[misterhouse-users] Bunch of newbie questions

[Tom Y. <ty...@ma...>]

Hi all,

I'm building a new house - at the point of working with the architect on a
real plan now.  I'm interested in home automation, but don't know much about
it beyond what I read on the Mr.House site and what some contractors say. 
From the latter source, I probably can't afford what I really want, and it's
not obvious from the former how far along the various features really are.

In an ideal world, I could tell my house to "lock up" and the doors would
lock, unocupied rooms' lights would turn off when people leave and on when
they enter.  Phone calls would be routed to either ring the phones, forward
the caller to another number, or give/take messages depending on caller ID. 
There would be a multimedia server(s) that would record radio & TV ala TIVO,
and also store the content of all my CD's, DVD's, mp3 playlists, etc. so that
they could be played on demand from various locations in the house.  From most
locations in the house, would want to be able to control the system by voice,
and have it answer back the same way - as well as take memos and deliver
messages when people come home.  For the audio/video, some sort of control
panel(s) would be ideal, I would think.  I will want a security system also -
though that will likely be a pro installed setup for insurance purposes.

So: Of this lot, what can actually be done now?  What kind of cash/man-hours
would you want to plan for?  And what would you tell an architect or builder
to put in the house up front, vs. do on your own later?

Thanks in advance for your advice,

Tom