Toshiba Phone System

How can I connect 2 PC's to a CISCO IP phone?

I am on a corporate network. We used to plug a CISCO IP phone (7911) to the wall, then connect a the PC to the phone. Everything worked fine, but then I got a laptop and i want to connect it to the system. So, I bought a switch, connected it to the cable coming out of the phone and attached the PC and the laptop to it. Only one of the devices (the PC or the laptop) connects, the other one doesn't. I tried different topologies, i even connected the switch to the wall and then connected the 3 other devices to it (PC, Laptop, and Phone) but then the phone did not connect. Is there something i am missing?

Public Comments

1. This is difficult to answer without seeing the two switch configurations. It is possible that there have been some features like Port Security turned on or something similar enabled. It seems like a rare request to have two computers at a desk at the same time, but typically when I have seen this need people plug the workgroup switch into the wall jack, and the phone/pc/laptop (in your case) to that. The phone/PC will likely be on different VLAN's so you need to ensure that the two switches are configured appropriately for such communication.