Phone Service for $20 A Year! Can’t Wait Until Thursday?

It’s the Silly Season on TV starting Thursday. It’s called SWEEPS. It’s that time that the local TV stations put on their best face and do their best to make you watch them.

WXII is running a TEASER for “Phone Service for $20 A Year”. While NOT EXACTLY ACCURATE, it’s TRUE. I’m tired of seeing it, so I’m blowing their cover now!

There’s a product that I personally have – it’s called Magic Jack. It’s another VoIP (Voice over IP) or Internet Phone, similar to Skype, Gizmo Project. It works like this – you buy for $39.95 the Magic Jack USB Device and the first year of service. The second year can be purchased for $19.95. For that you get Caller-ID, Voice Mail, Call Waiting, Free Local and Long Distance to US and Canada (un-limited) and other features. Unlike Skype and the Gizmo Project, it allows you to plug in your phone, like Vonage.

Here’s the catch, you need a High Speed Internet Connection (Broadband, DSL, other) to make it work. So it’s not exactly $19.95 a year. HOWEVER, you can use it where ever you can get Free WiFi. A friend of mine recently tested his from Panera Bread. He set up his laptop, plugged the Magic Jack into the USB Port, then plugged his phone into the Magic Jack and started making calls.