Central Management and Information Sharing Made Possible (With IP) Ultimately, the effectiveness of a video surveillance system boils down to the manner in which collected information is addressed and disseminated. Information collected by the disparate elements of the security system—video surveillance, burglar alarm, panic buttons, ATM cameras, and so on—must be filtered throughout the system in such a way that it can be easily shared with the appropriate members of internal security as well as with members of law enforcement. In our experience, the ability to share information with police quickly and easily has greatly enhanced system success rates.

In Israel, it is a legal requirement to have a working Internet Protocol surveillance system installed at all bank branches. This legislation was passed to increase information sharing between bank branches and police. It created a win-win situation in which police are more readily equipped to aid in bank investigations and resulted in higher success rates in solving bank fraud crimes.

In the unfortunate murder mentioned earlier, the bank was notified by the victim's son that his mother's bank card had been stolen. The bank immediately put an alert on the ATM card to be notified the instant the card was used. Inevitably, the assailant attempted to use the card at a Bank Hapoalim ATM, triggering an alarm and activating the DViR to begin recording. The resulting video images were then synchronized with ATM transaction data, enabling the bank to present a very high quality image to the police. These images figured prominently in the assailant's capture and arrest.

Video security over IP also allows the bank to manage all branch and ATM cameras from around the country in one central location. This streamlines security personnel staffing and simplifies the entire security management process for greater efficiency.

In Bank Hapoalim's centrally managed environment, operators are alerted to different types of events with a color-coded scheme. Police and the external security patrol team are also automatically alerted to selected events based on time of day and type of alarm. The entire system is automated, so operators are freed from stepping through each minute security protocol step and can focus instead on critical response.

Moving Video Surveillance Forward
It is becoming increasingly apparent that high-quality video surveillance is an incredibly effective tool in the prevention and investigation of bank crimes. As incidents of identity fraud and other bank crimes become more and more common, the sophistication of IP video surveillance systems will grow.

Bank Hapoalim is considering more intelligent integration with other bank systems, including access control, burglar alarms, ERP and ATMs. ATMs, particularly, have quickly become a prominent consideration in the development of bank security strategy. As the breadth of integration widens to encompass a greater number of security subsystems, greater information sharing capabilities and more rapid response to emergency events are enabled.

A peek at future developments reveals some promising new advances. The transmission of mobile video over narrow bandwidths to handheld devices is one technology primed to explode. Very soon, we may see security patrol and police officers equipped with handheld video devices, allowing for near immediate response. Stay tuned.

Shay Glinoyer Peled is a security officer at Bank Hapoalim in Israel and is responsible for the bank's central security monitoring center.