Fixed Magic Jack beeping problem 7/10/09

Okay, I know I haven't posted in a while, but this finally pushed me over the edge. I just have to share what I went through the last 3 hours to get my new Magic Jack home phone service to stop causing a loud and persistent beeping sound on the other end of the line to my callers. (Not audible to me). This happened after I nearly lost a very important business call to the problem. Not acceptable! The service had been working fine, and I've really been enjoying it otherwise. But this was proving to be a show stopper, so had to be solved. (Friends had complained off and on since I installed it last month).

Let me start by saying that as annoying and persistent as this problem proved to be, I found the tech support at Magic Jack (via live chat) to be some of the best, most professional and responsive I've ever had anywhere. Many companies would do well to emulate their service level. They were very prompt, polite and responsive, even after my 3rd time back in a row trying to solve the problem. And apparently knowledgeable, cuz indeed, the problem appears to be solved finally.

But what it took to get there was quite amazing and convoluted indeed. First we tried "rebooting" the Magic Jack itself. This is done by simply going to menu, advanced users, restart within the software. Then we tried plugging it in without using the extension "cord" that came with it. This proved trickier, as the shape and size of it, although small, still can cause a bit of a jam up for your other USB devices when they can't squeeze in next to it. So I was bummed to have to let this go. (I may try putting it back in, as I think it was something else that solved the problem, ultimately;).

Then, we also tried tweaking settings to make my Windows firewall happier. We added a couple of ports to the "exceptions" in the firewall software. Then we also added a couple of preferred DNS servers. After reflecting, repenting and rebooting, it seemed like this worked. Until later - when a friend and I talked for just over 2 minutes, and sure enough she heard beeping yet again. Oy.

So back to Magic Jack LiveChat I went. (You have to jump a couple hoops to get it going but that's normal). I was able to tell them to look at what "Paris" already told me, so I didn't start all over again from scratch with the next person. I ultimately got escalated to a more "senior" tech named Rodney who had me hack the registry, deleting some old keys, then reinstalling and rebooting. Again, we thot this worked, but then it didn't. Sure enough, in a later call from another friend, she heard beeping - just less frequent. So, back to LiveChat I went again! (2 hours in).

This person (Adam), had me tweak the audio settings - making sure I was using telephone and not headset. (Do this under menu - right click, I believe). And checking the volume settings for both and set them to 1/3 of max for both - even if not using both. Then we re-installed the latest update once again, and tried again, after unplugging yet again. Finally, on this third try I was able to talk for 6 minutes with no beeping. (Prior record was about 2:45). So I'm calling it good. But what a day.

Again, as frustrating as this problem was (persistant, at least), I will again say that the folks I "chatted" with were all polite and responsive to a person, netting a rating of 5 or Excellent from me after each time. I know others may feel otherwise - and granted it took 3 tries before we finally nailed the problem. But, they were never anything but polite and helpful and responsive and knowledgeable the whole time. I can't ask for more. And, the problem seems to be solved. So... though my jury is still out on the full verdict for Magic Jack - they did just go up in my esitmation based on this experience. Hope others have equal or better success. Happy calling.