Friday, December 26, 2008
MagicJack Review: Call Quality Update
Call quality was pretty good for the most part this week. I had one long call (to AT&T customer support) and I think it only crackled once. Same with another local call. Both interruptions were momentary and went away in seconds.
MagicJack Review: Voicemail
Voicemail overall is very nice but there are a few "missing" features that need to be added.
First the good stuff: Getting voicemails via email is very cool. Basically, when you miss a call and the person leaves a voice message, it gets emailed to you as a sound file that you can listen to. It also has a time/date stamp so you know when the call was made. You can also access your voicemail at any time from any phone (much like any voicemail service). When your MagicJack is off, phone calls get routed straight to voicemail, which is also nice.
My only complaints: First, you can't turn it off. You also can't set the number of rings before it picks up (it's set to 4 rings no matter what). Their workaround is to adjust the number of rings on your phone's answering machine to 3 if you don't want to use your voicemail. Unfortunately, my phone only has a setting for 2 and 4 rings. Sometimes my voicemail and answering machine will both pick up the call at the same time, and it's a crapshoot to which device the message gets routed to.
First the good stuff: Getting voicemails via email is very cool. Basically, when you miss a call and the person leaves a voice message, it gets emailed to you as a sound file that you can listen to. It also has a time/date stamp so you know when the call was made. You can also access your voicemail at any time from any phone (much like any voicemail service). When your MagicJack is off, phone calls get routed straight to voicemail, which is also nice.
My only complaints: First, you can't turn it off. You also can't set the number of rings before it picks up (it's set to 4 rings no matter what). Their workaround is to adjust the number of rings on your phone's answering machine to 3 if you don't want to use your voicemail. Unfortunately, my phone only has a setting for 2 and 4 rings. Sometimes my voicemail and answering machine will both pick up the call at the same time, and it's a crapshoot to which device the message gets routed to.
MagicJack Review: The Software
A key component of the MagicJack experience is the software you must use with it. Here's an quick overview of what you can expect when you plug it into your Mac:
First Impression: It seems the Mac version of the software is just a port of the Windows version. It is definitely not Mac native. Visually, it's kinda ugly -- but I'm just being superficial (I'm a graphic designer after all). If there were the ability to create new skins for the interface, I could definitely make it look sleeker. There's a button that shrinks the window to a smaller size, but it doesn't really make a difference unless you have a small screen. Generally, I just minimize the window in the Dock and forget about it. That window maximizes automatically when you initiate or receive a call.
Functionality: It does the job. Caller ID pops up fine. There are options to switch to a headset (which I use to access voice mail from the computer). Since this is not Mac native, there aren't the usual keyboard shortcuts you can use for specific commands -- everything has to be done through the mouse.
Contacts: Contacts can be added at any time, but it seems to be easiest to turn a call into a contact by editing it. That way, you don't have to type in the number again. You can use your computer to make a call -- you just have to make sure your phone has a dial tone before using the computer to "beep in" the numbers. Unfortunately, you cannot automatically add Contacts in your Address Book to the MagicJack list, and if you are forced to reformat your MagicJack, you will obviously lose your entire Contacts database and Call Log history.
Call Log: This is actually pretty cool. It keeps track of all outgoing and incoming calls (with little triangles showing the difference between each), and the duration of each one. The calls are color coded to indicate which you accepted and which you haven't. Unfortunately, you can't set up a "automatic reject" caller ID list to weed out telemarketers -- but that's not a big deal for me.
The "Ad": I don't see why people complain about this. Basically, the left hand side of the window is devoted to a banner ad, which for now consists of MagicJack house ads. Obviously, in the future it could show ads outside of MagicJack, but for now, it's neither intrusive nor an eyesore (since you can minimize the window at any time). In my view, if ads make the service more affordable, advertise away.
Links and Call Status: The top middle of the window is devoted to your call status and bookmark links to your MagicJack settings and weather. I never use the links, personally.
Mac-friendliness: You cannot put the Mac to sleep with the MagicJack; it has caused kernel panics upon waking up. I just let the display turn off after a set amount of time to save the backlight; otherwise, the Mac is kept on or shut down when I don't want calls.
Compatibility: MagicJack doesn't seem to slow down my computer (granted, I have a Mac Pro), and I have not seen any software conflicts between it and other programs. The only unusual glitch: When I try to open some plain text files, it activates MagicJack instead of TextEdit, which forces me to drag the document over the TextEdit icon in the dock to "force" it to open in the correct program.
