My setup–getting the most from IP phones

Does anyone really need 9 phone lines at home? Maybe not, but here’s how I have used Avid’s IP phone service in my own setup.

1. My office line also rings in my home office.

2. Avid’s service line rings in my home office.

3. I have a number that I use for accounts, but doesn’t ring anywhere. It does roll to voicemail, which I get as an email, in the off-chance that I ever get an important call on that line. It’s mainly to siphon off telemarketers.

4. We have a family line. Its voicemail is forwarded to my wife as an email.

5. I have a cell phone. If I don’t answer, it goes to my universal voicemail. All my lines go to this single voicemail account, and all are forwarded to me as emails.

6. I have a line that rings my office, my home line and my cellphone at the same time. My wife uses this one to track me down without having to call a bunch of numbers.

7. She has a line like that too.

8. We have a line for our security system

9. We have a line set up to ring all of my wife’s lines and my lines. This is essentially an emergency line that the babysitter can use.

It was a bit complex to set up, but it simplifies communications for the family.