Compare Voip Services Magic Jack Skype Vonage
Magic Jack/Skype/Vonage Feature Comparison Chart
|
Features |
Magic Jack |
Skype |
Vonage |
|
Free Calls to Landline Phones |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Free Calls to Cell Phones |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Free Calls to Other Computers |
Yes |
Only to other Skype users |
Yes |
|
Free International Calling |
Yes, but only if both parties have the Magic Jack device |
No |
No |
|
Free Voice Mail |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Free Caller ID |
Yes |
Sort of, the other person’s Skype user name |
Yes |
|
Free Call Waiting |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Free Call Forwarding |
Yes |
Only if forwarded to another Skype user name |
Yes |
|
Cost of Service |
$19.95/year |
Varies. Ranges from Free to $60/year subscriptions |
$24.99/month, will be other fees and taxes. |
|
Reliability |
New service, still to be determined by long use. Unverified problems reported with service not working after a couple of months. |
Very good. |
Very good. |
|
911 Calling |
Yes, but I wouldn’t depend on it. |
No. |
Yes, but like Magic Jack, I wouldn’t depend on it in an emergency. |
|
Use ordinary Landline Phone with the Service? |
Yes |
May use a Skype phone which is very similar |
Yes |
|
Must Computer be turned on to use service? |
Yes. |
Yes, you must also have your internet browser open and the Skype program running. |
No. |
|
Call Quality |
Good. |
Sometimes intermittant or scratchy. |
Very good. |
|
Ability to Send & Receive Faxes |
No. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Depending on what you need from a VOIP service, each of these services has their best points. If you are just mostly interested in chat and video chat with maybe a few cheap long distance international calls, Skype would probably be the best for you. You can chat free to another Skype user and international calls to Europe are as low as 2 cents per minute.
Maybe replacing your current telephone service entirely is what you are looking for. In that case, I would go with Vonage. But, I wouldn’t cancel the current phone service until I had used Vonage for a few months. Also, if you have a lot of problems with your internet service going down, you would also be out of phone service during those times too. However, Vonage will relay any phone calls to another number for you, so if you use a cell phone also, that could work out for you.
If you’re not really looking to replace your current phone service, but would like a way to make cheap long distance calls, give Magic Jack Internet Phone a try. I think in the future, Magic Jack may develop into a company to entirely replace your phone service, but a new company always has growing pains so I don’t recommend getting Magic Jack and dumping your current phone service until they have more a track record behind them.
Filed Under Compare Magic Jack to Other VOIP Services |
Tagged With Broadband Phone, Internet-Phone, Telephony, Voip, Voip Services
Comments
6 Responses to “Compare Voip Services Magic Jack Skype Vonage”
Leave a Reply
Sponsors
-
Recently Written
- Softphone Screen Features
- Compare Voip Services Magic Jack Skype Vonage
- Are You Having Problems with Magic Jack?
- Magic Jack Do Not Disturb Phone Does Not Ring
- Magic Jack Customer Service Numbers
- What Is Magic Jack?
- Magic Jack MAC Beta Installation
- Magic Jack Phone Service
- Magic Jack Phone
- Getting Magic Jack Beta For Free
Recent Comments:
- JoeAnn: All, I bought two MJ for communications with my spouse. This thing worked fine up until a month ago. I...
- johnanna smith: I think majic jack is a rip off. I didn’t know I had to keep my computer running to get calls....
- OldPhoneman: I am located in the Philippines and am using Vonage. I signed up just before we left California to make...
- Diane Davis: I have not recevce the magic Jack. It been about 2 month since order. Diane Davis
- James: Kathy, Try hard booting or unpulging it wait one min. and replug.
-
Categories
-
Blogroll
Tags
Broadband Phone Do Not Disturb Internet-Phone Magic Jack Telephony USB Hub Voip Voip-News Voip Services
I just wanted to say that this is a very god comparison but one bit of information is incorrect. Your computer, browser and skype box do not need to be on to make Skype calls. With Skype phone, all you need do is plug it into your ADSL modem and you can make and receive calls without the computer being on.
Thanks Marsha for pointing that out to me, you are absolutely correct! I’ll edit that now….
I’m interested in a line to send and receive faxes to a fax machine. I assume Vonage is my only choice??
@Bobweiser,
Magic Jack does not support sending and receiving faxes. From the info at magicjack.com, it seems possible at times, but only at a very slow speed. Vonage or Skype may be a good choice for you.
I am located in the Philippines and am using Vonage. I signed up just before we left California to make sure it was working with my computer there September of 2007. After we got here in the Philippines, I had to get a ComClark Tech.(My Broadband Svc on Cable)to come out to the house. Basically all he had to do was to configure my Airlink Broadband Wireless router to work with the Vonage. I did not use the Router back home in California. The service charge for my Premium Unlimited Plan is $24.99/month,Plus $.99 Regulatory Recovery Fee, $.99 Emergency 911 Cost Recovery Fee, $1.70 Federal Universal Service Fee, and $.72 County Utility Users Tax for a Grand Total of $29.39month. The voice quality is EXCEPTIONAL! All my calls to any State are free. I have only experienced an outage maybe 5 times this past year. It only was for a minute and I was able to connect immediately again. I blame the Internet, not Vonage for the outages. They have a real live person when you call Customer Service. Great Company, Best bang for the Buck!
Thanks OldPhoneman for the real life info on Vonage!