Telephone-controlled home appliance system and method for controlling the same

A telephone-controlled home appliance system comprising:

• a plurality of telephone jacks commonly connected to a same telephone line, said telephone jacks receiving ringing signals transmitted from a central office;
• a plurality of home appliances respectively connected to said telephone jacks;
• a microcomputer installed in each of said home appliances, each of said microprocessors configured such that when the number of the ringing signals received through a corresponding one of said telephone jacks connected with a corresponding one of said home appliances is equal to a predetermined reference value, the microprocessor outputs an off-hook control signal to set a call signal line connected with the corresponding telephone jack to an off-hook mode;
• and
• a telephone controller installed in each of said home appliances for modulating said ringing signals received through said corresponding telephone jack into pulse signals, a number of said pulse signals counted by said microcomputer and setting said call signal line connected with said corresponding telephone jack to said off-hook mode in response to said off-hook control signal from said microcomputer.