Basics of VoIP Phone
VoIP phones or IP phones use VoIP technologies to allow telephone calls to be made over an IP network such as the Internet instead of the ordinary PSTN (public switched telephone network). The RJ-45 connector on an IP phone is an Ethernet port used to connect the phone to your network, through which the IP phone can communicate with any other IP-based device on the network. Today’s high-end, state-of-the-art phones often have two ports, one to connect to the switch and the other connects to a co-located PC. If the co-located PCs on the network require Gigabit speed, then of course a Gigabit switch is required. When considering VoIP phone options, you’ll notice that they vary in Ethernet speeds and support for PoE, which makes placement far more convenient. Therefore, a PoE managed Ethernet switch is required to connect to VoIP phones. These managed Ethernet VoIP PoE switches for VoIP phones are available with 8, 16, 24 or 48 ports, among which the 24-port PoE switch is the most prevalent and affordable on the market.