magicJack Alternative Options: 5 Top Picks

To run any business in 2024, you need to oil a lot of wheels to ensure that everything works smoothly. One of those wheels is customer satisfaction. All successful businesses rely on satisfied customers and if you want your customers to be satisfied, you need to provide them with the best possible customer support service.

One of the key ways to ensure that you’re providing the best possible customer support service is to have great tools at your disposal. You’ve either used or at least heard about dozens of different tools, including magicJack. magicJack is a VoIP phone service allowing you to focus on your customers instead of how your phone system works, no matter where you or your team is located. 

But just like any other phone system, magicJack is not without its flaws. If you’ve used magicJack and ran into any issues or if you’re just looking for the best magicJack alternative, be sure to stick around.

Let’s talk about magicJack first

Before we start looking into the best magicJack alternative, let’s see why magicJack for business works well in some cases and why it doesn’t in others, as this will help us get a better understanding of how to judge the magicJack alternative and which tool to consider.

What is magicJack and how does it work?

magicJack is a device that uses VoIP technology to allow its customers receive calls from the U.S. and Canada using an existing internet connection. To make the call, you can use a computer or regular business phone – no other hardware or additional business phone services required. magicJack offers a promised 99% uptime.

magicJack features

The standout features of magicJack include auto attendant, virtual fax, VoIP phones, a mobile app and a desktop app, call forwarding and conference calling. 

Auto attendant

Auto attendant is a voice menu system that allows callers to reach many different departments or even employees inside a company. Basically, it works as a virtual receptionist and it can also be used as the main phone line of a business phone. 

The auto attendant feature can also record a greeting message, voicemail, and the ability to dial a phone number by name or extension.

Virtual fax

The virtual fax feature allows users to both send and receive signed contracts and any other types of documents just by using your email and without the need or the cost of buying and servicing a real, physical fax machine. 

By using the virtual fax feature, the customers don’t have to wait to be back at the office to send and receive faxes, as they can get them everywhere, including their mobile phones.

VoIP business phone service

In addition to VoIP phone service, magicJack also sells real, physical business phone with VoIP features for companies to use. This could be a great solution for those just opening up their office, as it can eliminate the need to purchase a phone separately, as it comes bundled with the service. 

Desktop and mobile app

The desktop app allows business users to use magicJack from their computer, which could help with flexibility as it doesn’t require a device to make and receive calls. 

The mobile app works in the same way, and it’s available on the most popular mobile operating systems. The iOS and Android versions of the mobile app can be downloaded from their respective stores, while the desktop app is available both on Mac and Windows platforms. The ability to send magicJack text messages using the mobile app isn’t available at the moment.

Call forwarding

For routing and managing inbound calls, there is the call forwarding magicJack feature. The feature can be set up so that phone calls always get forwarded, only when they are not answered, simultaneously or sequentially to more than one different phone line.

Conference calling

The magicJack conference calling feature allows customers to create a conference bridge which can be a great solution when meeting in a call with more than three participants. 

Customers need to create a conference bridge and provide the details to the call participants.

How much does magicJack cost?

The initial service includes the magicJack device, subscription and mobile app. It currently costs $44.99 plus taxes and fees for 12 months. After that period, you can continue using the unlimited calling, voicemail, call forwarding, automated call screening and call blocking features for $43 or $109. The first plan is for another year, while the second is for three years.

When it comes to the cost of calling internationally, the magicJack international rate is on par with the other competitors on the market. For example, the magicJack international rate for Mexico starts at 2.8¢ per minute, the rate for the UK starts at 2.2¢ per minute, and the rate for India is 2.5¢ per minute.

Why are people looking for a magicJack alternative?

While magicJack can be a great solution to some, it is not without its fair share of problems. For example, many people say that their customer support service is subpar. Others quote dropped calls, static, error messages, and the bad quality of the calls as the main disadvantages. 

