Comments on: magicJack Hijacks My Free Conference Calls to 218-339-2500! http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/ Empower. Challenge. Advance. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:59:51 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Ralph http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-81557 Ralph Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:11:06 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-81557 I wouldn't have a problem with the Magic Jack Conference system except that it is UNRELIABLE! People can't always get in, the calls get dropped, and the conference software seems to confuse conference rooms at times. And, when you try to get MJ support bots to resolve your problem, the is nothing worse than vague answers to specific questions! You quickly discover that there is no button on their support console that sends you a relevant answer to your specific problem. IF MJ's conference system worked satisfactorily, this would work for us... but NO! And of course, this comment doesn't even begin to address the issue of callers who may not be able to reach our conferences for the same reasons from other networks... I wouldn’t have a problem with the Magic Jack Conference system except that it is UNRELIABLE! People can’t always get in, the calls get dropped, and the conference software seems to confuse conference rooms at times. And, when you try to get MJ support bots to resolve your problem, the is nothing worse than vague answers to specific questions! You quickly discover that there is no button on their support console that sends you a relevant answer to your specific problem. IF MJ’s conference system worked satisfactorily, this would work for us… but NO!

And of course, this comment doesn’t even begin to address the issue of callers who may not be able to reach our conferences for the same reasons from other networks…

]]> By: Sean http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-75530 Sean Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:43:26 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-75530 This is the fault of the FCC. Period! They created this issue with stupid short sighted loop holes and followed it up with the utter inability to fix it. Magic Jack is right! They can't have their business put in jeopardy by these loop-hole exploiting crooks. I do not think you all realize that the high fees that they charge can be as high as $.30 per minute. Come on that is 1970s pricing. How would you all like a long distance bill that is different based on where you call in the U.S.? The answer is you would not. My point is do not blame the greedy carriers (remember some are small businesses) blame the slow to act FCC, who caused this problem and never fixed it. This is the fault of the FCC. Period! They created this issue with stupid short sighted loop holes and followed it up with the utter inability to fix it. Magic Jack is right! They can’t have their business put in jeopardy by these loop-hole exploiting crooks. I do not think you all realize that the high fees that they charge can be as high as $.30 per minute. Come on that is 1970s pricing. How would you all like a long distance bill that is different based on where you call in the U.S.? The answer is you would not. My point is do not blame the greedy carriers (remember some are small businesses) blame the slow to act FCC, who caused this problem and never fixed it.

]]> By: James http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-62518 James Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:58:26 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-62518 Just renewed my subscription last Sunday. Immediately after, My room mate could no longer call his mother who is on a rural telco. Just renewed my subscription last Sunday. Immediately after, My room mate could no longer call his mother who is on a rural telco.

]]> By: Jen http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-58702 Jen Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:50:28 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-58702 I found a workaround for this. I don't care about cell phone bills because I have unlimited minutes. I just don't seem to get decent quality with a headset so I wanted a landline for conference calls. It also saves the battery on the cell. Anyway, the workaround is to forward my cell phone to the conference call number, call my cell from the magicjack line to connect the call, then turn off forwarding on my cell. The minutes probably get counted on your cell phone bill, so if that's a concern you'll have to consider that. It does seem to work though so I can use my land phone which is more comfortable for me. I found a workaround for this. I don’t care about cell phone bills because I have unlimited minutes. I just don’t seem to get decent quality with a headset so I wanted a landline for conference calls. It also saves the battery on the cell.

Anyway, the workaround is to forward my cell phone to the conference call number, call my cell from the magicjack line to connect the call, then turn off forwarding on my cell. The minutes probably get counted on your cell phone bill, so if that’s a concern you’ll have to consider that. It does seem to work though so I can use my land phone which is more comfortable for me.

]]> By: Anonymous http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-58446 Anonymous Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:40:46 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-58446 Hi I've just researched this same problem and missed out on a very important Conference call with the same exact issues...Magic Jack. I am outraged and spend time I didn't have to try and figure this out. What a hoax!! Iam very very ******. Cheryl Hi I’ve just researched this same problem and missed out on a very important Conference call with the same exact issues…Magic Jack. I am outraged and spend time I didn’t have to try and figure this out. What a hoax!! Iam very very ******.
Cheryl

