I’m still waiting for MagicTalk to show up, and it’s starting to bug me. The MagicJack affiliate program that I was selling MagicJack through shut down in the middle of July, and I just figured it was because they were bringing out MagicTalk, and they were going to put all of their energy and money into that . But, the MagicTalk website still doesn’t work, it just forwards to MagicJack, and I haven’t been able to find anything out about it anywhere, and it’s driving me crazy.
It also looks like Vocaltec, the company that now controls the MagicJack, MagicTalk and Magic Femtocell product lines, is having trouble with their new Femtocell project as well. Vocaltec was looking to create their own product that let cell phones work as a VoIP phone when at home, but the cell phone companies that paid the federal government billions of dollars for those frequencies aren’t willing to let that happen without a fight. And, without an agreement with a cell phone provider to let them use one of their cellular frequencies, they can’t release a viable Femtocell product.
If anyone knows what’s going on with Ymax, Vocaltec, MagicTalk and/or their affiliate programs, post a comment and let us all know.
Telecom Agents News Feed
VocalTec’s CEO said on Aug. 10 that magicTalk would be released “next week.” He said it *three* times (in the Oppenheimer conference). Today is Sep. 11 and nobody’s heard another word.
At the same time, magicJack underwent a backdoor IPO (through the purchase of VocalTec). The new stock was being *massively* pumped and dumped. One has to wonder whether VocalTec’s CEO wasn’t part of that manipulation.
And, at the same time, VocalTec (magicJack) began blocking calls to hundreds of thousands of phone numbers in the US. No explanation, and offering refunds to affected customers. People are complaining to the FCC, FTC elected officials. VocalTec is violating FCC rules against blocking calls to LECs.
VocalTec is blocking rural phone numbers because those local exchanges can charge more. One has to wonder how this factors into all the undelivered hype about “free calls” and “next week” (back on Aug. 10).
Really, how could VocalTec’s CEO not know what was happening just a week before the service was to be released? How could he choose to violate FCC rules? And, worse, create a condition of false advertising? (The product says “call anywhere” but VocalTec is blocking hundreds of thousands of phone numbers.).
MagicJack doesn’t have the greatest reputation for business practices. The past few weeks contribute to the perception.