Aux Port on Cisco IP Phone 794x

[Matthew Martin]

Hello All,

I was recently asked a question regarding the aux port on the back of a Cisco 7941 and/or 7961 IP Phone, that I've never really thought about before...

Is it possible to use that aux port for anything other than as another way of connecting the device to the network?

I was asked if it's possble to connect say, a fax machine, to the aux port?

If not, is there a way other then the aux port where a fax machine and the phone could share a connection, for example?

Any thoughts would be great!

Thanks in Advance,

Matt

[will.alvord]

I believe that the aux port is only officially used for connecting side cars.  Unofficially, iirc that's what the security researches who discovered the 'thingpwner' hack used to interface to the phone.  So no, no way to daisy chain a fax machine, although you might be able to daisy chain an ATA to the phone and hang the fax machine off that.  It's theoretically possible anyways, but I've never seen it done.

Assuming that by 'share a connection', you meant share a single access port.  If you mean share a number, then look into the fax detection tcl script.

[paolo bevilacqua]

will.alvord wrote:
I believe that the aux port is only officially used for connecting side cars.  

Some company has developed a way to connect a card reader, or similar POS devices.

[Gordon Ross · Accepted solution]

The AUX port is a digital serial interface for sidecars, etc., so can't be used for connecting an analogue device.

If you use an ATA (or similar analogue gateway) you can give the gateway the same DN as the 794x, so the devices share the number. But you can't parallel a fax machine directly off a 794x.

GTG

[Matthew Martin]

Hey Will, Paolo and Gordon, thanks for your replies!

Ok thanks, that's kinda what I figured after reasearching the topic a bit...

If I can't its not a big deal. My boss had asked me if he could connect a fax machine to the "aux port" on his 7941G IP Phone (I think that's his model #), so I kinda felt obligated to look into it a little bit for him even though I figured that would be the response...

So what exectly is the "aux port" for..? I know you said "sidecar" type modules I believe, but what kind of things could that include? i.e. could you give me an example or 2 of something someone might use that port for? Now I'm kinda curious how it can be used. Most of our phones are 7941s, 7941Gs and 7961s.

Thanks again for you quick responses!

Thanks in Advance,

Matt

[Gordon Ross]

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/ps9749/index.html

GTG

[Matthew Martin]

Hey Gordon, thanks for the reply!

Sorry, not sure why, but when I click on the link you posted I get the "Forbidden File or Application" message...

Thanks Again,

Matt

[paolo bevilacqua]

Remove /partner from URL.

[Matthew Martin]

Got it, thanks Paolo!

Thanks Again,

Matt