The world is moving at a fast pace and so are our lives. And to catch up with these fast paced lives of ours, automation comes to our rescue. It is just because of automation that everything is getting smarter and intelligent. And no, it is not just limited to our cars or other regular devices. Automation has even entered our homes, making our lives simpler and more manageable. With a proper home automation system in place, you no longer have to worry about managing several home tasks.

Imagine this: you reach home, a sensor outside the door reads and verifies your face and the lock opens automatically. You walk in, and the AC switches on, a cup of hot coffee is being brewed and the CD player starts playing your favorite music. Sounds cool doesn't it? This is all possible with the technology we have today, but very few people even know that these are the kinds of things we can do. Even when we start talking about home security, whether you are sitting at home or anywhere else in the world, you can find out what's happening in your house and control certain aspects with a touch of a button or by sending an SMS.

Understanding Home Automation and Security
Both home automation and home security are specialized fields identifying easy-to-use technologies for security and comfort, hence making lives of residents easier and secure. Although both serve a common purpose, there is a difference amongst the two. While home automation emphasizes more on comforts through ease of operation, home security focuses on finding newer ways and measures that can add a newer dimension to the age old home security system.

The general notion that everyone has of home automation is that it can mean switching on or off a simple light or AC, or it could mean monitoring your home using an IP camera; sort of like a webcam that you can access from anywhere. I used to think on similar lines, until I had a word with M.C. Muthanna, COO, Firepro systems who explained in detail what home automation actually means. He referred to home automation as a field within building automation, specializing in specific requirements of private homes for the comfort and security of its residents. He said “Although many techniques used in building automation (such as light and climate control, control of doors and window shutters, security and surveillance systems, etc.) are also used in home automation, additional functions can include the control of multimedia home entertainment systems, automatic plant watering & pet feeding systems, automatic scenes for dinners and parties, and a more user-friendly control interface.” He referred to home security as an integral part of any home automation solution via which one can prevent intrusion, burglary, and also handle medical emergencies and fire emergencies within home.

How does a Home Automation and security system operate?
The way a home automation and security system works solely depends on the size of the setup. It can broadly be classified into two major categories: small installations operated from a control panel and computer operated large scale systems.

Small installations operated from a control panel
Small setups are not centrally controlled via a computer rather they are controlled individually by control panels. The control panel controls the sensors; small devices that trigger the connected devices to switch on or off. A classic example of this would be a setup that triggers the lighting system of a home as soon as somebody opens a door or crosses from one room to another.

Computer operated Larger-Scale systems
When there are more devices to be controlled and a much larger area to be monitored, the home automation system becomes more complex. Such complicated networks must be centrally managed and here comes the need of incorporating computers into the system. The incorporated computers need not be a desktop PC. Even a panel-mounted micro-controller called a PLC (programmable logical control) will do. You just need to ask your installation engineer to set parameters of operations (like timing for lights, security system to be up in full mode and TV to switch OFF or water heater to switch ON and OFF with the temperature requirements for various seasons/months) of the PLCs you incorporate.

Home automation solutions
Although in India, we do not have a very big market for home automation and security systems but worldwide there is a large number of manufacturers who provide us with home automation solutions as well as devices. So we, the consumers, now have the option to pick up the type of system we want for our homes based on our requirements and of course the size of our pockets.

There are several technologies of home automation systems: networked, standalone, wired and wireless, and Web-based.

One is Microsoft's e-Home solution –driven by Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, it provides the consumer with the ultimate home automation and security all at the touch of a button. It is essentially a smart home, where selected electronic devices can be remotely controlled by a mobile phone, notebook or a web-linked PC. Some features of the e-Home system are security, automation, and integrated entertain- ment. The integrated entertainment feature ensures digitized entertainment experience-from music to movies to pictures that can be shared wirelessly across the e-Home and across multiple screens.

DigiHome Solutions also offers several standalone solutions and customized ones. Digihome uses MPEG2/4 media streaming, WiFi, MODBUS and PLC widely in its solutions. One of their famous ranges is the DHG range, which they claim provides their consumers with the ultimate experience of digital living in an integrated manner.

Firepro Systems only offers total networked & integrated solutions.

Wanna automate your home? Wait!