Initial Grade: C+
Hey, the software works on Leopard without crashing as long as you don't put it to sleep. And for its main job (making calls on your phone) it works perfectly well. However, it has a long way to go to earn an A. Some improvements I recommend include:
1. Fixing the caller ID issue
2. Saving Contacts and Call Log in a backup text file in case the MagicJack needs reformatting
3. Cleaning up the visual interface to look more "Mac native" (or at least the ability to create or choose different skins)
4. A true "small window" view that hides the keypad and/or Call Log, like in iTunes.
5. Keyboard shortcuts for commands, and the ability to import your Address Book contacts and/or sync them with your MagicJack
Functionality: It does the job. Caller ID pops up fine. There are options to switch to a headset (which I use to access voice mail from the computer). Since this is not Mac native, there aren't the usual keyboard shortcuts you can use for specific commands -- everything has to be done through the mouse.
Contacts: Contacts can be added at any time, but it seems to be easiest to turn a call into a contact by editing it. That way, you don't have to type in the number again. You can use your computer to make a call -- you just have to make sure your phone has a dial tone before using the computer to "beep in" the numbers. Unfortunately, you cannot automatically add Contacts in your Address Book to the MagicJack list, and if you are forced to reformat your MagicJack, you will obviously lose your entire Contacts database and Call Log history.
Call Log: This is actually pretty cool. It keeps track of all outgoing and incoming calls (with little triangles showing the difference between each), and the duration of each one. The calls are color coded to indicate which you accepted and which you haven't. Unfortunately, you can't set up a "automatic reject" caller ID list to weed out telemarketers -- but that's not a big deal for me.
The "Ad": I don't see why people complain about this. Basically, the left hand side of the window is devoted to a banner ad, which for now consists of MagicJack house ads. Obviously, in the future it could show ads outside of MagicJack, but for now, it's neither intrusive nor an eyesore (since you can minimize the window at any time). In my view, if ads make the service more affordable, advertise away.
Links and Call Status: The top middle of the window is devoted to your call status and bookmark links to your MagicJack settings and weather. I never use the links, personally.
Mac-friendliness: You cannot put the Mac to sleep with the MagicJack; it has caused kernel panics upon waking up. I just let the display turn off after a set amount of time to save the backlight; otherwise, the Mac is kept on or shut down when I don't want calls.
Compatibility: MagicJack doesn't seem to slow down my computer (granted, I have a Mac Pro), and I have not seen any software conflicts between it and other programs. The only unusual glitch: When I try to open some plain text files, it activates MagicJack instead of TextEdit, which forces me to drag the document over the TextEdit icon in the dock to "force" it to open in the correct program.
Initial Grade: C+
Hey, the software works on Leopard without crashing as long as you don't put it to sleep. And for its main job (making calls on your phone) it works perfectly well. However, it has a long way to go to earn an A. Some improvements I recommend include:
1. Fixing the caller ID issue
2. Saving Contacts and Call Log in a backup text file in case the MagicJack needs reformatting
3. Cleaning up the visual interface to look more "Mac native" (or at least the ability to create or choose different skins)
4. A true "small window" view that hides the keypad and/or Call Log, like in iTunes.
5. Keyboard shortcuts for commands, and the ability to import your Address Book contacts and/or sync them with your MagicJack
MagicJack Review: Incoming Calls
When I said that caller ID could be the deal-breaker, I was wrong.
[ - ] This is: I found out last weekend that I was not receiving any cell phone calls from the AT&T network. I could call their cell phones fine, no problem. However, those phones cannot call the MagicJack. The technical problem seems to stem from the fact that no numbers from my three-digit prefix seem to be registered with AT&T's phone routers -- so when people call my number, it just dead-ends in a "Sorry, This Call Cannot Be Completed as Dialed..." message.
This is specific to AT&T for some reason. I've received cell phone calls from other networks (i.e. Virgin Mobile, which I believe just piggy-backs on the Sprint network) just fine. Also no problem with AT&T land line calls.
To their credit, MagicJack claimed their engineers were on it when I informed them of the issue earlier this week. However, it's been a week and the problem was not fixed as of Thursday (although I'm cutting them a little slack -- very little -- because it's the week of Christmas). AT&T was also informed, but since I can call their phones, they claim it's something MagicJack needs to fix. To be honest, I don't know whether it's AT&T or MagicJack that's the culprit -- but the bottom line is that the MagicJack isn't receiving all the calls that my land line can.
(As I side note, I have to remark about how vastly different AT&T's customer service is compared to MagicJack's -- and to be blunt, I like MagicJack chats much better. With AT&T, I had to be put on hold and listen to canned ads while waiting -- it's like you're held hostage as you're transferred from one person to the next. MagicJack customer service chats are usually quick, and on this occasion when I was kept waiting for a response, I just surfed the net or did some chores until I saw a reply. I know some people just need a live person to speak to, but to me, I think online chats are the future of customer support.)
