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JohnnyBoy

Apr 12, 2010, 9:56 AM

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Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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A gringa friend lives about 80 miles from here. She called me using her Magic Jack (MJ) to my Vonage number. We talked and talked until I knew I was going to run out of minutes on Vonage and get into having to pay for extra time. Probably a high rate. It has never happened to me before. Fortunately, my old Radio Shack cordless phone battery started to poop out, so I told my friend I would call her back with my MJ. I have MJ, Vonage, Skype.

So, after calling her back at her MJ number using my MJ setup (separate corded phone and all), after a few minutes the connection began to poop out. My MJ screen said the call was on hold. She told me later that she just heard some music. We reconnected when she called me back on my Vonage line again. BUT, she swore up and down, reading to me from her MJ screen, that she had dialed my MJ number not my Vonage number. They are in two different area codes and completely different. She said, "I called xxx-xxx-xxxx and sure enough, that is my MJ number, but the call came through to me on my Vonage line. We hung up and she tried it again, making dead sure she was calling my MJ number. And the call again came to me on my Vonage line. Pretty soon the phone battery started to go dead again and I had to call her back using my MJ. This time we did not talk very long and did not experience the "On Hold/Music" thing we had experienced earlier.

I got online with my Vonage account to see what calls I had received, and sure enough, there was the first call, lengthier, about 50 minutes, and later two more calls, all three from my friend's MJ number, the last two almost an hour after the first one, both for just a few minutes each.

Have you ever heard of such a thing?

johanson / Moderator

Apr 12, 2010, 11:38 AM

Post #2 of 10 (3582 views)

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Re: [JohnnyBoy] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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That is downright wierd. No I have never heard of such a thing, and I give low level tech support at a local ISP here in Ajijic.

Judy in Ags

Apr 15, 2010, 3:26 PM

Post #3 of 10 (3519 views)

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Re: [JohnnyBoy] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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Run out of minutes on Vonage? What plan to you have? For $26.00 a month we have limitless minutes to 60 countries. I guess I didn't even remember they had limited minute plans.

bournemouth

Apr 15, 2010, 3:45 PM

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Re: [Judy in Ags] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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There is an older plan that gives you 500 minutes a month, plus free Vonage to Vonage. We've never come close to using that amount of time.

JohnnyBoy

Apr 15, 2010, 4:23 PM

Post #5 of 10 (3509 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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That is the plan I used to have (500 mins) and I too found it impossible to use that many minutes. My $19.99 per month (plus applicable taxes...and that is the bugaboo) turned out closer to $27 as I recall, and I rarely used more than 20-30 mins. So I tried to quit. Easier said than done.

They (Vonage) have a very unadvertized 100 minute per month plan, for $9.99 plus taxes (actual charges are $15.90; wow is that really 59% in taxes?).

And I don't usually use all of those 100 mins. Just when my talkative gringa friend calls me. And that was just this one time, recently.

It is beginning to look like there is no way to fool Vonage or TelMex. Neither one wants me using my MajicJack.

An electronics techie/guru friend of mine here, also a gringo, said he thinks since Vonage is first in line, coming in directly through the TelMex modem, it senses "those kinds of calls" and kicks in before MJ can get it. A test would be to disconnect the Vonage system from the modem, set up my MJ phone system, and then have my friend call my MJ number. Even if that works, it seems like an awfully inconvenient workaround.

RickS

May 1, 2010, 2:17 PM

Post #6 of 10 (3362 views)

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Re: [JohnnyBoy] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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My question is "does Vonage count INCOMING minutes also for your 100 minute plan"??? I've have a Vonage-like account (ViaTalk) for a number of years and they only count OUTGOING (owner originated) minutes towards one's plan limit.

Also, there is 'no way in hell' that your gringa friend could have called your MJ number and gotten you on your Vonage phone. Just isn't going to happen technically (or logically or emotionally or psychically). Check your Vonage 'call logs' for that day/hour and you'll see her telephone listed I betcha).

(This post was edited by RickS on May 1, 2010, 2:27 PM)

JohnnyBoy

May 19, 2010, 1:25 PM

Post #7 of 10 (3225 views)

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Re: [RickS] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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The two calls my friend SAID she dialed to my MajicJack number in fact do appear on my Vonage Incoming Call log.

She doubts me, as you do, that my Vonage phone rang, and while I do not doubt her, I was not there, I could not see what number she dialed. All I know is after we got the weird result once, I asked her to verify the number she was dialing, which was my MajicJack number, and asked her to dial it again, and to not use any "re-dial" feature her phone might have, and the second call also rang on my Vonage phone, and both of them registered, as I said above, with Vonage, as incoming calls.

I have only just figured out for myself that my incoming calls do not go against the 100 minutes of calling time I am allotted under my calling plan. I was convinced otherwise until I checked into it. I am positive, at some time in the past, possibly with a cell phone plan I had, possibly quite a number of years ago, that all calls, coming in, going out were changed against my allottment, and that has stuck with me until now.

RickS

May 19, 2010, 1:53 PM

Post #8 of 10 (3219 views)

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Re: [JohnnyBoy] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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"I asked her to verify the number she was dialing, which was my Magic Jack number, and asked her to dial it again, and to not use any "re-dial" feature her phone might have, and the second call also rang on my Vonage phone..."

JohnnyBoy, I think I remember you were a "computer guy" in a previous life so my bet is that your are a logical thinker. And it is NOT logical that a person can call one phone number (Magic Jack) and get connected with another phone number (Vonage) UNLESS.....

Is your Magic Jack number possibly 'forwarded' to your Vonage number??? Maybe you did it once and forgot you had done so. Go to my.magicjack.com and, assuming you have previously set up an only presence with them, scroll down to Call Forwarding and see if it by chance is pointed to your Vonage number.

If not, call god (with either phone) because she is mess'n withcha!

JohnnyBoy

May 19, 2010, 4:17 PM

Post #9 of 10 (3202 views)

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Re: [RickS] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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Bingo! You nailed it! Well, almost....

I checked, as you suggested, and in fact I do have my MajicJack number forwarded to my Vonage number. I have no recollection of doing it, but I know I did it, I am the only one with access to either of these accounts/phone numbers.

Very good on ya!

But....now I wonder why the MajicJack phone did not just ring and why instead it transferred the call to the Vonage number. There is a whole lot more to that than I even want to dig into. You remember well, I used to be a programmer/analyst and it used to be that such a thing would bug me to death until I figured it out.

I guess I really am retired, because I did not dig very hard on the first issue, the one you resolved so well, and I have even less desire to dig into the second one. Who knows though. I might get into it.

Thanks for giving this your attention.

RickS

May 19, 2010, 5:25 PM

Post #10 of 10 (3197 views)

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Re: [JohnnyBoy] Strange Goings On With Magic Jack

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"But....now I wonder why the Magic Jack phone did not just ring and why instead it transferred the call to the Vonage number"

That's what call-forwarding does..... any caller that calls your Magic Jack number will automatically get routed to the 'forward-to' number and that phone will ring. No ringing on Magic Jack. No Nada. Actually your Magic Jack should not be ringing under any circumstances as long as you have it 'forwarded' by software to your Vonage (or anywhere for that matter).

End of saga. Mystery solved. No charge!

(This post was edited by RickS on May 19, 2010, 5:27 PM)