]]> By: Ian L http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-55804 Ian L Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:36:43 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-55804 Anyone want to hear the REAL story on this? I don't work for a CLEC, nor do I work for MagicJack,, nor do I use MagicJack as my main phone service because I can afford to pay more than $20 per year for that. Have the five-year membership though and it works fine for what I need it to do! Anyway, MagicJack can "terminate" calls in one of two ways: direct connections with providers at negotiated rates (which could be zero cents per minute) or going through the PSTN infrastructure at large and paying X amount per minute, which is determined by the phone company in question and is generally published in annual Public Service Commission reports. If voice interconnection/peering is established, MagicJack (or whoever) sets up a SIP, digital or analog connection (probably SIP or ISDN digital) connection between itself and the other carrier, and they either keep track of minutes and bill for the difference between inflow and outflow, or they open up the pipes and let the telephone juice flow for free. Now some areas are harder to wire than others; so some carriers Prural ones) charge higher interconnection fees per minute than others. That's all well and good because a national company like MagicJack doesn't have a ton of people making calls to/from those areas, because that's not where the population centers are. The problem arises when free conference calling services game the system, contracting with a CLEC that will provide them with a block of inbound numbers, then splitting the interconnection charges with the CLEC when people call in to the "free" cnference call line. Adding insult to injury, sometimes these CLECs jack up rates even more to these conference call providers (more money is always good, right?) to the point that MJ is paying over ten cents PER MINUTE to connect a conference call that will have multiple participants and will last quite awhile...on a rather popular system to boot. The result for the conference call company and CLEC is they may be making as much as a dollar or two per minute on a service that doesn't require miles of rural phone lines or any of the other LEGITIMATE reasons for a high termination charge. I'm looking at a VoIP provider's rate sheet right now that lists out charges to connect to a given area code/prefix combination. Standard rates range from half a cent to a couple of cents per minute, depending on how rural the area in question is. So far, a couple of numbers in teh 218 area code, including 218-338, are the ONLY ones I've seen that go above 20 cents per minute (not 2, TWENTY). It does NOT take twenty cents per minute to run a line from the telephone central office to wherever the conference call system is collocated. No freakin' way. The 916-233-0500 number...well, I don't know what's up with that. Its termination rates are as low as anyone's. Could be something anticompetitive, but the 218-339 number...yeah... MagicJack's own conference number on the other hand is higher than zero for termination rates (or half a cent) but still reasonable (in the neighborhood of a penny per minute). So you might be wondering, might these high termination rates put some other rural subscribers out in the cold? Actually, yes. MagicJack won't complete calls to high-cost exchanges; the nearby Paul Bunyan Telephone Cooperative (5.6 cents per minute on my rate sheet) comes back as "service unavailable" when I try to call it, as do numbers from BPS Networks in Missouri. That said, both companies aren't exactly cheap to call to, and if you have a MagicJack then you have an internet connection, and if MagicJack works, so will another VoIP company that will allow you to connect to those numbers. Also, not all rural telcos are blocked. Both telephone cooperatives in my area (central TX) work just fine with MagicJack. Maybe there are some telephone co-ops that don't work near where I live, but I haven't found them yet. The crux of it all is that, if MagicJack connected calls to high-cost markets, they would have to raise their yearly rate. If anyone is okay with them doing that, go to NetTalk...unless they block those numbers as well. You can only do so much with a buck and change per month, and if a rural telco eats that up with one call...or a big Anyone want to hear the REAL story on this? I don’t work for a CLEC, nor do I work for MagicJack,, nor do I use MagicJack as my main phone service because I can afford to pay more than $20 per year for that. Have the five-year membership though and it works fine for what I need it to do!

Anyway, MagicJack can “terminate” calls in one of two ways: direct connections with providers at negotiated rates (which could be zero cents per minute) or going through the PSTN infrastructure at large and paying X amount per minute, which is determined by the phone company in question and is generally published in annual Public Service Commission reports. If voice interconnection/peering is established, MagicJack (or whoever) sets up a SIP, digital or analog connection (probably SIP or ISDN digital) connection between itself and the other carrier, and they either keep track of minutes and bill for the difference between inflow and outflow, or they open up the pipes and let the telephone juice flow for free.

Now some areas are harder to wire than others; so some carriers Prural ones) charge higher interconnection fees per minute than others. That’s all well and good because a national company like MagicJack doesn’t have a ton of people making calls to/from those areas, because that’s not where the population centers are.

The problem arises when free conference calling services game the system, contracting with a CLEC that will provide them with a block of inbound numbers, then splitting the interconnection charges with the CLEC when people call in to the “free” cnference call line. Adding insult to injury, sometimes these CLECs jack up rates even more to these conference call providers (more money is always good, right?) to the point that MJ is paying over ten cents PER MINUTE to connect a conference call that will have multiple participants and will last quite awhile…on a rather popular system to boot. The result for the conference call company and CLEC is they may be making as much as a dollar or two per minute on a service that doesn’t require miles of rural phone lines or any of the other LEGITIMATE reasons for a high termination charge.

