Splitting a CAT5 cable into 4 phone lines

I'm expanding the phone/data network at my church and have two CAT5 wires ran from my network closet to some new offices. One cable will go into a switch and then out to all the computers; that part is easy. But I'm wondering if there's a way that I can do something similar for the phones.

There are 8 wires inside a CAT5 cable, and a phone only needs to use 2, right? So, theoretically I can just use 2 wires for each line and have 4 phone lines, right? Each pair will be punched into a patch panel that runs into our PBX on one end, and then into another patch panel in the new area, with cat2 phone cables going to the phones from there.

Does it matter which colors are used, as long as they match on both ends? Each pair should be punched into slots 4 and 5 on the panels, right?

Is there anything I'm missing or need to consider?

Thanks,
Ian

 

Sounds like you have the right idea, Ian. PBX systems are a little different, in that the wiring on the punch block can be different - just make sure you know which terminals are the CO lines and which are the extensions.

You may want to take a look at http://phonewiring.safewatchservice.com for how to use Cat5 for phones.

And, yes, for the most part, as long as you use the same color on both ends of the line, the color is really insignificant (but, there are some standards that are used - see the site for more info on that.)

Good luck!

 

Be careful, ordinary phones use two wires. However, some phone systems need four wires.

 

We cat5 for the phone line in our office. Blue/white is first phone. Org/white is the second phone usually the analog line for a modem.