Home communications and control system

A service circuit for a local telephone line in a building wired with quad telephone conductors, including a tip and ring lead pair continuous with a subscriber's line connected to a remote switching machine and a service lead pair, comprising:

• (a) a control unit for connection to the local telephone line, and
• (b) a plurality of special service circuits, each including at least a first amplifier, a speaker connected to its output, a second amplifier, a microphone connected to its input, means for connecting a local telephone to the local telephone line, normally to the service lead pair, but switchable to the tip and ring lead pair, and means for generating request for service signals,
• (c) the control unit including means for receiving said request for service signals from one special service circuit and in response for enabling the second amplifier of one special service circuit and the first amplifier of another special service circuit whereby sounds received by the microphone of the one special service circuit are carried by the service lead pair and amplified and reproduced by the speaker of the other special service circuit.

A service circuit for a local telephone line in a building wired with quad telephone conductors, including a tip and ring pair continuous with a subscriber's line connected to a remote switching machine, and a local service lead pair, comprising:

• (a) a first special service circuit connected to the quad telephone conductors to which one or more local telephones are connected, for providing a signal path between said tip and ring pair and said local service lead pair,
• (b) means including a loudspeaker connected to the first special service circuit, for reproducing a message spoken into a microphone of one of said local telephones and carried by said signal path, and
• (c) control means connected to the quad telephone conductors for enabling the means including the loudspeaker upon said one of the local telephones going off hook.