I was recently talking to my housemates about rigging up an intercom system. Then someone brought it to my attention that we have a perfectly good phone line already running throughout both floors of the house. We don't have land-line phones...we all have cell phones. Would it be hard to buy a couple of phones with intercoms or at least have extensions we could dial to reach each phone? It would be awesome to have a little local phone network in the house. That way we wouldn't have to call each others cell phones all the time. And no, walking up and down stairs is not an option (you have to go outside....its like 15 degrees out right now! ). Has anyone ever done anything like this before or even know what is required to rig it up?

Me and my brother had these intercoms that worked through the plugs. I don't ever remember not having them, and we can't find them anywhere, but havn't tried reccently.

There are a few ways to do this.

1. If you both have computers, you can use Windows Live Messenger or even the preferred voice communication software, Skype. Any instant messenger of VoIP will do. Just initiate a voice chat and make sure you have microphone and speakers.

2. GMRS/FRS radios (also known as 2-Way Radios or walkie-talkies). These are efficient, cheap and don't require a license to use. They have a distance of up to 14 km, the common one is 5 km.

3. Dual numbers on the telephone. You can call each other on the landline phone.

Hope this works out good. Good luck.

any type of computer based network chat or online messenger client would work (assuming that you have computers and an internet connection).

i know of some kit intercom projects that you can build yourself (they are pretty easy) and all you need to hook them together is two copper wires! a very easy and cheap solution for your cause

good luck
-jimmy

All very good ideas. Using the computers was my first thought. Unfortunately all of our computers are in our bedrooms and only the upstairs is currently hooked up to the internet. We've been meaning to install a wireless network anyway so that will most likely be the route I take. The intercom kit might also be a good idea. We all thought the best option would be the phone line though because there are jacks in both kitchens (within earshot from the living rooms) and it wouldn't require any tedious wiring. It is in fact a very old building with non-standard features so snaking copper wires between floors may prove to be difficult.

All you need is a set of cordless phones.