Banking on Megapixel
Well-known Kansas bank puts its money on superior identification capabilities
- By Del V. Salvi
- Dec 01, 2008
Emprise Bank is a name well known in Kansas for leadership,
integrity and service to its customers and to the
community. Headquartered in Wichita, the privately
owned bank has more than 40 locations in 20 communities
across the state. Its culture of commitment and customer service
is strongly instilled in its nearly 500 staff members.
In early 2007, led by the vision of corporate security officer
Jeremy Couch, Emprise Bank began a thorough evaluation of
embedded DVR solutions, high-end analog cameras and IP
megapixel solutions. Having seen the differences in image quality
and other convenient features, Couch was leaning toward Arecont
Vision megapixel cameras and an NVR solution. With the construction
of two new bank branches, the decision was easy.
Greater Vision
“The new construction gave us alternate options on where to
place cameras,” Couch said. “Those decisions have yielded dividends
with the collection of valuable video evidence and tremendous
still images.”
Eventually, all of the Emprise Bank facilities will have
megapixel cameras. The current installations include AV1300
and AV3100 models, with a recent addition of the H.264 3105
unit, each with a wide-angle lens for blanket coverage of the
banks. These two models offer high-definition-quality resolution that is better than even the highest-performing analog surveillance
cameras. All systems are monitored centrally by Emprise’s
security department, with client access available at the site level.
Emprise took on the challenge of designing its video surveillance
system in-house.
“The decision on camera placement was something that I, as
the security officer, wanted to take to a different level,” Couch
said. “Also, designing our own video storage system allowed us
to get twice the storage for half the money.”
Ultimately, it was the vision of Couch and the Emprise
Bank IT team that led to the decision to implement a fully IPbased
solution.
“We see a whole new world of integration coming down the line
for businesses that are taking the leap into IP,” he said. “Stringing
along analog products only delays the inevitable. If the IT department
is on board with the security program, an institution will ease
into an IP environment much easier than if they were not.
“We have been fortunate in that the IT department at Emprise
Bank embraced the idea and got on board early with the evaluation
and implementation.”
Improved Images
Placing the megapixel cameras in the parking lots has reaped
benefits for Emprise Bank, Couch said. The ability to give specific
information to the police regarding, for example, the color,
make, model and license plate of a suspect’s vehicle greatly
enables finding and apprehending suspects. Inside the banks,
megapixel technology has made it much easier to catch fraud.
Couch said if a person came in to one of the banks to cash a $100
check, it would be possible to determine from the video if that
money was given to them in $20, $50 or $100 bills. The video
data also can be converted into electronic files for later reference.
“The cameras we selected in the end have amazing picture
quality,” Couch said. “Having been a law enforcement officer, I
know how hard it can be to identify suspects from analog cameras
of the past. It’s not a question with our megapixel cameras.
“Now, we can see tattoos and other identifiers on suspects that
weren’t possible with analog images. In fact, the details in the
best analog cameras never came close to touching the megapixel
cameras. With the right camera and lens, you can read the county
identifier sticker on a license plate from several feet away.
That’s pretty good detail.”
The cameras can stream up to four regions of interest. The
resolution is fully controllable; it is possible to stream full
resolution or scale less to conserve bandwidth. With support for
compliant PoE and auto-iris control functionality,
cameras deliver full-motion progressive
scan resolution and are priced comparably to
standard resolution IP video cameras.
About the Author
Del V. Salvi is a freelance writer based in New York.