Google Voice announced today that it would start letting Google email users, who also had a Google Voice account, start making PC to Landline phone calls in the US and Canada for free. In the past, they have allowed users to make free PC to PC calls, just like Skype does, but now Skype might have a hard time getting users to pay a couple of cents per minute for PC to phone calls, when both Google Voice and MagicTalk are giving that service away for free.
I think it’s interesting that I was complaining yesterday that I could get any info on MagicTalk’s new, free, PC to phone calling service, and low and behold, Google announces today that I can just use theirs. Like I said yesterday, maybe Vocaltec needs to get moving, it’s hard enough bringing a new product to market without having to compete with fricken Google.
It looks like Google will be trying to make a profit off of international PC to phone calls, so look at the free PC to phone calls as a loss leader, like supermarkets use. If you want to see where Google Voice is going to be rolling in the dough, the check out the Google Voice International Phone Call Rate Sheet.
I wonder what I’ll do for a job when all the telecom in the world is free? LOL I guess since everything is moving to VoIP and WiFi, I better get started on my Wideband Internet Service Empire…
I’m still waiting for MagicTalk to show up, and it’s starting to bug me. The MagicJack affiliate program that I was selling MagicJack through shut down in the middle of July, and I just figured it was because they were bringing out MagicTalk, and they were going to put all of their energy and money into that . But, the MagicTalk website still doesn’t work, it just forwards to MagicJack, and I haven’t been able to find anything out about it anywhere, and it’s driving me crazy.
It also looks like Vocaltec, the company that now controls the MagicJack, MagicTalk and Magic Femtocell product lines, is having trouble with their new Femtocell project as well. Vocaltec was looking to create their own product that let cell phones work as a VoIP phone when at home, but the cell phone companies that paid the federal government billions of dollars for those frequencies aren’t willing to let that happen without a fight. And, without an agreement with a cell phone provider to let them use one of their cellular frequencies, they can’t release a viable Femtocell product.
If anyone knows what’s going on with Ymax, Vocaltec, MagicTalk and/or their affiliate programs, post a comment and let us all know.
I’ve been updating VoIP plan pages this week, and still have a ton to do, but if you want to take a look at what I’ve added and/or updated this week, here they are:
I had a customer ask a VoIP question, so I thought I’d post it and the answer here:
Hello, I’m looking to get rid of my land line if I don’t need it or switch to another company besides Verizon. My dilemma is this. We have a PC that uses a modem to access Verizon Internet Service and if we get rid of the landline, we don’t know if the PC can be updated to use another Internet Service without a modem. Can it or does the PC have to be updated with something that enables it to access via wireless in order to use a VoIP service? If we can’t get rid of the land line, I’ll look for a land line service provider with internet service.
All high speed internet service comes with a modem, so if you switch to a different carrier, you can just get a different modem, or use the one you have if you own it. VoIP works with high speed internet service, and it very easy to set up. Most of the time you just plug a router into your modem, and then hook your PC to the router. The you plug in your phone and you’re done. Phonepower has a diagram on the bottom of their hardware page that shows how it works: Visit PhonePower, then click the hardware link in the menu.
What I would suggest, would be to ask Verizon how much it would be for just the high speed internet service. Then, use the tool at the top of the home phone service provider’s page to see who else offers high speed internet service in your area, and how much they are charging. After that, I’d sign up with an internet phone service provider for phone service, my 2 favorites are Magicjack and Phonepower. Magicjack is $20 per year for unlimited local and long distance calling in the US and Canada, and Phone power is $15 per month for the same thing.
Look out Skype, Magicjack is getting ready to kick your behind. Magicjack’s creator, Daniel Borislow, is coming out with a new product next month, called MagicTalk. MagicTalk will be a SIP service like Skype, and will make it so that millions of people will have access to MagicJack’s service, without having to actually buy the MagicJack device.
MagicJack’s creator, Daniel Borislow, merged his company YMAX, with the VoIP company VocalTec last week, which means that MagicJack now belongs to a publicly traded company. I know that a ton of telecom professionals have made fun of the MagicJack over the years, but I’ve always though it was a cool product, and I’ve should know, since I have one in my office. With a move to the NASDAQ, MagicJack should have more clout, and should finally get the respect it deserves.
Colorado’s Gov. Bill Ritter has decided to let the FCC answer the question of whether or not to regulate VoIP in Colorado. And, to let the Colorado’s Public Utilities Department handle the question of whether or not to lower Qwest’s level of regulation so that the landline phone company can better compete with cable phone companies like Comcast, and voice over IP phone companies like Vonage and Phonepower.
