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Case Study: IP-enabled Network Alarms
Bank's mergers & acquisitions demand uniformity across its security platforms, provided by ADT.
| Summary: |
After 20 years of growth through acquisitions, “the Bank” (as it is referred to throughout this paper) took a fresh look at its resulting security enterprise and determined that uniform security technologies and services were required to support their ongoing growth plans. The Bank turned to ADT Security Services to help implement this important initiative.
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| Bank Scope: |
| As one of the largest U.S. banks with over $60B in assets, the Bank offers a broad array of financial services and products including retail banking, business and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. With principal markets in the Northeast U.S., the Bank serves customers through more than 800 Community Banking Offices, 1,000+ ATMs and approximately 10,000 employees. |
As a part of its significant growth pattern, the Bank completed scores of acquisitions over the past twenty years. Often, merger and acquisition activities create challenges for bank operation managers tasked with making acquired security systems work together effectively. Such was the case with the Bank, when an audit of its security operations determined that multiple facility alarm technologies, vendors and monitoring methods were no longer meeting the Bank’s longer-term objectives. After weighing their options, the Bank turned to ADT to help implement a multi-phase program of new security standards, including an integrated alarm network, outsourced central station and important new alarm reporting services.
The Bank’s overarching objective was to achieve more uniform and more effective security performance, and to realize resulting cost reductions from upgraded technologies and outsourced monitoring services. ADT helped the Bank’s security teams achieve those objectives.
The ADT recommendation IP-enabled network alarms that communicate and perform together
Working with the Bank’s requirements, ADT specified a network of open architecture, non-proprietary facility alarms to replace the Bank’s multiple dated alarm technologies.
Over an 18-month period, ADT project-installation teams upgraded the Bank’s branches region by region with this new IP-enabled alarm standard. The Bank’s Community Banking Office typically alarms and monitors 18 points including ATMs, night depository, motion and contact sensors, vaults, video surveillance, drive-up systems and teller holdup buttons.
According to the Bank’s physical security department, “Migrating to a single alarm platform under an ADT master agreement has helped our security operations in several ways.” Now with 800 branches in their enterprise, alarm reporting functions are more uniform. The Bank now communicates alarm signals on their network and has cut out costly dialup backup and dual phone lines. The Bank has also reduced their alarm system service costs.
Reducing costs and maintaining a high level of security through outsource monitoring with ADT
After considerable evaluations, the Bank also consolidated its monitoring operations from a combination of internal and third party monitoring and reporting of its alarm network to an all-ADT system. Through its Special Operations Monitoring Centers, ADT worked closely together with Bank Security to customize desired alarm response and dispatch patterns according to the Bank’s operations and procedures. The Bank also became an active user of ADT® Select DataSource™, giving them 24/7 online status reports of all Bank alarm conditions and monitored responses, opening/closing reports, as well as account data such as service dispatch, regular maintenance tests and disposition reports on the Bank’s security systems.
ADT Select DataSource™ has helped the Bank consolidate alarm and monitoring functions, reduce overall security costs and improve security performance.
Stopping a serious bank robbery pattern with security portals
Several years ago, a dramatic increase in armed branch robberies began affecting many banks throughout the Boston, Philadelphia and New York City markets. One of the Bank’s branches became a repeat target of these serial robberies. The Bank recognized the importance of expanding security measures and asked ADT to provide them with a solution. ADT recommended security portals, also known as Access Control Vestibules (ACVs). Installed within the branch entry, these bullet-resistant vestibules feature remote-controlled doors, metal detection and video cameras, which combine to detect and lock down an armed person trying to enter the branch.
The Bank’s first security portal was installed by ADT at one of the Bank’s higher risk branches. After installation, the branch experienced no further robbery occurrences. The Bank’s customers and associates have been so pleased with the results of this security measure that ADT was contracted to deploy security portals for other high risk branches as well.
About ADT Security Services
ADT Worldwide is the largest provider of electronic security services to nearly seven million commercial, government and residential customers. ADT's total security solutions include intrusion, fire protection, video surveillance, access control, critical condition monitoring, wireless networking, mobile video applications, radio frequency identification (RFID) and integrated systems.
ADT helps protect financial institutions of all sizes, including over 45 of the nation’s top 70 institutions and tens of thousands of financial facilities. To learn more, call 1-800-492-2238 or visit us at www.ADT.com. |
