Guys that use MagicJack at Brown just plug in with the hotel phone. Don't you have phones in your hotel rooms ?

I have the MagicJack at home and use Skype on the road. Both work great when you have a good internet connection.

As others have said, Skype with video works great. It's free, computer to computer, or you can use "Skype out" to call back to the US for about 2 cents a minute. If you call mobile phones in Europe, it's about 26 cents a minute. It's also good to have a mobile phone for any problems that pop up, or so you can be reached from home in an emergency. You will need a GSM phone (one that uses a sim card). Get an unlocked one, or one that can be unlocked, and you can get a sim card for whatever country you need. You can also get a roaming sim card thats good for about 150 countries around the world. I use a Passport sim card. You can checkout that one or others at Telestial.com. Go to each sim card on there and it will show the rates for all the countries. They also sell phones and have some great articles. Click on "Getting Started" on the left side of their home page, and it brings up a great 6-part article with everything you need to know. One other thing that I do: ( I assume it's like Magicjack) You can get a "Skype In" phone number for your computer. The only problem with that (or Magicjack) is that you have to have your computer on, and be online. To solve that problem I got a "Skype In" number for my home computer, and set it up to forward incoming calls to my Europe cell phone. That way my wife can reach me on Skype if I'm in the hotel room, or if not, she can call the local number for my home computer and it forwards it to my Europe cell phone.
Incoming calls are free on Europe mobile phones, so the only cost is the 26 cents a minute for the Skype call to my Europe cell phone. If I call home
using that sim card, it's a 25 cent connect fee and 49 cents a minute. If I use my AT&T phone it's $1.49 a minute, or $.99 a minute if you sign up for their international plan ( about $5 a month, if I remember right). I'm sure there are many other options too. Have fun!

I use Magicjack as well. Use the phone in the room myself. Leave one phone plugged in for local calls, and the other is my personal phone hooked up via internet like Skype.

Call from around the world to US no problem.

If someone calls your magicjack phone number and your computer is not connected, the VM will be sent to your email as a .wav file. I just listen to my messages like regular VM when I get to the next destination.
Never used Skype because Magicjack is a flat annual fee. I did the 5 year plan for $60. ($12 annual fee which keeps your phone number active)

Magicjack charges like 2-5 cents a minute when calling from the US to overseas numbers/or phone numbers locally in country since it sees your number as a US number.


As you can see, lots of good options that will suit your needs.

Another option if you have an I Phone is to use the Skype app or use the Vonage app. I use Vonage and its free, they give you a dollar credit and I use a wi fi signal overseas and call home and it does not cost anything. Ex. In Seoul I walk down the hill from the hotel and borrow someones wifi and then make a call through the Vonage app and so far I still have the dollar credit that they give you. My I Phone is jail broken and unlocked so I dont know if that makes a difference on it being free. Check it out, Hope that helps.

Skype rocks. Just remember to clean up your room before using the live video function.

I use Google Voice - land line to land line for 2 cents per minute.

How does it rate vs skype as far as quality?

If you sign for a year of Skype calls to the US and Canada I think it is about 3 bucks a month for unlimited calls to land and cell phone. Computer-computer is free. Also you get voice mail and you can tell Skype to send you phone number to the phone you are calling so people know who it is when you sign up for a long term thing.

GOOGLE VOICE
-falang

I use the handset in the hotel room, the person I call uses a cell phone or home phone. Quality is excellent.