[Asterisk-Users] Systems Admin; Telecom Newbie - What do I need?

[Ed Pastore]

Thanks for all the great help! I finally feel a little grounded when  
thinking about this stuff... at least enough to put a ballpark figure  
on my budget, anyway.

But as I think about it a little more, one huge question appears to  
me... do I need to massively expand my network?

I had suggested that I would like to use soft phones on my Macs, and  
several people here (and elsewhere) have mentioned that that  
technology isn't really ready for primetime... not for serious  
business applications anyway.

But currently, I only have one ethernet jack per office. Routing  
another 60 or so ports would add a very substantial expense in both  
cabling and backbone expansion (what category ethernet is required,  
BTW?).

My ComDial routes over what appears to be 4-wire phone wire RJ- 
whatever... 11? 45? I get those confused. Anyway, are those wires  
acceptable? What do you folks do in a situation like mine?

And is there any chance in hell I could use my ComDial DigiTech 7700  
phones with Asterisk? I assume that's right out, but might as well  
ask....