Internet phone companies like Vonage, Phonepower and Magicjack don’t have any taxes or regulation per se, other than the 3% federal excise tax and free market pressures . When a VoIP company offers crappy phone service, their customers talk about it, and they either fix their problems quickly, or they go under. That’s one of the good things and bad things about being a technology product; your customers can make or break you online in the blink of an eye.
While VoIP companies like Comcast can change their digital phone plans and fees instantly, to mirror the moods of their customers, landline phone companies like Qwest can’t. Qwest has to take any rate increases or decreases to the FCC, and then wait for that big chunk of worthlessness to get back to them in an untimely manner. Qwest is also required to collect taxes for every local, state and federal governement that decides that killing landline phone service in the United States is the best way to make money for the local school system, dog park or other “PET” projects.
In all fairness, since there really isn’t any way to regulate VoIP, and I sure don’t want to see the FCC get their grubby little hands on this cool piece of technology, landline phone companies such as Qwest and AT&T should be let off the telecom regulation hook. Let them compete fairly with VoIP companies, and if they can’t survive, then let them die.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is on a collision course with broadband internet service providers, Congress, the Senate, and everyone and anyone who believes in an unregulated internet. Chairman Genachowski is making a bid to increase his, and the FCC’s, power, by placing broadband internet services under the same regulations as those imposed on telephone companies.
While the scuffle started over an April court decision that undermined some of the FCC’s “assumed” power over broadband services, the Chairman’s push to get control of the internet, and what goes on there, could end up hurting the American economy during a time when the economy is trying to pull itself out of a national and global economic slump. By regulating and taxing what has always been a free economic zone of creation, Chairman Genachowski’s bid for power, could end up costing Americans thousands of jobs, and curtailing new research and development in new online endeavors.
If Chairman Genachowski gets control of the internet, and with it, the ability to regulate and tax broadband phone service providers, online television providers, online radio stations and others, like they do landline phone service, where is the benefit for the American people? As the internet stands now, it’s a hotbed for research and development of new products, technology and innovations that provide thousands of high paying jobs that might not happen if another federal bureaucrat decides that he knows best.
The question that people need to ask themselves is: “When was the last time the American people gave control of something to a federal bureaucrat, and got something better in return?”
It’s time to get rid of your local phone service and replace it with digital phone service. Digital phone service, otherwise known as VoIP phone service, is phone service that works over a high speed internet connection instead of a regular phone line. By using your high speed internet connection, you can save hundreds, or thousands, of dollars per year for your home and/or business.
The savings comes from a lower cost of infrastructure for the VoIP phone company, and from a drastic cut in taxes. Regular land line phone companies have to maintain their phone lines and their switching stations, while VoIP companies only have to make sure that the home owner’s router is working correctly, and that their software is routing the calls correctly; the cost difference is astonomical. The tax savings come from the fact that the only tax that VoIP phone companies have to pay, is the 3% federal telecom tax. This is extremely lower than the average %15 to 20% in taxes paid by people who have land line service and are being taxes by their local cities, counties and states.
If you are interested in keeping your current telephone number, most voIP companies can now transfer your current local number to their control, so that you can continue using it. Or, if you want a number in another place, like New York City, or Los Angeles, then the VoIP company can hook you up with a local number from there. This works really great if you need to look like you’re in the big city, when you’re really out in Walla Walla, Washington, or Timbucktoo.
Another great thing about internet phone service is that it comes with free long distance calls to anyone in the US or Canada, and if you leave the country, you can plug in your router anywhere there is high speed internet service, and you will be able to make and recieve calls free of charge, just the same as if you were still in the United States.
I’ve used MagicJack in the office for the last couple of years, and even though I’v pulled my telephone number off of the website, and don’t answer the phone any more, MagicJack still emails me my voicemails. While lots of people use MagicJack as a second phone line, more and more small office/home office guys like me are starting to use it as an office phone. With mine, I even have a toll free number from a regular phone company that rings into my MagicJack number. And the really cool thing about that is that I live in Washington state, but my MagicJack phone number is for Wisconsin, which has the cheapest instate toll free service from my toll free company. I did this so that no matter where people live, if they call my toll free number, I’m paying less than 3 cents per minute for the call.
Another cool thing about MagicJack is that since it’s a SIP service, if you plug the MagicJack box into a computer, anywhere in the world with high speed internet access, you can plug a phone into it, and it will work just like you’re in the states. I can be sitting in McDonalds in Mexico City, using their free WiFi through my laptop, and answering toll free customer service calls from the states for the same 3 cents per minute it would cost me if I were in Washington, Oregon, California, Florida, Texas, New York or Timbuktu.
If you want to compare the price of MagicJack to the price of other VoIP and landline services, use the Rate Search Tool at the top of www.Calling-Plans.com main page.
