I've just opened a commercial photography company and currently promote the company with my cell phone. I want to have a phone in my studio where people can contact the "Office" when I'm out on a service call. I've been using Skype for a couple years now through a headset based system and have had a couple issues with the lag time and customers not being able to hear me.

Can anyone tell me how Skype compares to MagicJack and if I should look into the cordless phones Skype offers to start my phone system?

I've switched to MagicJack (my unlimited SKype US/Canada calls subscription expires this May) because it's a lot cheaper for both outgoing and incoming calls - $39.99 + 6.95 for the first year, 19.99/yr for succeeding years. I had to pay $2.99/mo just for SkypeOut calls (Skype unlimited US/Canada outgoing calls). At the time I had SkypeIn, I paid a little over $2/mo for it (I think it was 5 euros for 3 mos). Then I had to pay regular SkypeOut rates if I wanted to have calls forwarded.

I like my MagicJack better. It's cheaper. Call quality is the same, sometimes better. It's easy to carry the USB dongle anywhere, hook it up to whichever PC I'm using and use it with whichever phone is available where I'm working. I don't have to buy any expensive especially-made-for-Skype phone. The biggest plus for me is that I don't pay additional fees for forwarding calls. This way, I don't even have to carry the USB dongle with me. I just change the call forwarding number online and have all my MagicJack calls forwarded to the phone number at wherever I am. When I'm travelling and don't want to have to check my MagicJack voice mails, I just forward all my MagicJack calls to my cellphone.

I also like it that I get voicemails sent to my e-mail address.

Skype Calling Now Available To magicJack Users

We are posting this message to announce the release of our new Skype dual mode calling software plugin "SkyjackPlugin" for magicJack users.

To place Skype calls just dial * before the number you want to call. Speed dial numbers are available for dialing other Skype users. Regular magicJack calls are placed as normal. For incoming calls, just answer the phone when it rings.

You can check it out and try it free at http://www.pcphonesoft.com