Multi-User Computer: 2 Q's

[Tatoosh]

Q #1:

I have Magic Talk basic installed on my computer. This is the "family use/study" computer and is used by multiple members of the household, each with their own Windows XP account.

I want to leave Magic Talk running and have it ring, regardless of who is on the computer. Is this possible? If the machine is on, no one logged in, will Magic Talk take an incoming call? This machine is normally on 24 hours a day, anyway.

Q #2:

Fax capability. I have a Cannon LiDE 90 scanner attached to the computer, but it does not have FAX software or capabilities. Is there a FAX program I can download to use the scanner as my source and Magic Talk as a fax machine?

Failing that, any recommendations on particular features to look for if I purchase a fax machine for use with Magic Talk (or Magic Jack - if necessary)? I am a US citizen in the Philippines and need to fax the USA once every few months. I have been using an online service to do this, but would prefer to do it without a 3rd party, if possible.

Any info on either Q is much appreciated.

Tatoosh (retired in paradise - sort of

[nailgunner]

Q #1:

I have Magic Talk basic installed on my computer. This is the "family use/study" computer and is used by multiple members of the household, each with their own Windows XP account.

I want to leave Magic Talk running and have it ring, regardless of who is on the computer. Is this possible? If the machine is on, no one logged in, will Magic Talk take an incoming call? This machine is normally on 24 hours a day, anyway.

I believe as long as the computer is on, connected to the internet and not in sleep mode, MJ will work. But I also believe that someone has be logged on for that to happen. I'm sure someone will correct me on that if I'm wrong.

Edit: I played with it a little on Windows 7, which I know is different than XP. But when I logged off, MJ shut down, and only restarted when I logged back on. Should be an easy test on your end. Log off and pick up the phone. On Windows 7, it's dead.

Q #2:

Fax capability. I have a Cannon LiDE 90 scanner attached to the computer, but it does not have FAX software or capabilities. Is there a FAX program I can download to use the scanner as my source and Magic Talk as a fax machine?

Failing that, any recommendations on particular features to look for if I purchase a fax machine for use with Magic Talk (or Magic Jack - if necessary)? I am a US citizen in the Philippines and need to fax the USA once every few months. I have been using an online service to do this, but would prefer to do it without a 3rd party, if possible.

If you do a search in here you will see the near impossibility of getting MJ to work well, if at all, with regards to faxing. My opinion is that if you are only doing a half dozen faxes a year it would be more economical and trustworthy to use the online service.

Any info on either Q is much appreciated.

Tatoosh (retired in paradise - sort of

[has9999]

Q #1:

I have Magic Talk basic installed on my computer. This is the "family use/study" computer and is used by multiple members of the household, each with their own Windows XP account.

I want to leave Magic Talk running and have it ring, regardless of who is on the computer. Is this possible? If the machine is on, no one logged in, will Magic Talk take an incoming call? This machine is normally on 24 hours a day, anyway.

Now IF you are using Magictalk that is a different animal. That
is a softphone only. If you are using the Magicjack dongle that is a
different set of circumstances. Which is it??


Q #2:

Fax capability. I have a Cannon LiDE 90 scanner attached to the computer, but it does not have FAX software or capabilities. Is there a FAX program I can download to use the scanner as my source and Magic Talk as a fax machine?

Failing that, any recommendations on particular features to look for if I purchase a fax machine for use with Magic Talk (or Magic Jack - if necessary)? I am a US citizen in the Philippines and need to fax the USA once every few months. I have been using an online service to do this, but would prefer to do it without a 3rd party, if possible.

(Has9999) I use a Canon MX870 multipurpose machine for faxing almost
daily, works fine with error correction turned off and slowing down
the connection speed. Even with Google voice sometimes as a go
between. So it CAN be done. IF you are running Windows, there is
a faxing program built into the OS, you just have to look for it.
You MUST have a dial-up modem in your machine IF you have
the MJ dongle. If not you will have to use one of the forwarding
services.

If you do a search in here you will see the near impossibility of getting MJ to work well, if at all, with regards to faxing. My opinion is that if you are only doing a half dozen faxes a year it would be more economical and trustworthy to use the online service.

Any info on either Q is much appreciated.

Tatoosh (retired in paradise - sort of

[nailgunner]

Now IF you are using Magictalk that is a different animal. That
is a softphone only. If you are using the Magicjack dongle that is a
different set of circumstances. Which is it??

Damn, it was early in the morning and I totally missed the MagicTalk part of the question. My bad.

My assumption would be that since it does rely on MJ installed software that it would still need to have someone logged on for it to work. But again, seems like a pretty easy test. Log off and have a friend call and see if you can receive a call on the MagicTalk number.

[Tatoosh]

Mea Culpa! My apology for not being more specific on my questions. Q #1 is primarily oriented toward MagicTalk. Q #2 is about either since it deals with a future application.

I have MagicTalk installed on my computer currently. MagicJack is not. But I would buy a MagickJack dongle/software in the USA and have a friend bring it over if necessary. The "always on" question was primarily concerning MagicTalk since that is what I have currently and is primarily software application.

Concerning Q #2, I had done a bit of searching on the FAX aspect here and realized that there were reports of FAXing being problematic for some. There were a couple of fairly technical references cited, which I did not thoroughly explore. Sorry, I was taking a stab at being lazy, hoping that someone had resolved the latency problems with long distance faxing and could offer a simple "buy this software" or "buy that machine". I figured if I bought a fax machine that needed to connect to the computer, I would need to move from MagicTalk to MagicJack so it would have a standard access connection for the FAX machine to connect to.

