Need to Reach Out and Call Home?
First let me say that I am a Vonage person…I love my Vonage! My home phone is Vonage. Did I tell you how much I love it!
With Vonage your computer can be in Anyplace… USA… Europe, Mexico, and as long as your vonage modem is connected to your internet modem you, or anyone, can still make and receive calls. Or call forward your incoming calls to your cell phone while you are travelling.
I also own a Magic Jack and this is what I use most when travelling. In order to use Vonage you have to have a modem and high speed internet. Since most of the hotels and Internet Cafes offer wireless my Vonage will not work. Aha…Magic Jack to the rescue. If you vacation in Cabo (or for that matter, anywhere) you are most likely familiar with hotel phone costs and unless you have some super-duper plan, your cell phone provider makes a bundle off your need to stay connected.
I believe the initial cost for the magic jack is right around $40 and this includes your first year of service. After that it is $20/year. (January 19,2012 I got notice that the yearly rate was going to be increased) Just plug the MJ into your computer and hook up a phone and you are good to go. Hint: you can hook up the hotel phone to the magic jack and it should work just fine. Since you are most likely calling phone numbers in the United States or Canada all of your calls are now free…gratis. And the people you left behind can also call you…no charge.
The only issue I have with Magic Jack is that in order to place and receive calls your computer has to be turned on. If your computer is turned off your incoming calls will go directly to voicemail. When you turn your computer back on and access your email messages you will find an announcement from magic jack with your message and you can listen to it through your computer.
UPDATE: Now you can purchase Magic Jack Plus. I did, and wanted to try it out before recommending it. The results have been great! With Magic Jack Plus you can, if you have a modem (or your hotel has one), plug a cable into the modem and the adaptor into an electrical outlet and voila! You can make and recieve calls whether or not your computer is on. Basically it is the same as Vonage in that respect except it costs a lot less dinero. I paid $69 for the MJPlus and that included the first year’s service. My Vonage costs me about $40/month (including taxes). I have been told that there is an app for MJ that allows you to use it with your cell and calls to the U.S. and Canada are free. I will research this and add to this post when I actually try it.
Gee, I hope Carlos Slim is not reading this!
