Phone switching

[bunion]

Hi, got a situation in where we have 2 desks with 2 phones and would like the 2 phones to share the same RJ45 connection.

The phones are Ericsson dialog 3212 and they connect via RJ45 jacks.

I have used a network cable splitter on one end to get both phones on, (id expect them to ring at the same time and one to not function properly if the other was in use). This did not work either because of a power issue or because this is theoretically impossible anyway since you need a pair of splitters to split a network connection - not sure.


I have put a network switch in place to split it - this did not work either.

We don't want to change phones to wireless handsets as a solution since their are other handsets in the room and we use standard system for transferring calls.

I guess actually the best way to sum this up is with a diagram.



Thought about something like this:


But both of us obviously need to physically control the switch easily, is there a solution involving 2 of these devices so we could both just press a button to make our phone "live". We are in managed offices so anything in the server room is out of our control.

 

[Brian_tii]

Those are proprietary / non-VOIP phones. If you want them both to work you really just need to have another physical line installed from the phone system. Your only other option is that physical switch, but IMHO if you're going to do that then you might as well just pull the cable out of one and install it in another.

 

[bunion]

Thanks for the reply. I cant see any way to combine 2 switches so both of us can activate our phones from different locations. Is there?

Just shooting in the dark now - Is their any crazy way to have the wireless router distribute the line with some software on 2 computers?

 

[sturm]

Do the phones have normal RJ11 type plugs and wires? The RJ11 phone cords will plug into RJ45 jacks. The will only use the middle 4 wires though. If you want to run two phones off one RJ45 jack then you need to connect them to a dual phone line adapter which would then plug into the RJ45 jack. Don't use a splitter as this wont work.
On the other end where the main phone system is you should be able to wire the 2nd line into the same connection.
We have a Tadiran digital phone system where I work and I have done this many times. The phones use RJ11 cords to the wall plate RJ45 jack which is connected to normal Cat5 or 6 network cable. These wires eventually run back to the phone room where I connect the 2 wires to a 110 punch down block. 1 line on the blue connection and the 2nd line on the orange connection.

 

[Brian_tii]

Great idea sturm, very very good idea. I like it.

 

[bunion]

Hi thanks for the suggestion, but i'm not trying to wire 2 lines down 1 cable, i'm trying to get 2 phones to share the same line in an alternating way. We also don't have access to the room where these connections come from.

 

[Brian_tii]

You're out of options then.

 

[bunion]

Damn. Would about tearing a cable open and wiring another cable to it work? I know this would not provide a solution, but if I was to make some custom switch it would involve this.

 

[sturm]

The signal has to come from the head end. If you do not have access to it then there is no way to change it.
You need to contact your building manager and have them get somebody to wire in the second phone. If you keep messing with it you're probably going to fry something, either the phone(s) or the head-end component on the phone system and you'll pay for the repairs.