To continue the topic on the best VoIP software and devices, you are about to discover which of Skype, Magic Jack and Vonage is the best in terms of price and customer service support.

First of all, a quick question: how much does it cost for you to use average landline phone service annually?

Phone bills depend on the region of your residence and the service provider. However, upon some research and investigation, it turned out that in average an American pays up to $500 annually. More exact fees depend on the amount of local and long-distant calling minutes as well as the type of the package ordered.

What about other options in terms of home phones? Americans do have a choice. They may choose among Vonage, Skype or Magic J ack, technical characteristics of which have been reviewed above.

Price is always a criteria subjected to the quality of the service you are paying for. For what it’s worth, Magic Jack charges mere $19,99 per year and the quality of the connection is good, even compared to customary phones, which do not always provide noise-free services. In case with Magic Jack, the quality of sound depends greatly on the speed of your internet connection as well as the quality of the computer.

Vonage in its turn, offers the Vonage World plan, featuring unlimited VoIP calling to landlines in more than 60 countries. For countries not included in Vonage World, or under other plans, you get exceptionally low per-minute rates. For example, Vonage World plan costs $25,99 per month. Local and distant calls within the United States and Canada and Puerto Rico are unlimited. Other plans cost $9,99, $17,99 and $34,99, depending on the deal. The quality of sound in this case depends on the Internet connection and in no way on your computer, and it is reported to be quite great in different parts of the US.

Skype offers free calls to any subscriber of the service in any part of the world. If you are in China and try to call another person via Internet in France, for instance, you do not pay a single penny. If you are trying to reach a person who is not using Skype software then it’s going to cost you 2,1 c with the plan Pay As You Go and 1,8c on the monthly basis. Monthly subscription ensures unlimited calls to landline and mobile phone numbers.  Pay As You Go plan is applicable to Skype phones, which are completely independent of your PC. The company offers a wide selection of these phones to be used with Skype software: mobile, plug-in, videophones, WiFi phones, and cordless phones. The quality of sound is comparatively great especially with its recently launched software 4.0 for the PC.

The only drawback with Skype as compared to Vonage or Magic Jack is that it does not support emergency calls like 911 or 411. However, Skype does allow to send and receive instant messages as well as enjoy video chat services, unlike its other two rivals.

So, to sum up, if the only thing that you are looking for is to cut cost on your phone bills but to retain your phone number and still remain independent of your PC, then Vonage is definitely the best choice. However, you do not care about the number and the technical support but are willing to pay some 20 bucks for your calls per year then you are to choose Magic Jack.

The choice obviously depends on your needs only!

If you have not heard about MagicJack then definitely you do not use the Internet and do not watch TV.

MagicJack is a small gadget that is plugged into your computer and is used for making calls. The advertisement says that the device was developed to substitute your regular phone and enable you to get rid of $500 phone bills.

As long as it is used only via a computer, MagicJack is considered to be one of the representatives of VoIP communication options. Thus, the device is a rival not only for landline phones but as well for Skype, Vonage and other popular phone systems.

These three phone systems do have a lot in common in terms of the services provided. Similar features include the fact that you can make and receive calls to and from any number of the world. And here we ran out of the similarities.

 The differences are much more numerous and it is them which distinguish their market of demand and consumer audience.

First of all it is all about the equipment, software and generally the installation process.

Magic  Jack is a small portable device of 2 cubic inches (2'1'1). It is plugged into a USB port in your PC and the other outlet is designed for a landline phone wire. The software is as well required. The installation takes 5 to 10 minute. After the completing of hardware and software installation, a subscriber gets his personal phone number via email and the device is ready to me exploited. The only drawback of the device is that in order to be properly and constantly used, the subscriber has to keep it computer constantly on and the Magic Jack software has to be constantly running days and nights. Otherwise you won't be able to receive incoming calls to your land line phone device.

Vonage VoIP phone adapter also has two outlets to plug in the landline wire on the one side and the other site is to be connected to the modem and not the USB port of the computer and no software is required. It is the principal difference with the Magic Jack gadget. Unlike its rival, Vonage device features a small LCD display which depicts caller ID and call timer, call logs (missed/received/dialed) with up to 50 entries each, language selection, and built-in upstream bandwidth tester, and when not used, the line reads "Better Phone Service for Less". Vonage does not give you new personal phone number; you are able to use your current one.

Skype, unlike Vonage and Magic Jack is more about software than about devices. It is an absolutely free program which is downloaded to your computer. Skype is used to make calls to other Skype-registered users via the PC or to landline phone numbers. If you want to use the program instead of your regular phone, then you have to buy a phone number as well as a Skype-enabled phone, because a standard one will not work.

Another important criteria to review is the price (cost of the device, call (home and long distant) tariffs, and monthly/annual fees) and customer service support in terms of troubleshooting.

This is information to come...