B29 MARKETPLACE

 

Feature MagicJack Vonage Skype
Usable with your computer off No Yes Yes (if you have a Skype phone)
Usable with a normal analog phone Yes Yes No (unless you have an adapter; see comment #29 below)
Voicemail Yes, will record a .wav file if your computer is on; you can’t call in for messages. Yes Yes (free with monthly plan, $20/year otherwise)
Video chat No No Yes
Send & receive SMS text messages No No Yes
Available to consumers outside the U.S.A. No, but you can travel with the MagicJack and call into the U.S. and Canada Can use it from anywhere but must have USA, UK or Canada billing & mailing address to sign up Yes. Skype is the most international and travel-friendly of these three
Emergency 911 Calling Yes Yes No
Keep your current land line phone number No Yes (usually) No
Works with a dialup connection Technically yes but dreadful quality No Yes, okay quality
Three way conference calling Yes, but the 2 calls need to be inbound to you. Yes Yes (conference calls up to 9 people possible)
DTMF1 Yes Yes Yes, through software 4.0 for the PC and 2.8 (beta) for the Mac
Automatic call forwarding (eg. to your cell phone) No Yes (free) Yes (free with subscription)
Feature MagicJack Vonage Skype

1 DTMF is Dial Tone Multi-Frequency. This is what lets you type in numbers to an automated service, when you are asked to push “1″ for one option, “2″ for another, for example.