It's a little tough finding a USB Vo-IP phone that not only 'Just Works' on Apple Mac OS X - but _fully and properly_ works as well. Unfortunately there's alot of phones out there - but very very few have the critical Mac drivers that are reliable and kept current with new OSX software releases..

In an ideal world - at the very least - USB IP phones should register with your Mac in System Preferences as a selectable USB audio device: The handset earpiece set to USB SOUND OUTPUT device, the mouthpiece the USB MICROPHONE input. And USB phones should do that - just as with a USB headphone headset.

But what may be missing are Mac OSX drivers that 'hook' into the phones hardware capabilities to say, launch Skype Yahoo Messenger 3 or a SIP softphone application directly from the phone itself. Or that would recognize the dial-pad and other on-hook, hang-up buttons that many phones have. Or that would enable the LCD display to show you addresses or call status.

Fortunately - at least for Mac Skype - they're big and popular enough that some companies tap into the OSX software hooks that Skype provided so that both the Phone and Skype's software are in agreement on how to initiate, manage and terminate a call. The Ipevo USB handset for Skype - or the model with an LCD display shown below are good examples of the few Mac friendly Skype solutions that work like you'd expect it to.

Ipevo Free.2 Phone

LCD Display For Mac 10.4+

Tags: USR Mac VOIP Phone, ipevo skype phone for Mac, mac USB phone

Don't underestimate the MAGIC-JACK(tm) (for INTEL Macs only) - It's perhaps one of the easiest and most affordable Mac VoIP solutions out there. The MagicJack VOIP USB to Phone Dongle appeal is in it's simplicity: Just plug it into your Mac's USB 2.0 port, connect a regular telephone, register your device to get assigned a dedicated phone number - and start making and receiving calls. Interestingly, the MagicJack mounts on your Mac desktop like a USB thumb drive to run the setup and configuration.

If your computer is off, calls simply roll over to the included voice mail feature. After the inital purchase of the device at less than $50 with its free year of USA region calls -- you simply pay a flat-rate $19.95 annually thereafter for continued free calling throughout the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. Low International calling VO-IP rate credits are available too. Overall the Magic-Jack is one of the least 'fiddly' VoIP solutions ideal for people who want a simple, non-geeky telephony solution that uses just a a regular telephone.


Magic-Jack Phone Interface

Win-XP-Vista-Mac Compatible

Tags: magicjack, mac magicjack, apple magic jack