As families add computer modems, fax machines and children to their lives, they quickly grow to need more phone lines. Multi-line phone systems can reduce the number of lines needed by supporting several extensions on a few phone lines. So each person and appliance can have an extension without having to separate 16 lines from the phone company, for example. Added features like intercoms, paging, auto attendant, voicemail and caller ID add power and flexibility to a phone system. Intercom Intercoms have been available for many years as stand-alone systems.
Some systems use the telephone as both a paging and intercom system.
Pages are then answered by picking up any phone in the house. Electronic information for work or entertainment can be accessed from anywhere in the home and an integrated communications system can be used to monitor and control various aspects of the home from any location. Many theorize that access to home control and electronic information from several places within a home will become as common as multi-room access to electricity is now.