No, not magicjack ... mind you my understanding is that newer versions of these don't need a computer at all. They just plug into a 'net connection.

I should have been more clear. Right now I use google chat to make some of my long distance calls. It's free and works pretty well. Just dial out via my gmail interface. I have one of those $10 skype phones plugged into the computer, which linux sees as a usb soundcard.

No, I can't receive calls via the google interface. And that's fine. Still have my regular land line. And probably will for some time since none of the VOIP providers seem to have phone numbers in my area and I don't want to impose long distance on my local callers.

I have an extra cordless phone which works just fine on POTS. But, it's not being used so I though I could use it instead of the $10 skype phone by plugging it into the computer ... and that is the magic box I want :)

Thanks.

On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 7:39 PM, Brett McCoy <idragosani@gmail.com> wrote:

On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 10:05 PM, Bob van der Poel <bob@mellowood.ca> wrote:

> I currently have a "skype" phone connected to USB which works just fine to
> make calls. Only problem is that the cord is short :) and the quality is not
> the greatest.
>
> So, can I connect a regular POTS phone via a USB thing? What are they called
> and do they work with Linux? I assume that the skype phone just acts like a
> soundcard ... same with what I want?

I think you're thinking of MagicJack? They don't work on Linux, sadly.

--
Brett W. McCoy -- http://www.brettwmccoy.com
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