company , corporate or eitherwise. In cloing i hope i was able to save someone the ordeal and head aches I have gone through with this company, I just hope I get my money back, i'll keep trying its now been 18 days and counting since I spoke, sorry chatted with a customer service rep. If you do purchase this product I wish you all the luck , but i'm sure I will be reading more posts about this great $20 a year phone service, I guess its true what my dad always told me if something sounds to good to be true 9 out of 10 times it usually is.-Iaz Family, Las Vegas Nv Good luck!

XXX family
Las Vegas, Nevada
U.S.A.

Maybe MajicJack is only good for outbound unlimited local & long distance 1 year phone service for $20 ?

They have rates for international calls...

I have tried two of them, Vonage and Time Warner, and both of them sucked. Maybe it is ust me and my calling habits, but it wasn't worth the hassle. Like you said, the biggest draw back is that you cannot turn your computer off or you may lose a call, and if you use a DSL cable, you lose service if your cable goes out. Anyway, I have elderly parents and cannot afford spotty telephone service.

__________________
One life, one chance. Don't waste it!

This is what I learned from Indian roomate docters who talked to India for free - Google Talk! Maybe that's all I need, but my mom and aunt in Chicago are so computer dumb!

http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html

My AT & T land line totally sucks!

Oh, and how about web phone / video web cam talking? What's best for that?

Hey kdelong, other people in other forums are suggesting skype to me. It looks real good; there's a cheap subscription plan for $2.95 / month unlimited US Local and long distance calls. Doesn't replace a landline for 911, but I'd use a cell phone for that!

I have never really understood the lure of trying to cheap out on voice when you typically have to pay big $ for broadband to get decent voice IP service...

However, I think the complaint you posted is likely to be the same sort of complaint that someone will post for any service. The person couldn't spell or cohesively construct their complaint other than repeating the same 2 or 3 issues repeatedly. And pop-ups every 10 seconds... sounds like they need to put the clamps on their phone usage anyway.

I personally wouldn't do magic jack because it does sound like a fly by night deal... virtually free world wide phone calls... yeah right!

Vonage provides (for a fee) a router that you can plug a physical phone into, and with it, you don't need to keep your computer on. There are limits to where you can call for free, but for me, there are limits to who I want (or need) to call, so it is not a real limit. In fact, I am finding that my nationwide long distance with my cell phone is more than enough for me... especially since the couple of people I call most are on the same company, so calls to them don't cost any minutes.

Absolutely do not do Vonage....

What a joke of a company.

You cannot put reliability and quality in the same sentence with Vonage.

I've had good experience with Skype.


Why does your AT&T Landline suck?

__________________
TrekDedicated no more

Orbea Orca
Full Dura-Ace
Mavic Ksyrium ES Wheels

Wake Forest Cycling

The Small Biz. Guru

What problem(s) did you have with Vonage?

__________________
Newest Ride: 2000 KHS Flite 300
Follow me on TWITTER

"I have no karma - I had to get rid of my karma, because it runned over my dogma..."