Since I have some key contacts that use AT&T cell phones, for them to not be able to call me via the MagicJack makes it useless. If it is not fixed before the end of my free trial, I will cancel my service.
[ - ] This is: I found out last weekend that I was not receiving any cell phone calls from the AT&T network. I could call their cell phones fine, no problem. However, those phones cannot call the MagicJack. The technical problem seems to stem from the fact that no numbers from my three-digit prefix seem to be registered with AT&T's phone routers -- so when people call my number, it just dead-ends in a "Sorry, This Call Cannot Be Completed as Dialed..." message.
This is specific to AT&T for some reason. I've received cell phone calls from other networks (i.e. Virgin Mobile, which I believe just piggy-backs on the Sprint network) just fine. Also no problem with AT&T land line calls.
To their credit, MagicJack claimed their engineers were on it when I informed them of the issue earlier this week. However, it's been a week and the problem was not fixed as of Thursday (although I'm cutting them a little slack -- very little -- because it's the week of Christmas). AT&T was also informed, but since I can call their phones, they claim it's something MagicJack needs to fix. To be honest, I don't know whether it's AT&T or MagicJack that's the culprit -- but the bottom line is that the MagicJack isn't receiving all the calls that my land line can.
(As I side note, I have to remark about how vastly different AT&T's customer service is compared to MagicJack's -- and to be blunt, I like MagicJack chats much better. With AT&T, I had to be put on hold and listen to canned ads while waiting -- it's like you're held hostage as you're transferred from one person to the next. MagicJack customer service chats are usually quick, and on this occasion when I was kept waiting for a response, I just surfed the net or did some chores until I saw a reply. I know some people just need a live person to speak to, but to me, I think online chats are the future of customer support.)
Since I have some key contacts that use AT&T cell phones, for them to not be able to call me via the MagicJack makes it useless. If it is not fixed before the end of my free trial, I will cancel my service.
Monday, December 22, 2008
MagicJack Review: Caller ID Issue Wrap-Up
I took one more run at customer support about the caller ID issue on the Mac (the issue of it not showing up on phones but fine on the computer softphone).
I got the impression that they didn't know much about whether it was a Mac-specific issue, so they didn't know if any future update would fix it. However, they were aware that may phones seem to exhibit this problem, and claim to be working on a fix.
When I asked them whether they could give the names of any phones or phone brands that do work with the Mac that do show caller ID on the phone, they could not supply any. So I think I'm at a dead end here for now.
Just to wrap up:
1. Having a powered USB hub didn't help me
2. Trying the "100K resistor" phone trick didn't help me
3. Reformatting the MagicJack drive didn't help me
4. Trying a different cordless phone (Uniden to AT&T) didn't help me
[ - ] To wrap up, I think it's safe to say that unless a software fix is made, caller ID to your phone does not work at all if you're using the Mac version of MagicJack.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
MagicJack Review: The Caller ID Saga
Reformatting the MagicJack for the Mac did not help with the caller ID issue.
I may take another run at customer support, but I really think that the Mac version does not support caller ID info transmitted to your phone. (However, I should point out that the number caller ID works fine on the computer app display -- but a name is only listed if it's one of your contacts).
I may take another run at customer support, but I really think that the Mac version does not support caller ID info transmitted to your phone. (However, I should point out that the number caller ID works fine on the computer app display -- but a name is only listed if it's one of your contacts).
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
MagicJack Review: Phone Usage After a Week
[ - ] After testing the MagicJack for a week, on average about 50 percent of calls suffer some sort of audio drop out, mainly from others unable to hear my end of the conversation. Some instances are momentary, while others persist through the phone call. It doesn't seem to matter whether the call is local or long distance, or if it's to a land line or cell phone.
Sound quality is good to excellent overall -- as long as the audio doesn't drop out, of course.
I'm unsure whether these drop outs are related to the phone routers used by MagicJack or my cable internet connection. However, I recently received a speed upgrade to my internet service, so I have reset my modem and verified the speed increase. I'll let you know if the increased download and upload speeds make a difference in the weeks ahead.
Sound quality is good to excellent overall -- as long as the audio doesn't drop out, of course.
I'm unsure whether these drop outs are related to the phone routers used by MagicJack or my cable internet connection. However, I recently received a speed upgrade to my internet service, so I have reset my modem and verified the speed increase. I'll let you know if the increased download and upload speeds make a difference in the weeks ahead.
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