4 Ways VMS Implementation Can Transform Financial Institutions

4 Ways VMS Implementation Can Transform Financial Institutions

We’re in a world that’s becoming increasingly digital and financial institutions are no exception to that transformation.

While the local branch can still directly manage money transactions or help a customer cash in rolls of quarters, more banks are leveraging technology that enables customers to engage with their banks using ATMs and apps for their money management.

This digital transformation is also impacting the security systems of financial institutions, in the form of a robust video management system (VMS) that enables ease of use, cybersecurity, flexible storage—including storage pools and predictive analytics—and video delivery to become just as important for financial institutions of all sizes.

Ease of Use

“What we are seeing is there are many facets to an end user,” said Paul DiBerardino, regional sales manager for Salient Systems. “For example, we have one large financial organization customer with many units within that business—hundreds of them—and, depending on who the end user is and who are we are targeting, it comes down to ease of use on the end user side, they want to click, see live video and retrieve—all at a touch of a button to get to the actionable data that they need.”

“We grew up in a world where we had to wait for things, but today we live in a world where everything is now. Speed is a big deal to end users,” he said.

When operating a VMS in a global security operations center (GSOC) for worldwide investment banks, mobility is a “big key,” something that was particularly critical during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but remains the case today, says John Nemerofsky, chief operating officer at SAGE Integration.

Adding analytics and access control brings efficiency, especially in situations where thousands of cameras are tied into the same network, he says.

On the retail banking side, the VMS can identify who’s coming in and out of the building using facial recognition, says Nemerofsky, while also providing compressed video at high resolution. The VMS platform can also streamline a bank official’s ability to change passwords across hundreds of locations on the network with a few clicks. Adding a VMS provides “ROI on both people and licensing,” he says, offering control of bandwidth, ease of operation and ease of training.

Cybersecurity

Of equal consideration for a financial organization is the level of security available within the VMS. They want the strictest requirements: TLS (Transport Layer Security) adoption, end-to-end encryption and the ability to implement specific parameters around cybersecurity.

By offering updates and patches that keep up with the changing needs of security requirements, financial institutions and other customers gain the ability to pivot through the numerous integrations now available through the use of artificial intelligence with their VMS, says Salient Systems President Chris Meiter.

“Not knowing what is going to come up in six months but having a VMS platform that can provide the functionality and the latest and greatest technologies is key for them,” he said.

Flexible storage

Even though VMS technology itself has become more robust, maintaining simplicity in a VMS remains paramount. Customers need to be able to manage the system with as few clicks of a mouse as possible.

“These days, everyone considers themselves a video surveillance expert because of Ring, Nest and things like that,” said DiBerardino. “When you get into real-world situations and you’re managing 20,000 cameras in one country, it’s a whole different scenario.”

Video delivery

Bandwidth is another pain point for financial institutions, said Meiter.

“Everyone needs to do more with less,” he said. “You need to be able to stream and watch it from command centers and see it with oversight. You can also provide a video escort at night as people leave the building.” The increased bandwidth also helps with marketing, staffing and operational efficiencies, especially when the video is delivered through a secure web portal with highly encrypted passwords or on a mobile app, said Meiter.

Beyond security, a VMS can also help the building maintenance and facilities teams. Meiter offered a humorous example of when a snow plow operator tried to get paid for plowing four times but video evidence showed they had only done the job once.

“Things like that really drive up the value,” said DiBerardino.

Storage is also becoming more intelligent. Using predictive analytics, customers can allocate and determine in real time what’s being stored on a per-camera level. Customers will see their daily storage capabilities and be able to reallocate storage from other cameras in their network without changing the frame rate or frequency of recordings.

“For example, you have a camera covering a bank vault that is high security and you need video on another area,” said DiBerardino. “Ninety days of storage is your storage retention policy but you want 120 days, so with predictive analytics and storage pools, you can set the camera storage pool policy. Over the course of a month or so, the VMS can tell you what that camera is utilizing storage-wise on a daily basis.”

If the VMS system is about to reach its storage retention policy limit, the system will proactively notify the end user. The customer can then reallocate storage from less important areas that do not require the full 90 days of storage.

Financial leaders understand the value and importance of their VMS, says Nemerofsky, as it directly impacts each security investment made by the financial institution, from which cameras to purchase down to the access control platform selected.

“They’re embracing it for so many reasons,” says Nemerofsky. “In the financial sector, it’s table stakes to have VMS in place. The one thing is it has to integrate with their access control systems and analytics platforms. Very few financial institutions come in with nothing and it’s rare that you’re starting from scratch when putting in the VMS for them.”

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