Internet Telephony Devices

Our Company works with industry standard SIP protocol IP phones. There are three types: hard, soft and firm. Below is a brief description of each as well as example of phones that Our Company has tested and found to work with our system. Since our company does not dictate what type of IP phones that you can use with our system, there are quite a few variations in configuration and setup procedures. If the phone you wish to use is not listed here, let us know as we would like to include it.

Hard phones are physical pieces of hardware that plug into your network typically through an ethernet connection. They are the best type to use as they have no dependency on a computer. This means that they will work whether your computer is turned off or does not exist at all. Also, it is very nice to use a regular handset style phone instead of a microphone and computer speakers. One potential disadvantage is that your home network needs to have an unused ethernet port in which to plug the phone in. Cisco ATA 186/188 Sipura SPA-2000 Sipura SPA-3000 Grandstream HandyTone 286 Grandstream HandyTone 486 Grandstream BudgeTone 101 Grandstream BudgeTone 102 Linksys PAP2-NA Linksys RT31P2 Linksys WRT54GP2-NA

Soft phones are simply a piece of software that is loaded onto your computer and uses the computer's soundcard as a user interface. Most people start with a soft phone because of their low price (typically free) and availability (easily downloadable). The down side is that you do need a computer and it is often more difficult to use a microphone/headset than a traditional handset. Xten X-Lite / X-Pro EyeP Media, SJ Labs - SJPhone

Firm phones are a combination of a soft and hard phone. They are handsets that plug into your computer which utilize intelligent drivers running on the computer to communicate with the network. They are a good compromise, both inexpensive and the ease of use with a handset. Most of these phones use a simple USB connection to interface to the computer. The down side is that they do need software drivers and a computer to work. USB Phone