Security and communications loom larger in home sales.

Although sales and marketing agents sometimes prefer not to highlight security systems as a selling point with their customers, developers know that the subject is very much on the minds of new apartment buyers.

This is especially true in the luxury and super-luxury market segments, because today's top-tier residential security systems are not just about safety, they are also about lifestyle.

In an age when hand-held electronics keep people constantly linked to virtually everyone they know and every service they desire, the typical doorman-to-apartment intercom today is on a par with rotary-dial telephones and rabbit-ear televisions. In a nutshell, they're outdated and out-of-sync with today's fast-paced, multitasking lifestyle.

High-tech communication has become a critical component of apartment house infrastructure, because it provides both added security and continuity with modern life.

As an engineer who has helped design many of the most up-to-date features in use today in New York apartment buildings, I know the importance of staying abreast of end-user expectations.

I also understand that we have to use discretion in our quest to provide people with enhanced security--as there can be a fine line separating security from invasion of privacy.

A truly good high-tech security system with video capability takes this into account, providing protection both from intruders and from litigating neighbors.

For the developers who build today's high-end apartments, and the sales and marketing experts who present them to the public, here is a sampling of the security and communications features that discriminating buyers would (and should) expect in their new homes:

Video monitoring (but selectively). Video is indispensable today.

The ability of residents to see visitors before responding to the doorman's call is a prized feature, since it offers the resident the option of "not being at home."

In the absence of a doorman, cameras provide a crucial check on whether an unauthorized person enters the building. But beyond that, the cameras must disengage.

Continuous video monitoring, such as some systems offer, is an invitation to trouble in today's society, allowing residents to track when others leave and return, and with whom.

Phone and Internet messaging. Is there a package waiting? Did a friend stop by? A modern inbuilding system should allow the concierge to notify you in several convenient ways: on your video intercom screen, as a cell phone text message, and as an e-mail, as well as by direct voice communication.

Taxi or valet requests. They should be sent electronically to the concierge or doorman station, without the need for voice communication.

Emergency communications. Is there smoke or fire in an apartment? Has the resident had an accident? The push of a single button, with a remote device, if necessary, notifies the doorman of the resident's apartment number, doctor's name and relevant medical history, such as pre-existing conditions, allergic reactions and medication in use.

If there's a building-wide emergency, one of the fastest and most efficient ways to alert residents is via an audio floor-by-floor annunciation system.

Intrusion alarms. An apartment break-in should activate an alarm at the concierge desk or doorman station.

Should a tenant be confronted in a hallway and forced to open his or her apartment door, there should be a way to alert the building staff of a potential emergency, without the perpetrator knowing.

These are only a sampling of advanced amenities that a new building security and communications system should offer today's apartment residents.

And given the swift evolutionary pace of modern communications, within a few years they may constitute the minimum level of services demanded of luxury buildings.

BY LUCIEN BOHBOT PRESIDENT UNITONE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS