The boardroom is looking up from its stack of management reports and realising the potential to use CCTV video to support more hands-on operating methods. No longer is second or third-hand information being presented in seemingly endless Excel spreadsheets deemed an adequate basis for important decisions. This newfound interest brings with it a host of benefits for the security department and is being driven by developments in intelligent video analytics and IP.
The ‘all-seeing eye’
Video analytics help to enhance both vigilance and detection of potential security threats. Indeed, recently incident detection rates as high as 99% have been reported by a toll road authority. Video analytics function as an integral part of an intelligent security cycle, from detection to verification, resolution and investigation – leading ultimately to improvements in efficiency and procedure.
Yet the cameras and recorders that are used to monitor and capture these events and the analytics systems that interact with them are able to display far more information than what is automatically flagged up to surveillance operators in the control room. It is this additional information that is of huge interest and value to many other parts of the organisation.
Retail banks are a prime example of where this potential is beginning to be realised. In the branch of every bank, customers interact in a multitude of different ways. These range from over-the-counter conversations and ATM usage, to the simple act of a queue of customers reading a promotional poster, or someone popping in to pick up a leaflet. Marketing departments are now starting to consider how these actions, which are being captured by existing CCTV cameras, can be harnessed to provide a broader insight into how customers use the branch and how each branch is run.
Implications for security
Traditionally, security monitoring at branches is viewed as essential, but as a cost and nothing more. Meanwhile, vast sums are spent on other areas. To take a Europe-wide view of budget for branch operations, about $5.2 billion is allocated to IT, $2.2 billion to branch marketing and only $254 million for branch security. However, the lines between these budgets are beginning to blur as the convergence of security and IT onto a single IP network infrastructure proliferates.
When Cisco Systems outlined its vision of the retail banking ‘Branch of the future’ it demonstrated that by placing surveillance footage onto an organisation’s IP network it is possible to derive far more benefits than just security. It also provides other parts of the organisation with a host of previously untapped information that has traditionally been locked away in their own private infrastructure. Queue busting, monitoring busy periods (foot fall), identifying and capitalising on cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, and assessing the effectiveness of promotional literature, can all be recorded and analysed in real-time, using CCTV.
Streamlining security operations over a secure IP network increases overall business performance through reduced costs and efficient allocation of resources. Cost savings will be made through simpler maintenance, and the ease of centralising control from a number of locations to a single site. And connecting cameras directly to a network enhances the ease of distribution of recorded video images across multiple locations.
The opportunities intelligent IP video surveillance systems offer organisations are considerable and tangible. From satellite offices, buildings or branches operating relatively autonomously, a single programme of understanding customer insights can be achieved, whilst the security team can depend on a fully maintained high-quality backbone infrastructure that allows them to focus on security issues. This convergence provides the opportunity to transport physical security onto the top of the boardroom agenda.
Summary
This new approach entrenches physical security as an even more integral part of the organisation. No longer is it a drain on resources, but a powerful company asset, capable of delivering tangible benefits to all parts of the organisation. It means that those responsible for implementing security and surveillance will need to break though the communication barriers and co-operate with other departments to bridge the knowledge gap and meet wider-reaching business objectives. Those that do so successfully could gain access to further budget for future investments in security.