A packet-based communications system is provided, including: a client communications module for transmitting digital audio signals to a user interface device over a local area network (LAN) and for receiving digital audio signals from the user interface device, a voice packet module, and a network protocol module for transmitting data packets between the voice packet module and an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The voice packet module is configured to: receive audio signals from the client communications module and encapsulate the audio signals into data packets; convert data packets into audio signals and transmit the audio signals to the client communications module. A communications device is provided, including: a microphone; a speaker; a user input device; a network interface for coupling the communications device to a local area network (LAN); an audio processing module comprising an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for converting analog audio signals from the microphone into a digital audio signal and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for converting a digital audio signal into an analog audio signal, said analog signal being output by the speaker; and an endpoint communications module for connecting to a telephony adapter on the LAN via the network interface, said endpoint communications module communicating digital audio signals with the telephony adapter over the LAN.