IP Security Cameras

Surveillance video is a credit union’s primary tool for investigating robbery and fraud events. The key to successful investigations lies in obtaining clear visuals of suspects and any related event details. The clarity of these visuals depends highly on the resolution and field of view capabilities of an institution’s cameras.

For swift and successful investigations, capturing information using Internet Protocol cameras has significant advantages over using their analog counterparts. IP cameras provide maximized views and improved image quality to convey more detail than analog cameras. IP cameras also cover more ground in one shot, allowing credit unions to install fewer cameras to effectively monitor their environments and potentially save money.

This is because of technical differences between digital and analog cameras. Analog camera resolutions max out around less than half a megapixel, with most featuring lower resolutions. Captured images can appear grainy, especially when cameras are zoomed out for wider views. To counteract this deficiency, security managers often tighten analog camera views, concentrating them on limited areas.

IP cameras offer resolutions many times higher than analog cameras, allowing credit unions to obtain clearer images from a wider field of view. The cameras’ digital zooming capabilities enable security personnel to capture facial images and event details with much more clarity to aid in incident investigations. In addition, fewer cameras help to improve branch aesthetics.

Today, with more economical IP video options, increased camera functionality and shrinking bandwidth requirements, credit unions are investing in IP technology to monitor such areas as site perimeters, teller stations and lobbies, especially as legacy systems transition out. The investment for transitioning to IP video may be as minimal as upgrading to a hybrid digital video recorder and adding IP cameras or as complex as implementing a full-fledged back-end system.”

Making the Transition to IP Cameras

Making the switch from analog to IP can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Credit unions don’t have to go “all in” and abandon their legacy systems. As credit unions migrate to IP cameras, they can ease the transition by implementing hybrid back-end systems that use existing infrastructure to operate both analog and IP cameras concurrently. This strategy helps credit unions spread out upgrades and capital expenditures as they transition to full IP capabilities over time.

For example, if a credit union has a purely analog security camera system, it can upgrade to a hybrid digital video recorder that supports both analog and high-definition IP camera feeds. The credit union can use its existing analog cameras and add IP cameras to the system, potentially eliminating some analog cameras along the way. Credit unions can select strategic locations for the IP cameras where they’ll benefit the most from having wider, clearer views, such as in lobbies where a single camera can monitor all people entering, moving about and exiting the branch; behind tellers to capture better facial shots; and within ATM surrounds to enhance visibility at the self-service channel.

Deploying IP Cameras in the Branch

Credit unions that have adopted IP cameras traditionally focus on four key areas of the branch environment: the site perimeter, behind tellers, the lobby and entrances. These locations cover the majority of branch activities, ensuring credit unions can capture visuals of every individual on site.

For branch perimeter monitoring, IP cameras enable credit unions to zoom in on faces and read licenseb plates to aid investigations. Today’s more advanced IP cameras can even provide clear images in adverse lighting conditions via a combination of technologies, including low-light sensors, low-light lenses, infrared illuminators, filters and enhanced image processing. These advancements givecredit unions better visuals at night when break-ins and robberies are more likely to occur.

Inside the branch, IP cameras located behind teller stations give credit unions better views of individuals in line, the tellers themselves and even the transactions being performed because they capture high-resolution views of a much wider area, including more of the teller line and the area behind the counter. Those wider views make IP cameras especially advantageous if a perpetrator jumps the counter, as  the criminal will be on camera the entire time he’s behind the counter. With a traditional analog camera setup, anyone behind the counter may be out of view.

With high-resolution IP megapixel cameras mounted behind tellers, security managers also have a new internal fraud investigation tool. The cameras enable investigators to zoom in far enough to read note denominations and check details, giving them a better opportunity to investigate potential teller fraud right at the source.

Inside branch lobbies, credit unions can use high-resolution IP cameras to monitor branch traffic. Since the cameras cover wide areas, credit unions have sufficient footage for investigations.

At branch entrances, IP cameras can efficiently capture images of individuals entering and exiting the building. Newer, miniature IP cameras are giving credit unions even better opportunities for discreet surveillance. For example, small cameras mounted within door jamb height strips provide an inconspicuous method for capturing clear facial shots.

Credit unions making the switch to next-generation IP cameras across their branch networks are creating higher, uniform security standards for their institutions. Enhancing surveillance across their footprints reduces reputational risks and demonstrates a strong commitment to protecting members, staff and assets.

Rob Raymond is VP/ global financial sales, electronic security, for Diebold, Incorporated, N. Canton, Ohio, where he is responsible for leading the company’s financial industry sales team, focusing on regional, national and global financial institutions. An industry veteran with more than 25 years of security experience, Raymond encourages the development of tailored security solutions to meet the specific needs of Diebold’s financial customers, creates business partnerships and drives customer satisfaction with the company’s robust offering of security services.