Also, some people say that the mobile apps are buggy and unstable and that they had to jump through many hoops to try and cancel their plans.

See also: magicJack vs BasicTalk and magicJack vs Ooma

5 best magicJack alternative options

Ringblaze

If you run into the same, similar or even completely different problems than the ones we mentioned, you might be looking for a magicJack alternative. Even if you aren’t having trouble with magicJack, we still believe that you should consider trying Ringblaze.

Ringblaze, the product we build, is a phone service and one of the best magicJack alternatives on the market. It provides you with the best possible phone solution to make your sales and customer support more effective and collaborative. 

With Ringblaze, you can easily manage all your calls and related activities, assign any inbound calls to different people in your company and use a variety of other features to support your business so that you can provide the best possible customer service. Ringblaze is great for SMBs, agencies and real estate firms.

Ringblaze’s key features and advantages

Here are the standout features that make Ringblaze one of the best alternatives to magicJack you should try.

Shared dashboard 

The shared dashboard features make sure that all the calls to your phone number are stored in a single place that can be accessed in a pinch. No matter if your team is located in the same office, or across the world, Ringblaze helps keep everyone on the same page.

The shared dashboard feature is available in Ringblaze for free, while a majority of other companies either don’t have it (magicJack) or charge a premium for it.

Unlimited phone numbers from 22 different countries and unlimited calling to the US and Canada

You use Ringblaze’s unlimited phone number feature to take worldwide calls and answer them right from your browser as if they were made to the same office phone. This feature ultimately reduces the call cost, both for you and for the customer.

Ringblaze also allows for unlimited calling to the US and Canada, allowing it to compete with others that also offer the same unlimited calling feature.

If you use Ringblaze, all your customers, no matter where they are located in the world, can call your company’s toll-free number and get the help they need without having to pay any extra, which isn’t possible with most competitors, including magicJack.

Assign, forward, and record calls

Each call made with Ringblaze can be assigned to someone, which makes it easy to define the responsibilities of everyone in your team, while also not having to worry about whether the customer’s or lead’s message is shared clearly and effortlessly to all stakeholders in the process.

You can also use Ringblaze to effortlessly forward each call to more appropriate employees. Ringblaze can also be set up so that it records all your calls. This is a great way to improve the training of your team and to have the call recordings if the accountability is questioned.

How much does Ringblaze cost?

Ringblaze is more affordable than similar tools on the market. Most other competitors force you to compare different features and prices, then do your own math, and make that though choose between a bunch of different plans, all of which seem like more of the same. 

Ringblaze is available in one simple plan, which can be paid monthly or annually. The monthly plan starts at $19 per user per month, while the annual plan is 20% cheaper, and it costs just $15 per user a month when billed annually.

The Ringblaze plan includes all the features we mentioned, as well as high-definition voice calls, call history for up to 90 days, call recording, a custom voicemail greeting, unlimited minutes to US and Canada, a free US/Canada local number, call forwarding, call transfer, mute and much more.

To give you an even better perspective on the best magicJack alternatives, we also included a brief overview of a couple of other competitors.

OpenPhone

Source: G2

Other than Ringblaze, you can also try out OpenPhone, a cloud-based calling and messaging solution. You can use it for setting up toll-free numbers for inbound and outbound calling via the Internet and sending business text messages. Before you ask – yes, you can keep your existing business phone number and migrate it to the tool for free.

OpenPhone provides a shared address book where you can store all your business phone contact information. It also serves as a platform for viewing customer support and sales conversations from a single location.

See also: OpenPhone alternatives and competitors 

Features

The main OpenPhone features include:

• Multiple, customizable phone numbers (including toll-free numbers) for placing and receiving calls
• Call forwarding, routing and transferring
• Automatic or manual call recording
• Automated messages and replies based on different triggers
• Call summaries and transcripts
• Internal messaging threads where your team members can work on resolving issues

This tool also integrates with Google Contacts, HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack and Zapier.