I’m looking at a VoIP provider’s rate sheet right now that lists out charges to connect to a given area code/prefix combination. Standard rates range from half a cent to a couple of cents per minute, depending on how rural the area in question is. So far, a couple of numbers in teh 218 area code, including 218-338, are the ONLY ones I’ve seen that go above 20 cents per minute (not 2, TWENTY). It does NOT take twenty cents per minute to run a line from the telephone central office to wherever the conference call system is collocated. No freakin’ way.

The 916-233-0500 number…well, I don’t know what’s up with that. Its termination rates are as low as anyone’s. Could be something anticompetitive, but the 218-339 number…yeah…

MagicJack’s own conference number on the other hand is higher than zero for termination rates (or half a cent) but still reasonable (in the neighborhood of a penny per minute).

So you might be wondering, might these high termination rates put some other rural subscribers out in the cold? Actually, yes. MagicJack won’t complete calls to high-cost exchanges; the nearby Paul Bunyan Telephone Cooperative (5.6 cents per minute on my rate sheet) comes back as “service unavailable” when I try to call it, as do numbers from BPS Networks in Missouri. That said, both companies aren’t exactly cheap to call to, and if you have a MagicJack then you have an internet connection, and if MagicJack works, so will another VoIP company that will allow you to connect to those numbers.

Also, not all rural telcos are blocked. Both telephone cooperatives in my area (central TX) work just fine with MagicJack. Maybe there are some telephone co-ops that don’t work near where I live, but I haven’t found them yet.

The crux of it all is that, if MagicJack connected calls to high-cost markets, they would have to raise their yearly rate. If anyone is okay with them doing that, go to NetTalk…unless they block those numbers as well. You can only do so much with a buck and change per month, and if a rural telco eats that up with one call…or a big

]]> By: T Lane http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-55783 T Lane Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:05:10 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-55783 I sure wish I had known about this issue before I purchased my MagicJack! I cost me and extra $150 on my cell phone bill last month because I couldn't connect to Free Conf Call!!! How frustrating...now I have disconnected my land line and purchased Magic Jack and can't use it for what it was intended to be used for!!! How can they do this..... I sure wish I had known about this issue before I purchased my MagicJack! I cost me and extra $150 on my cell phone bill last month because I couldn’t connect to Free Conf Call!!! How frustrating…now I have disconnected my land line and purchased Magic Jack and can’t use it for what it was intended to be used for!!! How can they do this…..

]]> By: Tracey http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-54965 Tracey Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:11:46 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-54965 I use a Nobelcom calling card to call my family overseas. Even when I had my regular landline I used them, because they had the most reasonable rates. I just tried to call Nobelcom's US based number and its blocked via Magicjack. I call it and I get redirected to the "exclusive" provider of MagicJacks international calling. It sounds very shady to me. They want to force me to use their overpriced international provider essentially? I thought I was choosing magicjack as my local and long distance provider, not my "exclusive" international provider too. Very shady. I use a Nobelcom calling card to call my family overseas. Even when I had my regular landline I used them, because they had the most reasonable rates.

I just tried to call Nobelcom’s US based number and its blocked via Magicjack. I call it and I get redirected to the “exclusive” provider of MagicJacks international calling. It sounds very shady to me. They want to force me to use their overpriced international provider essentially? I thought I was choosing magicjack as my local and long distance provider, not my “exclusive” international provider too. Very shady.

]]> By: Ben http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-54813 Ben Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:00:09 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-54813 Is anyone with Magic Jack able to reach any number in the 706-935-xxxx, 706-937-xxxx, or 706-965-xxxx area code? Starting July 2010, I can no longer reach numbers there. Is anyone with Magic Jack able to reach any number in the 706-935-xxxx, 706-937-xxxx, or 706-965-xxxx area code?

Starting July 2010, I can no longer reach numbers there.

]]> By: Rijkstra http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/comment-page-2/#comment-40702 Rijkstra Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:46:17 +0000 http://rickyspears.com/blog/2009/08/magicjack-hijacks-my-free-conference-calls-to-218-339-2500/#comment-40702 Vincent: I ordered my Nettalk device the same day you did, but I'm still waiting. They use UPS Mail Innovations, but contrary to the policy of that system, refuse to send to a P.O. Box. In my rural town which has no mail delivery, UPS-MI regularly delivers ONLY to PO Boxes. I had to have them send it to a UPS store ten miles away and will have to pay $5 bucks for the privelege. Yes, their shipping policies are screwed up and insensitive to the realities of customer needs. Vincent: I ordered my Nettalk device the same day you did, but I’m still waiting. They use UPS Mail Innovations, but contrary to the policy of that system, refuse to send to a P.O. Box. In my rural town which has no mail delivery, UPS-MI regularly delivers ONLY to PO Boxes. I had to have them send it to a UPS store ten miles away and will have to pay $5 bucks for the privelege. Yes, their shipping policies are screwed up and insensitive to the realities of customer needs.

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