VoIP Phones + Router via One Switch?

[Cipher Pipe]

Good day to all,

Sporadic lurker here who has been rescued many a time by the excellent advice in this forum. I was therefore wondering if someone could answer a basic question I cannot seem to find the answer to.

Basically, I have inadvertently become the office 'tech guy' and, as our office is expanding, so are our numbers.

We currently have some VoIP phones and computers connected to the building's system. The phones are connected via a switch that connects to the 'building' whilst the computers connect to a router that connects to the 'building' through a different port.

The router only has 5 ports and we need at least 3-4 more. So: is it possible to get a 24-port router (e.g. something like this) and link the phone line, phones, router and computers through that one super-switch or should I just get a separate 8-port switch to link with the router and leave the phones as they are?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Emerald]

I would get a separate switch and leave the phone system alone especially if the phone use a POE switch.

 

[bill001g]

Although it is a advanced configuration it is common to share the connection to the network. You plug the PC into the phone and the phone into the wall that goes to the switch. In most cases you run the phone and the PC on a different vlan and the phone takes care of doing that. You can run them on the same vlan.

Most phones also have the ability to perfer its voice traffic over the PC traffic.

This design is common to save wiring and switch port costs.