Question : What switch should I get for a T1/VoIP System?

Hello all.

We are moving into a new office soon and we will be getting our own T1 circuit and VoIP provided by the ISP (Speakeasy).

They are providing the T1 router (Netopia) and VoIP Gateway (an EdgeMarc) which handles all the QoS.

We are getting Cisco 7940 and 7960 phones (20 of em), and I am planning to daisy chain the computers to the Cisco Phone and connect 2 network printers.  So overall, 22 Ethernet ports will be needed.  

I am also interested in making 2 VLANs, one for Voice and one for Data.

Do you think I should invest in a Catalyst switch?  Or are they any other switches that will be compatible with the Cisco phones?

Thanks!

Answer : What switch should I get for a T1/VoIP System?

It depends on the particular model of Cisco phone. The latter ones are 802.3af compliant and should work with any POE switch. The older ones use cisco's propietry protocol and have the polarity reversed. There are a couple options to use these with non cisco equipment :-

1) Use a Powerdsine POE hub (sits between a switch and the device to add power to the line) which is CDP compatible together with a special patch cable (with the polarity reversed)
2) Use a dumb POE adapter which supplies power all the time regardless with a modified cable to reverse the polarity.

Sorry the 7940 and 7960 phones are the old type so the d-link is not suitable (7941 and 7961 are the new ones). If the cisco is too expensive for you then get a standard switch with QOS and VLAN support (no POE) and add a Powerdsine device infront (http://www.powerdsine.com/Products/Midspan/PD_6000.asp) together with some adapter cables (http://www.powerdsine.com/Products/SelectionGuide.asp)