Originally Posted by
boberonicus
How would you contrast this with making a Skype-Out call from your laptop?
Originally Posted by
PTravel
I've tried Skype, though I haven't used it in a couple of years. They're both softphones, though, of course, you have to pay for Skype by the minute if you're dialing to a telephone.
The magicJack interface is far more "phone like" than Skype, has a hold button (and there's music on a hold), voice mail (automatically forwarded to email), etc.
The magicJack audio quality is, IMHO, far superior to Skype. With Skype I had continual problems with delays, echoes, etc. MagicJack sounds better than my landline phone.
On the other hand, though the magicJack interface is simpler, getting it to work well takes a little bit of work. For example, performance improves with the TJ echo canceling software, which takes some ingenuity to find. QOS settings, both for the local computer and the LAN make a big difference. I've found using a hardware-based QOS prioritizer helps, as well. Finally, magicJack support is just terrible -- imagine the worst of an Indian help desk confined to internet chat.
That is what I am trying to figure out. I have Skype on everything basically and use it a lot. I use it for conference calls on a USB speakerphone almost daily. Likewise I use it for most of my calls from my office from either the speaker or a handset and at home from my notebook and when traveling from the same. I also just use the built in speaker and microphone on my Mac notebooks and it works fine. I dont notice any quality issues 90% of the time, and when I do, I call back. I have a Skype Pro account so it is $3 a month and I have unlimited calls.
Is there any advantage of Magic Jack over Skype? Thanks.