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Video surveillance in banking

Banks must meet their customers’ requirements for security in a special way on many levels. Whether it is with their savings, taking advantage of over-the-counter services at a branch office, withdrawing money from the teller machines, making deposits via the cash recycling system, online banking etc.

For a long-lasting, trusting cooperation with a bank, customers demand the highest possible level of security. In order to fulfil these demands, banks rely on sophisticated hardware and software solutions that can be easily and efficiently expanded. In Germany the regulations for the banking sector have specified requirements for video surveillance systems to prevent robberies and to protect the bank staff. The main provisions of this regulation are as follows:

* The quality of the images must enable the perpetrators and the different stages of a robbery to be identified.

* The recording must encompass a period beginning 15 minutes before and continuing for 15 minutes after an alarm.

* The recording speed must be one image per second before an alarm and two images per second after an alarm.

When it comes to future-proof video surveillance systems in banks, it is not a matter of analogue or digital; it is a question of high-resolution or not. It is a fact: high-resolution video produces more data and requires a powerful storage concept. These days, video data is normally pre-processed and stored centrally on a PC with video management software or on a DVR. Video and audio streams from all installed cameras are directed to this central device. This system is comparable to a highway at rush hour: the more cameras there are, the quicker there will be a data overflow on the PC or DVR. This means that despite high-resolution cameras, the data is generally not stored in high-resolution format.

Mobotix solves the storage bottleneck problem. High-resolution video images, including sound, are stored decentralised in or at the camera on flash memory media (normal 16 GB MicroSD/SD or CF cards, USB mass storage).

The Mobotix banking camera model combines the accident prevention certification required for bank applications with the highest possible data security and an outstanding image quality. For the cameras used in ATMs, the company offers a special integration set that is installed directly in the cash machines and documents the cash output. The high resolution image means that fewer cameras are needed and the internal flash recording eliminates the need for additional recording devices. Thanks to its 3.1 megapixel image sensor, a Mobotix camera achieves several times higher image detail than a CCTV camera, allowing it to recognise serial numbers of bank notes and credit cards details. These high-resolution videos can even capture the serial number of a bill from a distance of two metres.

High-resolution images deliver more detail. Thus, fewer cameras are needed overall. A typical branch situation: in addition to the bank cashier, the entrance and teller areas also need to be monitored. It used to be necessary to install several cameras for this. Now, however, you can deploy a single camera with wide-angle and tele-lenses to monitor multiple cash desks simultaneously. Certain cameras have a microphone and loudspeaker. This enables you to protect your bank and prevent robberies with audio recording as well as video.

Advantages for banks

* Fewer cameras and cables are needed.

* No procurement costs for software.

* No ongoing licence expenses.

* Minimal investment and operating costs.

* A complete system.

* Maintenance-free, robust and durable technology.

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