Thriving on insecurity

Information technology, security and telecom systems are converging at a rapid pace. The evolution of security systems installed in homes, shops and even temples are a case in point.

Consider this. Last April, six armed men raided a mobile shop in Andheri and vanished with Rs 60,000 in cash and mobiles worth thousands of rupees.

The police, however, managed to arrest them within days thanks to a close-circuit TV (CCTV) in the shop that had captured the faces of the thieves, giving the police a vital clue.

Were the robbery to take place this April, the burglar would probably be arrested within hours rather than days. Simply because a shopkeeper can now remotely monitor his shop from his home -- or pay security companies to do the job on his behalf 24x7 "� and thus alert the police in time.

Zicom Electronic Security Systems, for instance, offers a solution that comprises a CCTV, DVR (digital video recorder) and flat monitor. A shopkeeper can simply use his phone to dial into the DVR, which will ask for a password (the way you dial to surf the Net).

Once the DVR software recognises the owner, he can start monitoring his shop. The entire solution (depending on the complexity) will be less than Rs 1 lakh. For homes, a basic solution would cost just Rs 6,500.

"However, if a shopkeeper wishes, our Central Monitoring System (akin to a call centre) can monitor the CCTV for him," says Pramod V Rao, MD, Zicom, adding: "Our people will alert the apartment owner or shopkeeper about any likely intrusion."

The payment for an apartment owner is Rs 195 per month while the shopkeeper will shell out Rs 495 per month. Rao, however, notes that homeowners are not monitored with CCTVs because of privacy reasons.

If an unauthorised person enters a house, the software will automically dial a neighbour's number (provided you're on friendly terms with them) or a nearby relative's number and finally the neighbourhood police station (by default).

The role of IT-driven security solutions is indeed becoming a big business in India and is estimated to be growth at a compounded annual rate of 25-30 per cent. It's currently estimated to be a Rs 800-1,000 crore market with 250-300 big and small players. Around 20-25 per cent are from the unorganised sector.

The organised major players include multinationals like Honeywell, Tyco, Siemens, Bosch, Bonebo and Johnson Controls and Indian majors like Electronic Corporation of India (ECIL), Bharat Electronics limited (BEL), Godrej, Eureka Forbes, DATS, Zicom and Aftek Solutions "� the last two being smaller but focused players.

The solutions are broad-based. For instance, apartment owners of Pune-based 'Wonder Futura' can switch on (or off) lights, fans, gas, air conditioners, microwave or a heater from any location using an infrared remote control, local console touchpad, remote PC, SMS or phone. The solution is provided by Digital Home, part of Mumbai-based Aftek Solutions.

And temples like Mumbai-based Siddhi Vinayak have CCTVs installed. Ayodhya, Mathura and Varanasi are next in line. These projects generally cost around Rs 4 crore.

The second phase will involve "building intelliegence into the CCTV". This means the CCTV will be able to identify trigger events (eg. Identifying a bag that is left unattended for 5 minutes or a person loitering aimlessly for a period of time), according to Rao.

Even the Mumbai police are planning to invest a couple of crores to install a license-plate recognition system (LPRS) at octroi nakas (stops) to identify and track vehicles that come from outside the city. Given that in India, license plates are in many languages, Zicom is customising the software to identify these plates.