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.

1. Use cameras to optimize staffing scheduling.“We're seeing financial organizations use video analytics alongwith the high-definition cameras to actually monitor customer behavior in a branch,” Frowert said. And becausemodern cameras and video-analytics software know what's a personand what's an object, it can be used to do basic traffic counts, hesaid. That means camera systems can now help credit unions makedifferent staffing decisions during peak times, Frowert noted.

2. Look outside. High-definition camerascan help stretch the field of vision and may cover more squarefootage per camera, particularly with wrap-around, wide-anglelenses, Frowert said. “If you've got ATMs on the outside of yourfacility, obviously ATM skimming is a growing and challenging problem,” he said.“The ability to have cameras that are configured to cover the fullrange of the field of view around the ATM — that's going to helpwith that whole risk negation as well.” If a branch has a lot ofdrive-through traffic, consider putting cameras in the parking lottoo, he advised.

3. Maintain the equipment. “What sometimeshappens is, during the course of normal business you get focused onserving your members, and if there's no security issues, it mightjust happen where you just don't notice that a camera went down forsome reason,” Frowert said. “Well, there could be a range ofreasons, and it could be an easy fix or a more complicated fix. Sothat's why I think getting a regular scheduled maintenance andinspection is a best practice that is worthy of consideration forcredit unions.”

“The actual lenses get cloudy,” he added, “so just doing thingslike cleaning — regular camera maintenance of any sort ofchip-based system's important to ensure optimum performance andthat there's minimal down time.”

4. Advertise it. There are a few schools ofthought on whether to put up signs advising members that cameras are inuse, Frowert said.

“My advice would be to say if there's investment in technology,it never hurts to let to somebody that's on the fence know aboutit,” he said. “There's sort of the hard-core,you're-never-going-to-change-them types. They're going to rob youno matter what defense you have. And then there are the notepassers…people that are sort of unsophisticated, that are just downon their luck and this seems like their last hope to go, walk inand pass a note and hope to get some money. They're the ones thatcould be deterred by a last-minute sign that said, 'This site isunder comprehensive surveillance.'”