Insurance companies offer protection, but only after the damage is done. No monetary compensation can really make good for the trauma that a family goes through. That is why people are increasingly relying on machines to do the job.

The equipment available include the basic intercom phones, door entry video phones, movement detectors, burglar alarms, intruder alarms and fire and gas leakage sensors.

A number of companies, both in the organised and the unorganised sectors, offer an array of home security gadgets.

Legrand India, a unit of the France-based Legrand group, is one such company.

It is a well accepted practice in burglary to cut off the electricity supply of the target house before breaking in. To throw some light on burglars' murky designs, Legrand has launched the G5 emergency lighting units and exit signs. These are maintenance-free, have longer shelf life and can withstand high temperature during a fire or explosion, the company said.

Legrand has also introduced switches based on the movement detection concept. Lights will switch on/off depending on the movement of people. The detectors can sense movement up to 16 metres.

To avoid any persona non grata inside your house, the company offers radio frequency technology-based tamper proof wireless intruder alarm system. The alarm detects intrusion by contact detectors and passive infrared detectors and starts hooting upon receiving radio message from the detectors to a receiving panel.

Legrand has also launched its audio, video door phones in India. Residents of buildings can open the door without having to move, by pressing a push button.

"We are launching these products based on customer demand as seen last year," said Jean-Charles Thuard, managing director, Legrand India.

The home security product market is very vast and untapped, says Rajesh Shah, assistant manager of NCC Telecom Pvt Ltd.

"Roughly 5,000 intercom lines are sold every month in Mumbai alone to various housing co-operative societies and building by the companies in this sector. We have installed 25,000 lines all over India," he said.

NCC manufactures three home security systems -- Securecom Plus, Active Voice and Active Vision."

Securecom Plus is a 4-zone security system, which senses fire, cooking gas leakage, intrusion and panic situation.

In case of fire, gas leakage or intrusion inside the flat, the system senses it and sends a voice alert to the security cabin of the building, spurring immediate action.

In case of an emergency of any nature, violence inside the house or a serious health problem, the occupants of the flat can press the panic button in the system and alert the security personnel.

"We offer packages for housing societies. Installing a voice alert system without video display will entail a one-time cost of Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,200 per flat. Video display will cost slightly higher," Shah said.

Says John Fernandes, proprietor of Genesis Telecom and Security Solutions, "Many co-operative housing societies in Mumbai are coming forward to install such systems and there is a potential market for these systems."

The company manufactures video door phones, burglar alarms, fire alarms and security intercom.

Taking electronic security a step further, the Ahmedabad-based General Imsubs offers a quake alarm device, an earthquake detector for homes, offices and school classrooms.

The alarm sounds a loud buzzer as soon as an earthquake begins. The quake alarm has a sensitivity adjustment to detect 4.0 earthquakes to quakes of 6.0 and above that are hundreds of miles away, the company said.

Quake alarm is made by Products Inc, USA. "The quake alarm, priced at Rs 2,455, has become very popular, especially after the 2000 incident. There is a good demand for the equipment," Shah said.

Legrand India: 022 2493 8416/2493 1723. General Imsubs Pvt Ltd: 079-5840845/5842503 Fax: 079 584 1846. NCC Telecom: 2867 65 17/16