Video Analytics Solutions for the Financial Industry

Copyright (c) 2008 Wes Fernley

For financial institutions, security is key. With so much money floating around, moving in and out on a daily basis, it is no surprise that many people look to steal from and defraud financial institutions. A proper camera network with strong video analytics tools can be a great boon to securing banks and other financial locations.

Video Analytics Solutions for ATM Protection

According to some reports, ATM fraud in America approached nearly $3.08 billion in the year 2005: far more than either credit card or checking account fraud. For many banks and financial institutions, ATMS are their biggest worry when it comes to security issues, and with numbers like those it is easy to see why.

Video Analytics can do a great many things to help with securing ATMS. Because of the power of video analytics technology, it can analyze a number of factors in a security camera video feed and do it in real time. For example, it can distinguish when individuals are standing in front of the ATM, and correlate these images with individual transactions so you can know who was using the ATM for any given transaction.

The same technology can also be used to set off alarms and alert you or security personnel should a problem arise. If it is not a 24 hour ATM, for example, and someone arrives after hours, the Video Analytics software can catch this and set off an alarm. Alternately, if someone is attempting to tamper with the machine the software can catch this activity as well and trigger an alarm. Some Video Analytics technology is even powerful enough to recognize individual faces, if there are particular individuals which you are on the lookout for, and trigger alarms upon seeing these individuals. These are just a handful of the powerful tools which can be implemented as part of a security camera system for your ATMS.

Video Analytics Solutions for Branch Offices

As with ATMs, so can video analytics software also be used for the protection of branch offices. One of the highlights of video analytics software is its ease of use. Most of this software uses simple browser based access, meaning that you can access your security system from any computer with Internet access. Multi-level security allows multiple users to log on, with different authorizations, while keeping unauthorized personnel out.

With banks, you are generally looking at a much wider picture than you are with an ATM camera. Video analytics technology can keep track of multiple individuals and their movements. You can also use tools such as object recognition. Specific objects, such as cash registers, tables, etc., are programmed into the computer. Should these objects be changed or removed, the computer will recognize the shift and alert you to the change so that you can take the proper action.

For nighttime and weekend surveillance, video analytics software also includes motion detection, which can be used to trigger recording, automatic alerts, alarms and more. But installing the software in conjunction with other hardware, such as lights or electronically controlled doors, for example, you can also perform other actions upon alert, like locking said doors or turning lights off and on.

Conclusion

Video analytics provide powerful solutions for financial institution security, however it cannot do everything on its own. This software provides excellent monitoring capabilities, as well as simple to use interfaces and user access, but make sure that you have people available on the ground to react to threats should they occur. This will make for a strong, well-balanced security system to keep your bank or other financial institution secure from thieves and fraudsters.