• Can I use my existing network cabling for my phones?

Yes. If your business isn't pushing your network to the limits because of large file transfers, heavy printing,  or Internet downloads/uploads, you may be just fine. Using a separate LAN for your VoIP traffic is always an option and sometimes needed. If you're installing a new LAN yourself, you probably know that there's usually spare pairs of wires in your network cable that could be used for a second connection just for your phones.

If you already have older phone system wiring and want to use that wiring for your VoIP traffic you may be OK as long as the cabling is Cat 3 or Cat 5. You will have to change the connectors from the typical RJ11 to RJ45s.

• What VoIP phones should I use?

There are many brands of off the shelf SIP phones that will work. We like Linksys/Cisco and 3Com but also work with Aastra, Grandstream and others.

• Can I have use the same phone lines that come from my telephone company to get calls?

Yes. With the Cheetah 1000 series you can have up to 8 analog phone lines from your telephone company. With the Cheetah 2000 and higher, you can use either  analog or T1 trunks.

• Can I make free long distance phone calls with your PBX?

No. Nothing is free. But it really depends on the service agreement with your telephone service provider. Some service providers offer free long distance when you buy a service package so while it's called "free", the cost is just buried in the overall agreement.

• Do I need new network equipment for a VoIP system?

Maybe. Again this depends on how old your equipment is and whether it was the cheapest you could buy or a better brand/model. If you want to have all your data and voice traffic routed through a single network then your network switches, routers, firewalls, etc. need to honor priority of service routing. That means they need to recognize real-time traffic, like voice, and give it a higher priority than regular data. If your equipment does not give voice a higher priority you may experience gaps in what you hear and sometimes detect pops or other side effects of missing pieces of audio data.