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.