Security cameras are often regarded as mundane, but technologyis propelling them far beyond their traditional roles. That meanscredit unions have a lot of new things to think about if they wantthe return on their surveillance investments to be as high aspossible.

With today's high-definition cameras and sophisticatedvideo-analytics software, credit union surveillance systems now cananalyze branch activity, tell the difference between people andobjects, and even recognize faces.

That's broadening the applications for cameras in the averagebranch, and there are four things credit unions can do to stretchtheir surveillance dollars, according to Matt Frowert, who is thedirector of marketing for financial services and government at TycoIntegrated Security.