Honeywell's GSM product is the alarm industry's first line of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology products that use dual and triple communication paths to ensure highly reliable alarm transmission and delivery.
The Central Valley Community Bank has served California's Central Valley since 1980. From their original Downtown Clovis office, they have expanded to 10 independently owned branches in the Foothills, Fresno, Madera and Kerman, CA. Yet despite the bank's growth, it has remained true to its original "roots" – commitment to the core values of integrity, trustworthiness, caring, loyalty, leadership and teamwork.
Situation
Bank management was concerned about creating a safe environment for their employees and their customers since many of their branches are in remote locations. The bank contacted Matson Alarm of Fresno, CA to provide the solution. Matson Alarm selected Honeywell as their partner of choice.
Solution
Matson Alarm designed full premise security that incorporated intrusion and video as well as the new GSM alarm communications product. To provide a comprehensive intrusion detection system, Matson installed the FA700KP touchscreens in the bank as well as glassbreak detectors and motion detectors. "Since the FA700KP are touchscreens, they are very easy for the customer to use. It makes it very user-friendly and very manageable for them," explains Mike Matson, vice president of Matson Alarm.
Honeywell's GSM product is the alarm industry's first line of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology products that use dual and triple communication paths to ensure highly reliable alarm transmission and delivery. These radios use General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and the Internet as primary communication paths.
"With any kind of financial institution, you need to have multiple forms of communication. And the GSM product fulfills that need,” explained Ben Kiser, technical manager for Matson Alarm Company. "The GSM product is based on the same technology as the standard analog wireless system, but it runs over the digital network. It’s faster, more reliable and allows two-way communication and, so far, it's been working flawlessly.”
The bank's video requirements were also unique. Matson installed Honeywell's mini dome cameras at the teller cages, entrances, ATMs and parking lot to provide the bank with a crisp picture of their surroundings. They also needed to be able to store large amounts of high quality video information, which could be quickly retrieved for investigative purposes. Matson Alarm installed the Fusion Digital Video Recorders to satisfy that requirement.
Benefits
Matson Alarm is using the new Honeywell GSM radio product as a backup to their phone lines, which adds another layer of protection for the bank. “We're using this new product on the radio side and the Internet side as well, so they’re actually getting a triple layer of backup. But we see it as a new way to improve security in the future," explains Larry Matson, president of Matson Alarm.
In addition, it helps Matson Alarm to keep in contact with the customer. “The product's uploadable and downloadable, so we can call up our panels, change user codes for the customer and reconfigure zones. It gives us another way of reaching the customer’s service remotely," explained Larry Matson.
The Fusion Digital Video Recorders allow bank officials to see multiple branches from one location, which was a key concern for the bank. "One of the nice things about this product is from my laptop on my desk, I can see all of the branches, and I can see that they're safe. If I can't get to them by phone, I can pull them up on the computer and I know everything's okay. It has been a great solution for us," explained Shirley Wilburn, senior vice president for Central Valley Community Bank.
In addition, the ability to retrieve video images quickly allowed them to supply the police with the tools they need for investigative purposes. "We've had a robbery since we've had the technology, and we were able to e-mail the pictures to the police. We've had several other incidents in the branches and the pictures were perfectly clear, and the police have used them," concluded Wilburn.
"The police department is now used to them sending that video, so now they say, "Will you just e-mail us the video?" and it gives the strong support to the police department because they know that if there's an incident, they can get the information very quickly. It's a great support," explained Mike Matson.