Industry Vertical
Security for All Sizes
Bank employees think about security a lot
- By Scott Thomas
- Feb 01, 2016
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.