US Community Bank Invests in Digiop IP Solution

Situation
Monticello Bank, a 12-branch community bank in Kentucky, had an out-dated analog surveillance system in place that limited capabilities and that required the bank to hire a third-party vendor for analog video installation and maintenance services. In addition to the high cost of outsourcing, Mon?ticello Banking Corporation needed to replace their current inflexible, dedicated DVR, restrictive data storage abilities (limited to DVR hard drive capacity), and needed to increase video quality.

Monticello's goals for the project included:
● Bring video monitoring operation in-house for cost and logistics efficiencies including centralized user management
● Improve system management and quality with a system that leveraged the flexibility of IP network technology and the clarity of megapixel cameras
● Enable flexible and easy to expand video storage capacity
● Leverage existing servers, bandwidth and IT infrastructure and avoid costly hardware installation
● Invest in a cost-effective system that they could easily implement, anage and maintain

DIGIOP ELEMENTS provided the bank with the complete management capabilities they desired, including: a single integrated dashboard providing visibility to all video; a web-based portal for centralized management of camera configurations, user rights and permissions; a video recording plat?form providing live view, record, and search capabilities; seamless integration of data from external sources.

In addition to IP networking, the DIGIOP BLACK intelligent IP cameras provided HDTV image quality at 2 megapixel resolution and compression technology that optimized image quality while lowering demands on system bandwidth and storage. They also provided a broader viewing area than the bank's analog cameras.

The new system was fully compatible with all existing infrastructure, including Monticello's servers, PCs and IT architecture. This enabled the bank to create a modern surveillance system while purchasing only what it needed.

As IT Manager, Kelley Rader, explained, “The main thing that we were looking for was something that was easy to install and maintain, and wasn't too expensive. We wanted a PC based system that would support different types of storage on our network. The DIGIOP solution fulfilled all of those key requirements. In addition, the sales team let us do a trial run in one of our bank offices which gave us the opportunity to test system viability and operate the system for ourselves.”

The system met Monticello's requirements, and the bank's security team easily installed the system themselves. Because each megapixel camera captured more area than its analog counterpart, Monticello decided to increase the coverage area for its 12-location operation, while still reducing camera count by about 10 percent.

The DIGIOP ELEMENTS software proved itself during the trial run and in daily use. Rader said, “The software is a lot easier to manage than what we were using before. It's easy to organize cameras in the order we want, and to view and drag and drop video into new screens.”

The security team counts the ability of DIGIOP ELEMENTS to remotely view and manage Monticello's 12 sites centrally with a single interface as a critical capability. They also appreciate the speed with which they can locate, save and store video segments using the DIGIOP ELEMENTS thumbnail, timeline, replay, zoom, and tours search features.

The team also used the DIGIOP ELEMENTS management features to easily set up and configure all their new cameras and set user credentials and permissions for the entire system from a central location. Monticello has installed, configured and operated the system almost all on its own. Regarding DIGIOP support, Rader said, “technical support has been great -- what little bit we've had to use.”

Saved money: With easy to use software, they were able to able to leverage existing network and server infrastructure, they were able to save on installation and service fees, and were able to leverage staff internally to maintain and monitor security.

Rader said, “We not only eliminated outsourcing, but greatly reduced the need for system service, also from the outside vendor. These two factors have accounted for major cost savings, not to mention reduced reliance on others.”

No constraints on recording time and storage: Adding storage to traditional recording solutions can be costly and limited, but by using DIGIOP ELEMENTS software the bank could expand video storage cost-effectively and efficiently.

Rader explained, “With our previous system, the fixed amount of hard drive storage limited our ability to use megapixel cameras, and the vendor charged us way more than the cost of the hard drive to upgrade. Now we are building our own NVR's and that allows us a lot more storage options. We can incorporate local storage or iSCSI storage to get the retention times we expect using high definition video.”

High-resolution video with more coverage: The bank chose to leverage the wider viewing capabilities (vs. analog cameras) of the BLACK megapixel dome cameras to increase their surveillance coverage – cost effectively. Even with the expanded coverage, the bank reduced camera count by about 10 percent from its previous set up. As for the crisp 2-megapixel picture quality, Rader noted, “The information security officer, Melissa Piercy, loves it because she can blow up the picture and still get a great quality image.”

Ease of installation, use and maintenance: The Monticello security team installed and configured software and cameras themselves, possible because of system compatibility with Monticello's IT infrastructure and simple configu?ration features.

Camera set up and configuration was stress-free. Rader said, “We configured 16 IP cameras in about two hours; it's simple.”

The security team learned the new system quickly, aided by the DIGIOP ELEMENTS logical interface. Rader said, “The software is really easy to use. For example, it's simple to organize camera views, and drag and drop video into new screens.”

A Long-Term Solution
The investment in an IP, high-resolution digital system has paid off for Monticello. The bank realized an overall lower-cost solution that es-tablished central in-house control over operations, more video coverage per camera, and freedom from proprietary storage requirements – among other advantages.

Any upgrades from this point forward can be as simple as plugging a new megapixel camera into the network.