YMax Debuts MagicJack For $20 A Year Calling
By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 9/21/2007
New York — Ymax will wade into the near-free telephony market with the MagicJack, a USB device that will enable consumers to make unlimited local and long-distance calls through their PC for $20 a year.
The product plugs into a USB port and automatically installs software onto a PC. Consumers plug their phones (corded or cordless) into the device and can make unlimited calls to landlines and cellphones. The MagicJack is assigned its own phone number and will include voicemail, caller ID, waiting, 911 dialing and FollowMe, which forwards calls to other numbers when the computer is turned off.
The device also loads a softphone application on the desktop if consumers wish to use a headset.
The unit will retail for a suggested $39.95 and include a year’s worth of unlimited inbound and outbound calling within the United States and the features listed above. When the year is up, consumers can renew their license for a $20 a year fee.
The MagicJack can be taken overseas, allowing travelers to make free international calls back to the U.S. The device cannot currently make calls from the United States to other countries.
Ymax was founded by telecom execs Dan Borislow and Don Burns. According to Burns, who serves as CEO, the company can afford undercut competitive phone prices because unlike other VoIP providers, it owns its own CLEC network. “We are a certified exchange carrier in 49 states with 31 switches across the country,” he said.
According to Burns, the company built a large nationwide phone network originally to support a GSM/Wi-Fi phone but decided “it wasn’t ready for prime time.”
That network allows Ymax to offer low-cost calling, Burns said. Whereas other firms, such as now-defunct SunRocket, had to pay CLECs to originate and terminate calls onto the landline network, Ymax only pays to terminate calls and receives a payment on any incoming call to the MagicJack.
“We participated in the SunRocket liquidation until we saw the numbers behind it,” Burns related. Their operating costs per customer per month were prohibitive, he said.
“We were never smart enough to figure out how to make a resale business model work,” Burns joked. The company also differs from Skype and other services that rely on “virtual gateways” because it controls its own physical network, Burns said.
The MagicJack will be in one major electronics retailer by the holidays, Burns said. While it is ostensibly a communications device, Burns said the company thinks of it as a “computer accessory.” “We don’t like the [terminal adapter] model, we think the computer is winning as the home communications hub,” he said.
The softphone software loaded onto the device has a dedicated window where the reseller of the MagicJack can advertise. “It’s a portal for retailers to continue to reach their customers,” Burns said.
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Magic CHAT is a waste of time. The customer care assistants don't know their jobs. I have had numerous converstation that go on for more than 45 mins to an hour. An they still don't understand what you are asking. Where is the corporate responsibility? Those FAQ sometimes don't I like the phone system, I'm constantly promoting it. But when I have a problem, they can't help. I should not have to be going step by step with these people. Or magicjack should pay me a consulting fee. I spent an hour today trying to et them to access my credit account because of sensitive information to renew my subscription. They didn't ever get to it. I don't know if I will renew it now?
Ms. Gilbert - 2012-4-2 17:16:46 EST -
I have had two of these things and none have been any good. I just got the magicjack plus and it was no good and their tech support is worthless.
ronald barnett - 2012-10-1 13:52:36 EST -
I HAVE USED MAGIC JACK SINCE 2009 AND SO FAR SO GOOD, I'M PAID TILL 2013
BUT I HAVE HAD TROUBLE WITH THE PHONE WHICH I AM GOING TO REPLACE 2MARROW, AND IF I STILL HAVE PROBLEMS I WILL KNOW IT'T THE MAGIC JACK. I HOPE NOT BECAUSE I HAVE LOVED THE SERVICE TILL THE LAST FEW MONTHS.
ERIN HERNANDEZ - 2011-27-12 05:48:38 EST -
IS magic Jack afraid of reading the comments they would get? I just read the comments of a disabled woman whose Magic Jack fell apart and is now useless!! SAME HERE!! I am a disabled veteran, and a phone is a medical necessity! Mine fell apart after using it only a couple months! I cannot for the life of me find a number or address for customer support. On every link I try, I just get the same insidious ad I have seen forever!! An ad is not Customer Service!! What is the matter with you? Are you that ashamed of either your lack of support or lack of a worthy product? Good concept, bad execution! What are we to do when it is so cheaply constructed, and we paid all that money for something that fell apart in our hands? WE WANT ANSWERS!!! I dare you to contact me, "Jack" and let me know what I'm supposed to do with this. I incidentally was forced to upgrade, because, like i said, a phone is a medical necessity, so the cost was many times the original price, which overlaps. I want a FULL refund for the original, and I do not get all the frills, like caller ID and other things you promise, because it has to be hidden behind the router and on the floor behind the TV. It never registers on my computer laptop like it used to so I never can get calls. There is no Voice mail, because as far as the computer is concerned, I have no phone number. I can only talk directly to callers IF and ONLY if I am there and can reach the phone in the other room, because it has to be hooked up BEHIND the router, behind the TV, on the floor, in the other room at the far end of the house. Get the picture?
Suzanne Byrne - 2011-14-12 12:02:04 EST -
I bought a magic jack in 2009 and used it in conjunction with windows vista 32 bit O/S. I was very happy. I have now upgraded to a window 7 64 bit O/S. Now the Magic Jack doesn’t work most of the time. I now spend all the promised saving talking the magic jack customer support.
My experience, Magic Jack was good NOT anymore.
Hopefully you will work addressing this issue soon.
I wish magic jack has a customer service e-mail address log complains.
Magic Jack, how about a customer service e-mail address in order to provide feedback directly to magic jack instead of posting comments on public web sites?
dil_ma - 2011-15-11 22:23:14 EST
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