Ease up on phone bills to your loved one

[antda 13]

Thanks Biglos, for the info and the link to the article about Magic Jack...

Unfortunately, I live in a rural area, where I can't even get a broadband connection...

(heck, I barely even get cell phone service, as it's out of range...lol....)

So Magic Jack probably won't work for me, even though I would consider getting such if it was available in my area....

But if there is some other way to get discounted phone bills, from a rural location, do let me know.....Thanks....

As yes, I am tired of paying phone bills! (lol..especially to Verizon...grrr....$1 a minute to Canada....outrageous!)

Nevertheless, good luck to those who have success with Magic Jack, and may you have lower phone bills too....

Ant

Edited June 15, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[Sprailenes 47]

I use comcast they have a plan with free unlimited calls to Canada.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I've tried it all and I find digital phone to be the best option. We use Comcast digital voice and have unlimited calls anywhere in the US and Canada. My parents back home have a similar deal with Cogeco. Every now and then you get a strange delay when you first answer the phone, but that's really the only glitch I've noticed in a few years of using it.

I haven't really used Magic Jack enough to have a strong opinion. We don't use it because it doesn't work with a home security system, you need a phone line. The digital phone works with it, but things like Magic Jack don't.

[DougM 0]

I'm not a fan of Magic jack. Oh the calls were pretty good but Donna and I talked so much they kicked us off. No refund, no returned phone calls, nothing. They have a clause in the fine print where they can do this to you if they think you're using it too much.

We use Skype when we can and it works pretty well. We have had to get creative to stay in contact as much as we want to. CAN'T WAIT till I don't have a phone in my hand all the time! We've both learned to do just about everything while holding a phone.

[lgg 2]

lol!!!

We have an IP based number and it's unlimited long-distance to the US and Canada. It's 20$ a month -- it's silly these days to be paying long distance!

Hi Biglos!! *waves*

And while you're on the phone with the magic jack... use the wonderful slap chop to chop up those old phone bills!

[Marilyn. 340]

we have Vonage.. I recently switched to a different plan.. 500 minutes a month with all the same features etc. for about 20 bucks a month... that is enough minutes for us because we hardly use the phone and I might call Canada once or twice a month...

before we had the unlimited plan for about 30 bucks a month

[GLo 0]

We use the following:

Vonage (Unlimited plan)

MSN Messenger (a great to see each other live on webcam)

Ventrilo (for all those gamers and WoW players out there)

Phone cards (you can get them extremely cheap in Toronto, but you'll be dialing alot of numbers lol)

[Sprailenes 47]

And if you're reallllllly strapped for cash... two cans and a string my friends.

[SupportGeek 21]

3000 miles of string! wewt!

I might have a problem keeping the string tight.

[Pauley 2]

Yvonne and I use Google Voice (Wikipedia link) to do free long-distance calling (originating in the US only) anywhere in the US and Canada. If you initiate the call from a web browser, then Google calls your phone, then the other party's phone. If you're on a landline where there's no charge for incoming calls, the call is completely free. On cell phones, your normal minute usage would apply.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Vonage with a local virtual number for the folks back home to call (extra $5/ month on the phone bill). Everyone I know back in Canada lives in the same area code so 1 virtual number works for everyone.

We have unlimited long distance within US as well. Our bill has been the same per month with Vonage for the last 5 years includes call waiting and call answer- sure as hell beats Bell Canada with they're trumped up basic line costing $40-something per month - without long distance even.

Needless to say - I do NOT miss Bell

[Tick Tock 3]

Right now, we're stuck with The Evil Bundle through our cable company: phone, internet and television.

We were going to get ooma on promotion, unfortunately things happened and we couldn't go for it. We had been debating between ooma and Vonage; main difference being that although ooma costs more for the initial unit, the standard package has no monthly charge. If you wanted the "premium" package with ooma, you can pay monthly or yearly. Both require highspeed internet connections and it is a very good idea to check your "jitter" through an online test. If the internet connection has too much jitter, call quality may be affected.

Ventrilo is a nifty option: you can either pay a monthly fee on various websites for them to host your server. You can also, internet connection permitting, run your own server. It can be likened to a conference call on a phone. I know it has been mentioned before by GLo; I wanted to extrapolate a bit since it may not be all that well known. It is most often used by folks playing online computer games to help co-ordinate things or just to talk verbally rather than type.

[tallfrond 2]

Yvonne and I use Google Voice (Wikipedia link) to do free long-distance calling (originating in the US only) anywhere in the US and Canada. If you initiate the call from a web browser, then Google calls your phone, then the other party's phone. If you're on a landline where there's no charge for incoming calls, the call is completely free. On cell phones, your normal minute usage would apply.

+1 for Google Voice. If you have the app for it on your Blackberry you can even initiate the call with your cell phone and it's still free (except for the minutes as you said). I've been using it to talk with my fiancee for a year now and haven't had to pay a dime the whole time. Sweet!!!

[Pauley 2]

+1 for Google Voice. If you have the app for it on your Blackberry you can even initiate the call with your cell phone and it's still free (except for the minutes as you said). I've been using it to talk with my fiancee for a year now and haven't had to pay a dime the whole time. Sweet!!!

Yah... similar for iPhone; there's no actual native app, but the web app is pretty good, and it's really simple to make a home screen icon for it.

[K and T 0]

I use Skype-To-Go to call my wife through my cellphone.

I also use MagicJack and am very happy with it. I am on phone with my wife for atleast an hour and half everyday.. and MagicJack has worked flawless for over a year now. There have been weekends when I have been on phone through MagicJack for 10-12 hours Only downside with MJ is that it cuts off after 120 minutes.. but that's no big deal