by Pa Rock
Hapless and Helpless
There are four basic ways to communicate with the outside world from Okinawa. Email, of course, is the most common and least personal. Skype offers free video calls, and regular telephone calls at a minimal cost, but a person has to be on the computer to take advantage of that. The other two options are Internet phone services Vonage and Magic Jack. Both require hooking something up to the computer. Vonage won't ship their device overseas, so individuals using it have to order the plug-in contraption and have it sent to someone in the states who must then forward it here. Vonage has a monthly fee for its service. Magic Jack is $40 total for the device and the first year's service - and Magic Jack is sold here on the island.
Long story short, I bought the Magic Jack and a twelve dollar telephone. I plugged it into my computer and got a dial tone. I also got a message that my firewall was blocking it. My firewall appeared to be turned off - so I turned it back on, but could not figure out how to allow Magic Jack through. But, I still have the dial tone.
My understanding was that I would be able to get a US phone number from any area code I chose, but that option has never appeared.
If anyone out there has an intimate knowledge of Magic Jack, please contact me at pa.rock.macy@gmail.com. All help appreciated!
Update: (one hour later) By jove, I think I've got it! At least I have a phone number - which I am emailing out to friends and relatives. Give me a call and we'll see if it works!
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1 comment:
I am still not able to find a reliable and cheap VOIP device, lot of people tell me about magic jack so I asked where to buy magic jack plus but I found on social media buyers who complained of their bad customer support where people reported that they waited 2 hours for someone to get back to them and they disconnect if they are not able to answer your questions
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