I saw some interchange of comments that talked about a resistor that was being sold as an aftermarket add on, not sure what it was about or use, but was in the middle a FAX discussion. So I wasn't sure if there were specialized bits that helped solve problems with packet arrival or was about something else completely.

While my FAX requirements are not often, they do involve quite a few pages (20 to 40) each time and contain somewhat sensitive material I prefer not to expose to a 3rd party if I have a funtional alternative that is not too expensive. What I am doing now is fine, not particularly expensive, but does take personal info and put into the hands of people I do not know or that I can check on easily. So far no problem, but I am looking for a somewhat more secure method of transmitting the pages if possible.

I do appreciate the insight you have all shared. I don't really have a way to check if the "incoming" aspect of MagicTalk works across User Accounts on XP at the moment, but if I find another Magic product user in my area I can test with, I will give it a go. That is likely, since I know a few Americans (Kanos, in local parlance) that call the US routinely.

Tatoosh

edited to correct question numbering mistake in this post.

[has9999]

[quote="Tatoosh"]Mea Culpa! My apology for not being more specific on my questions. Q #1 is primarily oriented toward MagicTalk. Q #2 is about either since it deals with a future application.

I have MagicTalk installed on my computer currently. MagicJack is not. But I would buy a MagickJack dongle/software in the USA and have a friend bring it over if necessary. The "always on" question was primarily concerning MagicTalk since that is what I have currently and is primarily software application.

(HAS9999)
Tatoosh: Magictalk is NOT going to be accessible from alternate users,
unless you then restart the program under each user when they are on.
Then and only then can you control and use the magictalk screen.
Bear in mind, this will also cause loss of focus on what you are doing at that moment in time. As it will bring up the pop-ups.
When it is on a different user you "may" hear it ringing, but that is as far as it goes.

Concerning Q #2, I had done a bit of searching on the FAX aspect here and realized that there were reports of FAXing being problematic for some. There were a couple of fairly technical references cited, which I did not thoroughly explore. Sorry, I was taking a stab at being lazy, hoping that someone had resolved the latency problems with long distance faxing and could offer a simple "buy this software" or "buy that machine". I figured if I bought a fax machine that needed to connect to the computer, I would need to move from MagicTalk to MagicJack so it would have a standard access connection for the FAX machine to connect to.

(HAS9999) You will have to have the magicjack to connect a fax machine.
The resistor is ONLY to correct caller ID reception problems!

I saw some interchange of comments that talked about a resistor that was being sold as an aftermarket add on, not sure what it was about or use, but was in the middle a FAX discussion. So I wasn't sure if there were specialized bits that helped solve problems with packet arrival or was about something else completely.

While my FAX requirements are not often, they do involve quite a few pages (20 to 40) each time and contain somewhat sensitive material I prefer not to expose to a 3rd party if I have a funtional alternative that is not too expensive. What I am doing now is fine, not particularly expensive, but does take personal info and put into the hands of people I do not know or that I can check on easily. So far no problem, but I am looking for a somewhat more secure method of transmitting the pages if possible.

(HAS9999) I can only speak to the devices I have and have made function for faxing reliably, I have a HP Officejet 6310v and a Canon MX870, both of these have controls on the Fax sending parameters. I took quite awhile sending from one to the other, both on Magicjacks to get a very reliable set of parameters. What I have set up will not necessarily guarantee any equivalent success for you. Each connection requires individual adjustment to accommodate connection differences.


I do appreciate the insight you have all shared. I don't really have a way to check if the "incoming" aspect of MagicTalk works across User Accounts on XP at the moment, but if I find another Magic product user in my area I can test with, I will give it a go. That is likely, since I know a few Americans (Kanos, in local parlance) that call the US routinely.

Tatoosh

[Tatoosh]

Okay, thank you for illuminating the resistor reference. Since I am fairly budget conscious, it is unlikely I will buy a FAX machine on the off chance I can get it to work. I will continue using an online service.

I am not sure how to resolve the "always on" preference for our MagicTalk account. Part of it is due to the physical layout of my apartment here. It is a modest apartment, but 3 stories tall. The always on, family use computer is on the second floor, near the bedrooms. Calls from the USA often come in the night here since we are almost half way around the world.

And even if one of us is logged in, the Windows XP setup logs us out after so many minutes of inactivity. I will have to test it out when I have a chance to use a friends computer that has Magic Jack connected and someone at home to log in and out of the various accounts so we can test it.

I may well go for a Magic Jack dongle, install it on a "always on" computer and limit that computer to one account. Then a wireless phone that could be parked where it is most useful would be an more expensive but adequate solution to my dilemma.

So far, with somewhat limited use, I have been very impressed with Magic Talk and being able to call the USA from my computer. Given the many dollars I've wasted on "load cards" for my cell phone here in the Philippines, this is a vast improvement, both in voice quality and in cost.

Tatoosh

[Diggs]

If you want MagicJack to work across user accounts then you should look at running MJ as a service.

[has9999]

If you want MagicJack to work across user accounts then you should look at running MJ as a service.

{HAS9999} Tatoosh:
I have found that you can start Magictalk with any user that is logged on.
Just search in your document files and you can add the shortcut on any
user that you wish. Then if a call comes in, you can answer the ring!
You can set the computer not to sleep by clicking the properties on a desktop, then enter the screen saver menu select no screen saver, select power properties and then set to never shut down screen and never shutdown drive.
You will always be online and get your calls.
Harold