Security for All Sizes

Industry Vertical

Security for All Sizes

Bank employees think about security a lot

We almost never think about the fact that the public flows through our banks day after day or that suppliers and partners are in and out of branch locations, some requiring access to sensitive areas, all the time. We just know that, if our money, important documents and grandma’s wedding ring are at the bank, they’re as safe as they can be.

In fact, one of the main responsibilities that banks have is maintaining the security of our money and valuables. As a result, the people who run our banks, as well as those who work in them, think about security a lot. In many ways, the size of the bank does not matter as they all share common security concerns.

Whether it’s a privately owned local bank with just six locations in the Southern United States or a financial services giant headquartered in Mumbai, India, with more than 4,000 employees at more than 200 offices in 118 cities, keeping a watchful eye on all activity is a necessary part of any banking business. Banks are increasingly turning to a consolidated unified approach to address these concerns.

Upgrading to the Right IP-Based Security System

Edelweiss Financial Services Limited, one of India’s leading financial services groups, recently built a state-of-the-art 15-story building to house its headquarters in Mumbai. As part of the construction, Edelweiss decided to make the switch to an IP-based security system.

With high-value transactions, top-tier clients and national headquarters to protect, Edelweiss implemented a network-based video surveillance system with more than 100-cameras. Selecting the solution that would best suit their needs involved a process that included finding a system that would address their video quality concerns and meet their requirements of support for a wide range of industry-leading cameras, encoders, storage and CCTV equipment.

After some initial issues with camera failure, an inability to adapt to varying light conditions, and increasing system restrictions when trying to add cameras to new office areas, Edelweiss made the decision to implement Omnicast, the IP video management system in the unified Security Center platform from Genetec.

Scalability and Extending Your Security System

Working with Omnicast and Security Center, operators at Edelweiss headquarters monitor workstations from a centrally-located command center. They use Plan Manager, the map-based interface, to quickly locate cameras from a detailed map and play back video instantly. They also save on storage as their motion detection setup allows them to archive only that video which is relevant for investigations.

In addition to the day-to-day operational improvements that Edelweiss has gained by employing Omnicast, they have also incorporated some of the video management software’s reliability features, including Failover Directory and Failover Archiver, to ensure that their video is always available even in the face of an unlikely failure.

Since implementing Omnicast and Security Center, Edelweiss has added more than 200 new Axis Communications IP cameras. Given the success of their security system, particularly the ease-of-scalability, Edelweiss will continue adding cameras in and around their headquarters. They are looking to extend their system to an additional three branches using the Genetec Federation feature.

Because they already employ Security Center, the transition will also be that much easier when Edelweiss decides to unify their access control system (ACS) with their video surveillance.

Unified Security in the Midwest

One organization that has already made the transition to unifying their video surveillance and ACS is the Cornhusker Bank in Lincoln, Neb. Established more than 100 years ago, the bank serves the personal and business banking needs of their community with six locations, a technology center and three part-time offices in the city.

In the past, to meet their security needs, they had a mix of older analog and newer IP video systems installed across their locations. Although the systems worked, some of the technology was becoming obsolete and the systems themselves did not work together or facilitate easy communication.

They realized that what they wanted was to consolidate video surveillance and access control under a single platform and to be able to centrally monitor all their facilities. In addition, and with an eye on future growth as well as their infrastructure budget, they also wanted to be able to expand and improve their security over time. Genetec’s Security Center gave the Cornhusker Bank exactly what they wanted.

The Benefits of Unified Security

Because they installed Security Center across their organization, the Cornhusker Bank is now able to combine video and access control, and because it supports a wide variety of non-proprietary cameras, keep the video equipment they had already installed. The unified platform manages more than 100 cameras and tracks all access to the doors within the bank’s technology and data centers, as well as other sensitive areas.

Regardless of the size or type of bank, the importance of getting the right security system cannot be overstated. Large financial institutions like Edelweiss as well as small and medium size organizations like the Cornhusker Bank are turning to unified open-platform solutions to meet their security requirements. This move allows them to preserve their existing investment, keep pace with technology, and, above all, maintain the safety and security that every bank needs.

This article originally appeared in the February 2016 issue of Security Today.

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