COUNTRY FOCUS : CAMEROON
The Security Centre supports a variety of cameras . These include the most advanced models that compress images and consume less bandwidth . This is absolutely critical for real-time viewing over the national network .
This is absolutely critical for real-time viewing over the national network .”
Guy Hervé Petnga Sandjong , Director at Sanuna , explained : “ High bandwidth consumption was the main flaw of the previous video system at Afriland First Bank in Cameroon . The previous cameras recorded in MJPEG , a format that requires 6000 to 8000 times more bandwidth than the H . 264 cameras managed from the Security Centre .”
With Security Centre , each camera generates an H . 264 video stream of 300 Kbps . When multiplied by three to five cameras per branch , the load becomes manageable on Cameroon ’ s national network which offers a speed of 2 Mbps to 10 Mbps between cities .
To ensure proof of concept ( PoC ), the bank carried out a six-month pilot project . The Security Centre was installed at the Douala branch and the headquarters in Yaoundé . In addition , Sanuna also implemented Genetec Cloud Archiving , speeding up installation and minimising costs . Not only was the project successful , but the bank felt confident knowing its new video surveillance solution and other business applications were performing optimally on the same network .
Monitoring all sites from one location
Today , security staff monitor nearly 400 cameras on five screens at the control centre in Yaoundé . An eight-person team operates 24 x 7 , scrolling through video , zooming in on suspect situations and intervening if necessary . All video is recorded on 12-Terabyte NAS devices , providing about fives years of archive retention .
Presently , Genetec Security Centre has greatly relieved the need for security resources on every site . Genetec Security Centre has significantly increased the team ’ s effectiveness . With all sites now being monitored from headquarters , there ’ s no longer a need to have security staff at every site .
“ The video is monitored from our headquarters and everyone knows it . This encourages our employees and customers to be more vigilant regarding security and compliance ,” added Yamcheu .
Real-time video surveillance has even made it possible to optimise the branches ’ operational efficiency . “ When we see that a branch is getting busy , we can now call local management and ask them to put more agents at the counters .”
With the new security platform , the bank continues to enhance the quality of service at its branches , to benefit both employees and customers . p
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