[MrCo0l]

I have a room that needs to support 3 people with VoIP polycom phones, the catch Is the room only has one LAN wall port I tried attaching a switch to the port but none of the phones come on. Any suggestions?

 

[JimE]

Re: Voip phones

I believe the switch(s) used also have to support VOIP.

I know at my last job, all of the offices with the Cisco VOIP phones we were using used different switches. I seem to recall it's because extra power is needed to power the (VOIP) hardware. The switches have extra power supplies inside for this purpose.

 

[Fjandr]

Re: Voip phones

It's not actually VoIP support need in the switch, but PoE support.

The phones should operate correctly regardless of what switch they're attached to (though certain functions may be dependent on compatible switches for support), but they need to be powered. That requires either an external adapter or a switch capable of providing PoE (power-over-ethernet).

 

[MrCo0l]

The phones are indeed POE but the phone is still not turning on when plugged it.

 

[Fjandr]

Re: Voip phones

Are you sure the PoE output of the switch is sufficient to power the phones? They should have an information label on them which states the required voltage and amperage necessary to operate them.

 

[JimE]

Re: Voip phones

The phones are indeed POE but the phone is still not turning on when plugged it.

The phones are obviously PoE. The switches also need to support PoE.

If the switches support PoE, the phones will power up. Operation will then depend upon the network configuration. As they don't appear to be powering up, the phones are either faulty, the cabling is faulty, or the switches don't support PoE.

 

[MrCo0l]

Re: Voip phones

the switched supports PoE I have one other phone on it already.

 

[Fjandr]

Re: Voip phones

You need to check if the output from the switch is enough to power the other phones. Is the working phone the same model? Have you switched it to other ports to see if there are failed ports on the switch? Have you tried the other phones on the port to which your working phone is attached?

 

[MrCo0l]

Re: Voip phones

Thanks for your help guys i came in after lunch and the stupid thing fell off the desk and started working.

 

[Fjandr]

Re: Voip phones

Heh, sometimes that's what it takes.

Was it only the one phone? Your original post made it sound like you had multiple phones that were failing to power on.

 

[MrCo0l]

Re: Voip phones

I had 3 phones attached to the switch only 1 would power on. They are all working now though. Thanks for the help.