Keep Guard: High-tech security systems can act as watchdog

Planning a vacation and worried about the safety of your home? With the hi-tech gizmos — closed circuit cameras resembling mirrors, webcams, electronic alarm devices, intercepting intercom systems, digital recorders, wireless systems and surveillance cameras — now available to guard your house, you can rest in peace.

“How many of us know that closed circuit cameras nowadays have pan-tilt-zoom features? They not only show movement and the faces of people but also pick up signals if there is any unusual activity. They are also equipped to record conversations,” says Raja Banerjee, deputy manager of Ingram Micro India, the national distributor for leading security brand Zicom. Not only can the new cameras move to any angle to focus on suspicious movement but there are also separate indoor and outdoor cameras specific to day and night-time use. Some come in vandal-proof casings and many can be hooked on to a computer so that you can keep an eye on your house (through your laptop) even when you are away.

“Advanced home automation software is being developed that can integrate any home alarm system, such as a burglar alarm, and control it through one’s laptop,” says information technology expert T. Rajan, an advisor to many city-based security agencies. “Anyone travelling can switch on or off home alarm systems, get email alerts about potential trouble at home and take action.”

Take global manufacturing giant Honeywell. It is planning a feature that will let homeowners view security cameras over the web. Video images will be played on a local PC and remotely — via Honeywell’s AlarmNet monitoring service — over the web. GE also offers a web-based service of home-monitoring via wireless connections.

“Access to this level of information puts homeowners at an advantage as they can manage home security themselves. It also cuts down on false alarms,” says Sanjoy Shikdar, owner, Times Security Agency, Calcutta. “Even the simplest burglar alarms have undergone a sea change. They now come as intrusion alarm system packs with PIR (passive infrared detectors) that can detect motion, glass breakage and magnetic contact,” he adds. So even if thieves manage to fool one set of detectors, the others still trigger the alarm.

Technology is now so advanced that telephone sets or plasma TVs can also be used as security devices. Plasma TV sets can be fitted with a tiny device, the XCam2 wireless security camera, that transmits live colour video up to 100 feet, through walls and floors, to any television or home VCR. Telephones have a built-in motion detector and a mike. If it detects anyone entering, it dials the house owner’s mobile phone. The owner can then hear the sounds being picked up by the mike. “The beauty is it looks like a real phone so an intruder won’t even notice,” says city-based interior designer Santanu Chakraborty.

“Security systems are nowadays designed to add to the aesthetic value of a room,” he adds. “Many look like mirrors or light fittings. Dome-shaped cameras are in demand since the dome, or casing, can blend with the décor of the house and the camera does not stick out like a sore thumb. Some customers even want wireless devices so that the cabling is not visible,” says Chakraborty. In wireless house alarm systems, each sensor or keypad communicates with the master control panel via radio frequency or the existing wiring. A burglar cannot disarm the system even by snipping off the wires. However, such wireless systems are a bit costly — between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2 lakh.

Those who want an even more sophisticated product can try installing a biometric reader. A person has his physical characteristics scanned and turned into a numerical algorithm that goes into a data base. That person must provide the same physical characteristic — for example, his hand — to the biometric reader to get access. “While a key, card or number sequence can get passed around or stolen, a biometric reader requires the person to be physically present for access,” says Shikdar. So your home really becomes your castle — impregnable.

However, biometric readers are very expensive — you have to pay around Rs 35,000 for finger and hand recognition and Rs 70,000 for facial recognition. The average price of mini alarms, on the other hand, is about Rs 600. An integrated burglar alarm system for the whole house can set you back by Rs 30,000 while a black-and-white camera costs as little as Rs 2,500. A sophisticated colour camera with movement options can retail for up to Rs 1.5 lakh while a VDP (these have a camera as well as an intercom system and are placed on the main gate) colour unit costs Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000. Just a single black-and-white VDP unit sells for Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000.

“With Internet-based technologies hitting a new high, home security products are changing fast. They are now sleek, upmarket and effective. After the Mumbai blasts, people are feeling insecure even at home. Thus home security products are a top priority nowadays,” says Rajan.

“Who wouldn’t be interested in making their home burglar proof? But closed circuit television (CCTV) at the entrance, an intercom system and a register of visitors is all we can think of even today,” says Shraddha Choudhary, resident of Babylon, an upscale apartment in Alipore. Are consumers then unaware of the smart devices and the radical change that even CCTVs and cameras have undergone? Or are they reluctant to shell out the extra cost to instal these devices?

“The market hasn’t been easy to crack, specially in eastern India. Though sales of CCTVs and video door phones or VDPs have picked up, the market is still minuscule and consumer awareness pretty low,” confirms Banerjee. He even cites instances where consumers knew about sophisticated safety alarms but didn’t know where to find them. Manufacturers of security gadgets are now sharing space with leading retail chains like Pantaloons to increase visibility as well as awareness about products.

So if you need that virtual lock, head to the nearest mall.