MagicJack - How To Make It Work With Your Computer

MagicJack is a pretty cool device for placing calls free to the US and inside the US.

Problems: 

Problem #1: 

MagicJack must be plugged into a relatively modern computer with a decent amount of available bandwidth on your Internet connection to function correctly.

Problem #2:

The other issue is that you must be logged into you PC and the software must be started to either receive or place a call, whether you have a external phone attached or use it via the soft phone interface that it comes with.


For a while the way I used this was to log in everytime I wanted to get a call or knew that someone was goignt o call me on the number for Magic Jack. Lets face it this became a real hassle after not a long time. So I started thinking how can I make this easier and have this service available 24x7 365 days a year or close to it.

Solution:

Use a seperate computer that you will have on all the time and do not shut off.

For me the solution was right in my office. Now I will warn you that I'm a bit of a geek and this is not practical for everyone. I have a file server setup at home for using printers and access to file storage for my kids and wife. I have this server on 100% of the time.

Steps:

• I took the MagicJack off my laptop and plugged it into my Server and it did the typical Magic Jack install and started up as normal.
• I plugged my phone in and like my laptop it worked like a charm.

Since this PC is on all the time , therefore I have the Magic Jack server for incoming and outgoing call available all the time. This is great for me. This serves as a cheap second line for me when I work at home and just in general when my wife and kids are occupying my standard phone line.

The only downfall of this method is that I have to actually log into a account on the server and leave myself logged into that account. So far this has not been a problem. In fairness I do reboot this server at least 1 time per week out of habit and I think that has helped with the stability of the solution.

This is not rocket science and I'm sure others have though of this but hey it works for me and maybe some other. I have considered another alternative for this in case you do not have a server.

If you have a very old PC that runs XP and has the capability of being connected to your network this could server the same purpose. You do not have to have the print and file service to make this work. I would just setup the XP PC, install it on the network, install the MagicJack and then log into a account and startup MagicJack and I think you'd have the same function.

I have not tested this but I think it should work just fine. Maybe someone out there can add a comment if they have tried this. I'll try this myself eventually and give everyone a update.