Ease up on phone bills to your loved one

[biglos 0]

Hey Guys,

Wishing everyone many love and blessings on their journey, it's not easy. I've settled into the US for about 4 months now after a year of processing a CR-1 visa, if you have any questions, shoot them my way, I can only hope I can be of help to anyone who needs it. I surely was VERY appreciative and relieved that Visa Journey exists for us struggling to be with our loved ones.

Anyway, I just want to leave a tip for those who don't know about calling back and forth your loved ones. TO keep your long distance relationships alive you must make sure to save some money with your phone bills and the Magicjack saved my wife and I a TON of money. Anyway, here's an article I found to help explain it. Happy journey everyone! Hope it helps!

http://www.squidoo.com/call-us-and-canada-free

Regards and blessings,

Carlos

USCIS

NOA #2: Approval June 15th, 2009

Case Completed - August 28th 2009

Interview Assigned - December 3, 2009 97 DAYS OF WAITING

Medical - Wednesday January 20, 2010 - Passed

Embassy/Interview - January 27, 2010 Montreal, Quebec Canada

POE was in Blaine Washington, Pacific Highway crossing on Feb 7th and received SSN Feb 22,

about 12 days(minus holiday and sundays) after my POE

Green Card March 8th, one month from POE

[ashenflowers 5]

There was a thread around here a while ago about saving money w/ phone calls and different services. I stand by my recommendation of Vonage. It's available in both countries and there are no long distance charges. There are different rate plans, depending on how often you think you'll use the phone. I recommend it to everyone who asks or mentions phone plans. lol

And of course, there's always Skype.

[Married2009 32]

We use Windows Messenger, with a webcam. We don't have the phone bills to show that we call each other, that's the only down side.

[Ontarkie 14,518]

We use Magic Jack too, it works great. I have a friend that went for a drive in Michigan to pick up a Magic Jack. It works great for her in Canada too. My parents have Bell Canada's unlimited long distance they like that, but I was thinking when we go back to bring her a Magic Jack but I'm not sure they would remember to use it.

[JlovesA 109]

Ooh I will definitely pick one of those up when I move back to Ontario next month. Skype and all that stuff that uses the internet never works here since the connection is so terrible. My USC fiance calls my landline using the Skype app on his iPhone and even that is horrible. It disconnects the call every time he receives a notification. The quality is really poor, too.

[FireKari 4]

I would not EVER recommend using Magic Jack.

Seriously, google the reviews on this product.

I know three people that have had this and they couldn't get it to connect, calls dropped, and cannot get ahold of anyone for customer service.

A lot of phone companies have plans that you can get for a monthly rate that let you call with your home phone unlimited.

A simple $20 headset from the store and any sort of messenger on your computer and you can talk for free over your internet.

[Starburst 4]

I have skype! I also have my own number for it + the $3/month plan so I can make unlimited calls to any phone in Canada and the US! Totally worth it to call my family and friends back home!

[Marilyn. 340]

Ooh I will definitely pick one of those up when I move back to Ontario next month. Skype and all that stuff that uses the internet never works here since the connection is so terrible. My USC fiance calls my landline using the Skype app on his iPhone and even that is horrible. It disconnects the call every time he receives a notification. The quality is really poor, too.

Magic Jack uses the internet too..

[Veronik 19]

If you dial 10-10-710 before the 1-XXX number, it ends up being 1.12$ for the call. It's good if you know you'll be on the phone for a while... I think it's called Caztel or something...

[Veronik 19]

But beware because if it goes to the voicemail, then it's also a 1.12$...

Edited June 14, 2010 by Vero and Chris

[JlovesA 109]

Magic Jack uses the internet too..

Yeah I know...next month I'm moving to Ontario, where the Internet is actually usable, haha.

[Sprailenes 47]

And while you're on the phone with the magic jack... use the wonderful slap chop to chop up those old phone bills!

[Tim and Erin 3]

When I'm in Ontario, I call the U.S. using 10-15-565 before the 1-(area code). I forget what it's called, but I think I can talk for 90 minutes for about a buck.

[trailmix 77]

And while you're on the phone with the magic jack... use the wonderful slap chop to chop up those old phone bills!

We used magicjack when we first moved to Florida. It was horrible. Bad connection or it wouldn't work - I could hear them, they couldn't hear me - one day we had no connection all day, etc etc.

Spoke to support a couple of times - they were no help.

[biglos 0]

Sorry to hear about some of your bad experiences, but I've been using to Magicjack for 3 years and only have had an issue when I'm connected poor internet connections or computers that have not been maintained properly. But ALL opinions are valuable to the VJers.

Here's another link if anyone wants to do more reading on it: http://www.squidoo.com/tips-for-saving-on-long-distance-

Blessings and good luck to all!