With the Line Console and the VTY you can achieve the same.

The Line Console is the physical Serial Console connected on your device. The VTY is a network
connection to your device which creates a virtual console session (Virtual Terminal Line)

The serial port/Line Console can be used when you're physically standing next to the device, and the VTY
is used when you want to connect remotely from your desk to the device, through the means of SSH or
Telnet.

With the following configuration on R3, when a user connects via telnet, they
will be prompted for a username, and the username will be checked on R3 from
the configuration.


R3(config)#line vty 0 4
R3(config-line)#login local
R3(config-line)#exit
R3(config)#username Steve password cisco