Whether the manufacturers come up with a single device control system or multiple device control system, the requirement of different people remains different. It's just a matter of choosing the best possible system that you are looking for, well-suited for your home. Agreeing with this Muthanna said, “Products by themselves do not meet the requirements or expectations of the consumer. A customer's need could be as basic as a communication/visitor management or that could be intelligent digital life. We offer them solutions based on their needs.”

So, what are the points that need to be taken care of when you are thinking of automating your home?

1. First decide the number of appliances that you want to automate. You don't need to automate each and every device, just automate the ones which are essential as more devices will make automation complex and will also shoot up your budget.

2. You can actually spend thousands of bucks while installing the latest high-end security products, but do you actually need such kind of security? If you have supplemental security like guards, window grills and efficient guard dogs, you probably don't. High-end products only look better at military installations. For a normal home the priorities are different and you should keep that in mind.

3. Check out how easy it will be to operate the solution that you intend to pick up. Opting for a complex system that calls for a few classes to completely understand its systems and functions isn't a good idea. Also don't neglect the associated costs .

4. See, if you want to have a single system to operate maximum equipment or if you want to have a distributed system. Choice is yours. As far as my viewpoint is concerned, I will go with the system that has various other sub-systems controlling my house. After all, these systems are still electronic and you never know what can upset them. If you have sub-systems working independently of each other, only a part of the whole system can get jeopardized, not the whole thing.

5. In an attempt to digitize your home, don't forget that while installing these systems, you will also have to bear with damages such as broken walls, fallen plaster or a few bad spots on the ceiling just near that smoke detector-which again means additional repair costs. Then there could be permanent damages too, which means a big ugly camera placed just next to your door or a few wires dangling out from the remote
sensor spoiling the beauty of your drawing room.

Future of Home Automation
Although the concept of Home automation and security is rapidly growing, it is still limited to bigger villas or housing communities. But with technology becoming more pervasive and with common man fondly accepting technology and integrating it into their digital lifestyles, there is no doubt that future of automation and security will be brighter in India.

Agrees Sanjeev Gupta, Director Channels, APAC, Cisco Systems – Linksys. He says, “With broadband internet growing at a faster pace, the need and their usage is also increasing day by day. Today most of the hi-class people are shifting on to IP based security and entertainment systems, and that is where we see success. We have various devices that can be easily setup without any hassles because most of these devices work over IP and can be made compatible to work with any existing network. A person can even build one of his own.”

When we asked Prasanna Meduri, Director, Windows Client, Microsoft India about the future of this industry, then he also said future seems to be bright. For substantiating his point, he further said, “Recently at CES 2008, Bill Gates highlighted that the second digital decade will be more focused on connecting people. He presented the fact that soon, computing and software will be available everywhere-through- out the office, home; in your car; and in stores, restaurants and public spaces. The proliferation of massive data centers and the increasing ubiquity of broadband networks will create a fabric of information and computing capabilities that extends seamlessly across our lives at work and at home, from any location.”

Luxury living is indeed one of the hot new building trends for 2008. The revolutionary change in the concept of 'home' has been envisaged to develop a living which will simply mean de-stress at home from the worries of work and pressures of life.

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SMS Buy 13LD001 to 56677

Zicom Fingerprint Lock (Rs 30,000)

The Zicom biometric door lock replaces your existing door knob, and registered users can just brush swipe a finger to unlock the door. With this handy piece of technology, you don't have to carry keys. And for people who have lots of friends, it can store up to 100 fingerprints. It records the last 1000 accesses with data like who opened it and date and time of entry–so you'll know exactly what time your kids came home after that party! You can also unlock it using a PIN number.
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Zicom 2-way Videophone (Rs 17,495(color), Rs 7,990 (B/W) )

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Linksys Music Bridge (Rs 5,900)

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SMS Buy 13LD004 to 56677

Linksys Internet Camera  (Rs 19,900)

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SMS Buy 13LD005 to 56677

Linksys Print Server (Rs 4,999)

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SMS Buy 13LD006 to 56677

Motion Sensors (Rs 1,000-2,000 each)

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SMS Buy 13LD007 to 56677

DigiHome Local Console

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Logitech Harmony 1000 (Rs 27,995)

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SMS Buy 13LD009 to 56677