• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Tunia Cherian George

You don't have to be Bill Gates to opt for an `intelligent' home, says this company.

Veetrag Bafna

LIGHTS that switch on when you enter a room and automatically switch off when you leave, a door access system that `shoots' every caller with a hidden camera and screens them with a finger print scanner, allowing in only those whose finger prints are identifiable, a home security system that can secure specific zones within a house, etc.

These products offer a peek into a range rather aptly called SmartHome, from the Mumbai-based Zeos Infotech which was set up about three years ago. "With our products, even the not-so-rich can aspire to a home from the future, similar to Bill Gates'," says the Managing Director of Zeos Infotech Pvt Ltd, Veetrag Bafna. Bafna, and four partners, have invested around $200,000 in the venture.

The products, which have been developed in-house, are totally wireless systems. This feature, he says, differentiates these products from the range brought out by the likes of Honeywell, AMX and Futron, which are also into automation products, but work on the wired concept.

The wireless offering, he says, facilitates installation in a house whose interiors have already been done up. The systems being wireless, the company can install them without having to pull out the existing wiring.

The technology employed, in fact, makes use of an already existing wire in the circuitry. "Computer data is simply slapped on to the `neutral' wire of an existing circuit," he says. Further, the system can be monitored using a variety of media including mobile phones, the Net, regular phone lines and even an EPABX system.

Zeos Infotech offers five lines of products, namely, door access, light control, surveillance, security, and electro-mechanical products.

The door access system, which comes with a camera and a finger-print scanner, is fed with information, based on which it categorises all callers into three groups, namely, family members; friends and relatives, regular visitors such as the domestic help; and visitors.

While family members are identified and allowed access immediately, the system is programmed to ring a calling bell on identifying friends and frequent visitors. The camera at the entrance also doubles up as a 24-hour surveillance system. The system can also be programmed to download and transmit the photographs taken to an e-mail address, enabling the owner to keep track of the visitors to his premises. The light control system automatically switches on and off when a person enters or leaves such a room. It can also be programmed to create the desired atmosphere, for e.g. bright lights for office, more muted for ordinary work and the dim look for relaxation. Such "scene-building" can again be controlled on the Net, through a regular phone line, on the mobile and even on an EPABX.

Unlike conventional security systems that work in two modes, on or off, for the entire house, the `Smart' system can secure specific `zones' within the same house.

The electromechanical devices, Bafna says, are gizmos that can be customised at the client's end — for instance, plasma screens that can be tilted and adjusted for proper viewing zones from their stow-away, space-saving positions.

Queried on the business potential for `smart' products, he says: "We see immense potential. In fact, we are under-prepared to meet the existing demand." The company is equipping about a dozen houses with such systems. His clients form a "tech-savvy," niche crowd, who can afford to spend a neat packet on products that are "different." The four basic systems — door access, light control, security and surveillance — cost Rs 3.5 lakh. However, the price tag may vary with the kind of functionality the systems are programmed for, he says.

Thrust on lifestyle

Bafna emphasises that though the security and surveillance capabilities of the products are an important selling point, the company identifies itself more as a lifestyle products maker. The company's biggest project so far, he says, is for Mumbai-based builder, Mukesh Mehta, where the company is installing these `smart' products for around Rs 9 lakh.

Amit Gandhi, who runs a medium-sized textile chemicals company, Hue Kem, in Mumbai, installed a Time Attendance Payroll Package based on fingerprint-scanning technology about six months ago. The system, which has been `fed' with the fingerprints of his 25 employees, records the `in' and `out' time of each employee. At the end of the month, it tallies the number of hours put in by employees, to calculate their salaries. The system has helped improve efficiency and done away with paper-based or swipe card- based systems. Also, since the machine does not need to be monitored, it has indirectly cut down manpower costs, he says.

Zarin Mulan, a Mumbai-based architect who intends to install SmartHome products in his projects, feels the light control and security features make these gadgets "interesting" with the potential to capture the market in future.

Still building a presence across the country, the company currently operates out of its own offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). It is also setting up franchises in Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

In typically `smart' fashion, the company has based its marketing strategy around the Net, thus keeping its costs down. "The entire marketing has been done online, through e-mails addressed to potential customers,'' says Bafna. The company uses an e-mail extractor to access the addresses of people and organisations it feels could help business.

anna@thehindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Time to play, not relax

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line