* Cisco introduces LAN switches oriented towards VoIP
Cisco this week introduced a range of additions to its Catalyst line of switches, and many of the new products reflect a distinct slant towards VoIP.
My colleague Jim Duffy covered many of the details of the announcement in his online article, so I won’t repeat them here: https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/1130ciscolan.html?nll
But what really struck me how much the announcement shows Cisco’s confidence in VoIP. Many of the new switch models have power-over-Ethernet capabilities built in. For example, there are two models of the Catalyst 3560, one with 48 and the other with 24 ports of Gigabit Ethernet, and power can be delivered on those ports.
At the high end you have a module for the Catalyst 6500 with 96 ports of 10/100M bit/sec Ethernet, and that can also support power over Ethernet.
Power over Ethernet is a necessary component for IP telephony, as most users would rather have just one cable running to their phones, delivering both power and signal – just like traditional phones. The technology could also be used to support wireless LAN access points and surveillance video cameras that could also benefit from having just one cable running to them. But voice is the primary use.
The announcement included what Cisco calls the “industry’s first” Gigabit Ethernet-enabled phone, available now for $845. Could someone please explain this one to me? If traditional voice communications were handled adequately by 64K bit/sec, wouldn’t 10M bit/sec be overkill enough? Why enable communications at 100 times that? For really, really fast talkers?
