Jaxtr Tips and Ideas

A few weeks ago we decided to clear out the labs as we got ready to test Magic Jack - or technically magicJack - which is a USB to telephone jack interface. Besides, we had 37 Telxon toughbooks on the benches and the project is almost complete. We were installing operating systems and testing the Telxons before making them available to the public.

magicJack claims to offer unlimited telephone calls for only $19.95 a year. We purchased one magicJack for $39.95, which includes the first year of phone service, and plugged it in to the USB port on a Windows XP machine. Within two minutes we had a Sedalia Missouri phone number (area code 660, with a 530 telephone number) and made our first test call. Everything was good, including clarity, call volume, and listening volume. We called cell phones, a New York City Internet phone number in the 646 area code, and local land lines. magicJack seemed to function well.

Then we changed our Jaxtr settings to ring to the magicJack. Prior to that, Jaxtr forwarded calls to our switchboard provided by RingCentral. We connected magicJack to a cordless speakerphone operating at 2.4 MHz. We received the Jaxtr confirmation call, entered the confirmation code, and we were ready. So far everything worked as expected. Now we need a Jaxtr caller.

We used a cell phone to call the Jaxtr number, which rang right away on the magicJack. The conversation was clear from magicJack to Jaxtr, but choppy from the cell phone, via Jaxtr, to magicJack. (inbound was choppy, while outbound was good.) More testing is needed. Next, we called from our New York City voip line to Jaxtr, which then went to magicJack and the phone rang promptly. Again we had a choppy connection from the voip phone, via Jaxtr, to magicJack. (Again, inbound was choppy, while outbound was good.) Audio from magicJack to the voip phone, and from magicJack to the cell phone were both clear with no choppiness. (We refer to that as outbound.) Now we must determine where the problem is. I do not think Jaxtr is the problem, since Jaxtr always connected perfectly through Ring Central.

We moved magicJack to a Windows Vista computer. It is important to note that as soon as we plugged in magicJack the device was recognized. Software was downloaded immediately. The device knew the phone number and email address associated with it so we think that information is written to the device.

We dialed from the cell phone to Jaxtr, which rang on magicJack at the Vista computer. Again we had choppy voice from the cell phone to Jaxtr and on to magicJack, but from magicJack outbound to Jaxtr and and beyond was clear and not choppy at all. For this test we replaced the cordless speakerphone with a regular line powered old-school telephone.

Thus we ruled out Windows Vista, Windows XP, and the cordless 2.4 MHz phone.

We needed one more inbound Jaxtr voice test, so we removed our cell phone from the Jaxtr authorized telephone number list. We called to re-authorize the phone, and we were ready to enter the code shown in our browser. What we really wanted to hear was the Jaxtr synthetic voice. It was clear, not choppy. In fact it was a perfect call. However, the call went to our cell phone, not the magicJack phone number.

Another test would tell us a little more. We removed the magicJack telephone number as an authorized number, and re-authorized just as we did in the test directly above. This time, when we heard the Jaxtr voice, it was choppy. There is something between Jaxtr and the input to magicJack’s system (inbound to us) that creates the problem. As I said earlier, if we speak from magicJack outbound via Jaxtr that person’s voice is clear and not choppy at all.

We decided to try other “magicJack-specific ideas” that we were curious about. Some of the tests were interesting. For instance magicJack says it it to be used with Vista or XP, and Apple/Mac. We plugged it in to a Windows 2000 Pro server. The machine was terribly confused. Part of the issue seemed to do with autoplay on plug-in. The machine locked up four times so we decided to move on to other ideas.

This is part 1 in our series. We will continue to experiment, learn, and analyze this interesting mashup. Tomorrow is another day, and we will write more as we go along.

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• Jaxtr and MagicJack testing begins in Missouri - Part 2
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• Jaxtr and MagicJack testing begins in Missouri - Part 3
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