I've used, and sold (quite a few!!) Magic Jacks and Google Voice has ALWAYS worked better for me. And this has been my experience while being on the phone in a paid sales position in California for one whole year using both systems while using a good internet connection! The same goes for using both in the Philippines. One problem though.... you can't download the program for Google Voice from the Philippines....until now! I got around this before by installing it on my laptop in the U.S. and bringing my laptop with me to the Philippines. This method worked great! I tried installing it on a USB stick previously too, but that method did not work. Once installed Google Voice works flawlessly. The key is to have decent internet that is consistent. Sorry, but Smart Bro and Globe USB plug-in sticks don't fit that definition. If you want to go that route fine, but be prepared for poor phone connections and quality, if it works at all. A hard wired internet connection is THE way to go. This was posted on another Philippine forum. It shows how to install Google Voice step by step and gets around the being-in-the-Philippines-and-can't-download-Google Voice-problem. Just follow all the steps. There is more than one ip hiding program that you can use, and I already have a free one, (the free version of Hot Spot Shield) but the one the guy in the link suggests will work just as well too. It is 100% free with no ads, and no bandwidth restrictions. More info about SpotFlux is here Free Communication Calls USA - Tim Potter Philippines Via Sugar Land TX With Google Voice you do not need to buy a phone, unlike with Magic Jack. With Google Voice I would recommend a decent pair of headphones w/ a noise cancelling mic (preferably). Google Voice has messaging capability which works very well. When the party leaves a message you get an email from Google Voice with a voice file where you can listen to the message from the email! This saves time if you don't need to or want to return a call. It has other cool features too. This sounds like a sales pitch, but it's not! No one makes any money from Google Voice (as of yet!) or any of the other programs you need for the install. Hopefully this helps anyone who wants or needs to make calls to the U.S.!