Pricing plans

OpenPhone has three pricing options and a seven-day free trial:

• Starter: From $15 per user per month
• Business: From $23 per user per month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing plans available on demand

Ooma

Source: Capterra

Ooma is a phone service created for home and business use. It lets you make calls and participate in video conferencing and includes features such as virtual receptionist and call blocking. This magicJack alternative also offers international calling features.

Ooma has quite a satisfactory list of advanced features. However, unlike Ringblaze, it doesn’t let you access all of them for one, set price. If you want the whole set for handling your business communication, the cost is considerably higher. It also lacks a click-to-call option that you could set up on your website to attract more leads.

See also: Ooma vs magicJack or Ooma alternatives

Features

These are the main features that stand out for this VoIP provider:

• Access to a free toll-free number
• Desktop and mobile app for managing calls on the go
• Virtual receptionist
• Ring groups that allow callers to reach whole teams or departments
• Multi-ring (receive calls on multiple devices)
• Caller ID matching
• Automatic spam call blocking
• Video calls, including noise cancellation and screen-sharing features
• Call recording and queuing

It also integrates with CRM systems such as HubSpot, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics.

Pricing plans

Here are the Ooma pricing tiers for the business phone system:

• Essentials: $19.95 per user per month
• Pro: $24.95 per user per month
• Pro Plus: $29.95 per user per month

BasicTalk

Source: BasicTalk website

BasicTalk is a magicJack alternative that offers unlimited calls in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. It’s a basic phone service that allows you to keep your existing phone number or get a new one.

The company provides you with a phone box (as in the picture above) that operates on an internet connection, independent of phone lines. To set it up, you have to connect the device to the internet (via an Ethernet cable) and your phone. However, the only place to get BasicTalk is from second-hand sellers, as the company isn’t taking any new clients at the moment.

See also: BasicTalk review or BasicTalk vs magicJack

Features

This VoIP solution includes the following set of features:

• Caller ID
• The ability to listen to and delete voice messages
• Voice ring count
• Call blocks that help to prevent spam and prank calls
• Do-not-disturb mode
• 411 directory assistance
• Call waiting

Pricing plans

BasicTalk isn’t available for new customers, hence there is no pricing information available on the website. However, for its existing customers who can still use their past plans, the cost is $9.99 per month plus taxes and fees, which are different depending on your state of residence.

Best magicJack alternatives: Comparison table

Platform	Features	Pricing	Best for
magicJack	Auto attendant Virtual fax VoIP business phone service Desktop and mobile app Call forwarding Conference calling	From $43/year	Companies looking for a basic VoIP service
Ringblaze	Shared dashboard Unlimited phone numbers Unlimited calling to the US and Canada Assigning, forwarding and recording calls Click-to-call widget	From $15/user/month	SMEs that want an affordable yet reliable virtual phone system
OpenPhone	Multiple phone numbers Forwarding, routing and transferring Call recording Automated messages Call transcripts	From $15/user/month	Small businesses or startups that want a secondary phone number
Ooma	Toll-free number Call recording and queuing Virtual receptionist Ring groups Multi-ring Caller ID Spam blocking Video calls	From $19.95/user/month	Larger companies with a bigger budget that might need a virtual receptionist
BasicTalk	Caller ID Voice messages Ring count Call blocks Do-not-disturb Call waiting	$9.99 (only for current customers)	Current BasicTalk customers or companies that want a simple VoIP solution

Final thoughts

In this post, we have explained what magicJack is, how does it work and which magicJack alternative should you use.

Today, if you want to grow your business, you need to provide great customer support service. To provide great customer support service, you need a phone service that will back you up and that won’t give you headaches.

While magicJack can be great in some cases, if you want a set-and-forget experience, you should use Ringblaze. 

If some or all features of Ringblaze, which are offered at great prices, caught your eye, make sure you sign up for Ringblaze now and start providing better customer support service in a manner of minutes.

magicJack alternative options: FAQs