cordless phones, or phones with colour screens). The 7960 is similar but with support for more lines and there are other models available (e.g. I found that the 7940 is a good model to go for as it has been around for a while, there is plenty of information available, and it can be picked up for a reasonably low price (and it helped to know that one of my colleagues already had this solution working well for him!).
Using a Cisco phone does cause a couple of problems though: Why a Cisco phone? Partly because we use them at work (so I know they are good phones – and I like the form factor – although I wish it had a backlit screen) but mostly because there are so many of them about – that means that plenty of people have tried to do this and there is information available on the web. I managed to pick up a brand new 7940G for £50 on eBay (a bargain) and this was perfect for me. It was a long haul, but worth it in the end – and this is how it’s done…įirst of all I needed an IP Phone.
In truth, it’s probably not about getting the best rates as our phone bill is already pretty small – maybe it’s just because the geek inside me wants to get an IP phone working on my desk… anyway, I still have a few pieces of the puzzle to fit in place but last week I had a major breakthrough in getting a Cisco IP phone to provide a voice over IP (VoIP) service using SIP. One of my projects at home has involved trying to get a variety of telephony systems to work together so that I can make voice over IP (VoIP) or plain old telephone service (POTS) as necessary to get the best call rates. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.
I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time.