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Any ideas for internet phone? Magic Jack?
Vanity | 1-20-2009 | Frantzie

Posted on 01/20/2009 7:11:10 PM PST by Frantzie

Sorry to post a vanity but I am looking at VOIP for the small office. I was going to go with Packet 8 where you buy the phone at Office Depot. $24.95 a month and you can add more lines at $4.95 a month.

I do not like the people behind Vonage - the Citrons. The family got fined heavily by the SEC in their last venture with their online brokerage.

A relative has magic Jack for $40. $20 for the jack, $20 for the first year. $20 a year after that. It is for the office.

I also need to switch my router. I bought a D-Link DIR-615 was QoS enhancement to improve the response for the VOIP. I am worried about trying to switch over the old Netopia router to the D-Link.

Any suggestions?


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: computer; voip
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Thanks for any suggestions.
1 posted on 01/20/2009 7:11:11 PM PST by Frantzie
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To: Frantzie

Magic Jack ...


2 posted on 01/20/2009 7:11:57 PM PST by Tarpon (America's first principles, freedom, liberty, market economy and self-reliance will never fail.)
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To: Tarpon

Okay for a small business? Can you get an incoming 800 number? decent sound quality?

Packet 8 can do multiple lines. I just may need one other.

Thanks.


3 posted on 01/20/2009 7:15:13 PM PST by Frantzie
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To: Frantzie

I really like my Magic Jack. Works 97% of the time.


4 posted on 01/20/2009 7:15:29 PM PST by taxcutisapayraise
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To: Frantzie

It’s all crap. One line might get enough usable speed but -—.Get dsl. If you won’t then ask the neighbors. Good people...


5 posted on 01/20/2009 7:17:38 PM PST by allmost
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To: Frantzie

I hate vonage as the caller ID always says Vonage Holdings, which is bad for a business. Packet 8 worked well but doesn’t offer some of the features a business needs.

www.ring9.com has a lot of features for small businesses if you’re looking for ACD, or follow me type features.

Depends on how many lines you need and what kind of image you want to present.


6 posted on 01/20/2009 7:18:35 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Frantzie

I work with someone who uses magic jack. He attends several on line meetings. All call drop at one hour mark and he must call back in to the meeting.


7 posted on 01/20/2009 7:19:16 PM PST by ThomasThomas ( Never mind.........it may go both ways...)
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To: Frantzie

It only works when your PC is on and working. I’d sure hate to rely on the voice line it provides when getting tech support on the computer to which it is attached.


8 posted on 01/20/2009 7:21:12 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: Frantzie

if you have hi-speed wireless internet... try Skype... if you plan on staying in the office.


9 posted on 01/20/2009 7:21:17 PM PST by GeronL (DAY 1, YEAR 0 - The first day of the Oministration. The nightmare begins.)
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To: Frantzie
The Real-estate Broker I work for has it handling like 20+ lines in the office. He used to have Comcast and now by paying $20 a year per line he handles it all.

I use it with my consulting to a dealer in Phila (I am in Hbg) and it works perfect. And cheap!

10 posted on 01/20/2009 7:21:28 PM PST by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and may have doomed us for a generation or more.)
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To: Tarpon

I’ve messed around with internet phone service in a vacation home. Started with Sunrocket. Worked fine for a year, then the company went bankrupt. Then tried Voip.com. Service was poor, lot’s of dead spots during calls.
I’ve had magic jack now for a few months, with mixed results. Sometimes it works fine, but is flaky at other times. Although I hear some have had good results. You might try it on a trial basis. The price is right.


11 posted on 01/20/2009 7:21:32 PM PST by Oldhunk
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To: Frantzie
www.virtualvoiceproducts.com

More info coming via FReepmail.

12 posted on 01/20/2009 7:24:02 PM PST by Huntress (Proud owner of Norman/Norma, the transsexual attack cat.)
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To: Frantzie

Magic Jack is VoIP on a national scale. You will be able to select a phone number from your area code if you wish (or anywhere else) but perhaps not one from your local community. It seems to work fine, I just haven’t used it much as I have VoIP from a local provider already. The key is latency, as most broadband connections will have plenty of bandwidth. Satellite ISPs for example will not work due to the latency from the satellite link. Find a good broadband test site and test your connection for VoIP QoS over a period of several days and you’ll know whether it will work reliably.


13 posted on 01/20/2009 7:24:50 PM PST by bigbob
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To: driftdiver

I may need two lines, hold, maybe a littlke music onhold.

I do not need hook flashing, follow me. i want a professional image or features like a regular AT&T local tel co but I want to dump AT&T.

Jeffrey Citron of Vonage engaged in a major fraud and was fined by the SEC when he ran a Datek. He never should have been allowed near a public company again.

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-5.htm

I would stay with AT&T (gag) instead of ever using vonage. Thanks.


14 posted on 01/20/2009 7:26:19 PM PST by Frantzie
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To: driftdiver

I may need two lines, hold, maybe a littlke music onhold.

I do not need hook flashing, follow me. i want a professional image or features like a regular AT&T local tel co but I want to dump AT&T.

Jeffrey Citron of Vonage engaged in a major fraud and was fined by the SEC when he ran a Datek. He never should have been allowed near a public company again.

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-5.htm

I would stay with AT&T (gag) instead of ever using vonage. Thanks.


15 posted on 01/20/2009 7:26:30 PM PST by Frantzie
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To: Frantzie
Agree Frantzie, it works 97% of the time.

Here is what I would do, get Magic Jack for making calls and a land line for receiving calls.

I don't think Internet phone has the reliability yet to be depended on in an emergency, or if you positively need to receive calls. Cable is not 24/7 no matter what they try and tell you.

Quality is fine, maybe even better than most phone lines. We have it hooked up on cable 8/1 broadband. You can't beat the price.

16 posted on 01/20/2009 7:26:59 PM PST by Tarpon (America's first principles, freedom, liberty, market economy and self-reliance will never fail.)
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To: GeronL

Also try skype, if you want sexy”grrl”, or luvkitten to call or chat you up at random. I had a skype number, I used when I was overseas, to call my wife. I was so glad she never saw the call history (even though I always ignored them); I would have never heard the end of it.


17 posted on 01/20/2009 7:27:48 PM PST by Operation_Shock_N_Awe (Isaiah 6:8)
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To: JSteff
Oh yeah, I have noticed every now and then it seems to drop the connection in an hour or so. Just get aggressive, call them back and say “something on your end seems to have cut me off” or “there was a click from your end and I was disconnected”.

:-)

18 posted on 01/20/2009 7:28:18 PM PST by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and may have doomed us for a generation or more.)
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To: GeronL

I have AT&T DSL but may go to Comcast cable Internet.

Does SkyPe have an incoming phone number people can call? I may keep one regular phone line with AT&T or Comcast.


19 posted on 01/20/2009 7:29:33 PM PST by Frantzie
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To: Oldhunk

Yeah, we find that calls east to west in the afternoon may not complete. So it suffers from traffic congestion.

But the cost is right, if you put one in and it doesn’t deliver, then the loss is small.

We have ours hooked to a three way DECT 6.0 digital portable and it sometimes loses it’s mind and needs to be rebooted, disconnect and reconnect with a power cycle.

For us it’s a keeper, so far.


20 posted on 01/20/2009 7:30:56 PM PST by Tarpon (America's first principles, freedom, liberty, market economy and self-reliance will never fail.)
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