You do need phones of some type, but now most phones that are coming out are these ip phones, (cisco or whatever), which run through ethernet ports, not phone jacks. So you'll probably need ethernet hard wires as opposed to old phone wires.

We also have emergency dedicated phones (pick up and dial 911 automatically) outside of our labs - 4 on the entire floor. Those may be the old analogue systems, I'm not sure (but I do check them once a year to make sure they are still operational). Again, those are also hard wired.

Hope that helps

Dave



> On Mar 3, 2015, at 4:04 PM, Smallbrock, Margaret A. <Margaret.Smallbrock**At_Symbol_Here**SDSMT.EDU> wrote:
>
> Greetings,
>
> We are designing lab space and have run into the question of a hard wired phone? How many out there are still doing this? Would you recommend it? Suggestions and ideas are welcome.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Margaret Smallbrock
> Campus Environmental Health and Safety Manager
> South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
> 501 East St. Joseph Street
> Rapid City, SD 57701-3995