Banco do Nordeste do Brasil (BNB) is the largest regional development bank in Latin America. Its Administrative Center, in Fortaleza had an analog CCT V system. This was causing a loss of quality of the monitored images, which raised concern for the Executive Manager of the Bank Security Division of the Corporate Security Environment, José Boileau Esmeraldo Júnior.

The Choice of IP Technology
The initial stage of the surveillance project included only the peripheral cameras, particularly the gates and parking areas, with a total of 46 cameras. At present, the Administrative Center still has analog cameras, which will gradually be migrated over to IP technology, maintaining the same quality standard as in the first phase.

Modernizing its surveillance system was important for giving the bank better control over the main points of access to its headquarter's premises, giving high defini- tion images that enable it to analyze the large flow of traffic and areas where materials are stored and trans- ported, as well as the perimeter of the administrative center. "The IP cameras are used for monitoring and dealing with any type of occurrence in a timely way, as well as for monitoring events, and checking and investi- gating incidents," said José Boileau.

With a clear demand for high quality images, the decision to use Axis solutions was natural, as Dráurio Pinho, Sales Director of Imagem Segurança explains: "Axis was chosen because it is the manufacturer that has the widest range of high technology products, and prices compatible with the quality of the equipment, with models that can be adapted to various applications."

Looking to the Long-term Future
In the planning phase, it was observed that the implementation of a new surveillance system based on IP tech- nology was viable, because it uses the network infrastructure with Gigabit Optical ring, and computational resources, like the network server and storage equipment, that were already available internally. "This significantly lowers the cost of implementing the system, besides significantly increasing the level of availability, reliability and quality of the images," said José Boileau.

Through a public tender process, BNB purchased Axis network cameras, and had them installed by integrator Imagem Segurança. The distributor Anixter organized the delivery of 25 AXIS P1344 Network Cameras with vandal-resistant housing, as well as 16 AXIS P5534-E Network Cameras, two AXIS T8311 joysticks and one AXIS Q7401 Video Encoder, complementing the offer of 5 cameras installed previously: four AXIS M1011 and one AXIS 207. In the acquisition phase, there are also 10 AXIS M1054 Network Cameras included. All this equipment is integrated with the Digifort Enterprise software.

The new cameras use HDTV resolution, which provides a high-quality image, particularly when zooming in on distant targets. In terms of storage space, the H.264 compression standard has led to significant savings in space, without losing image quality, and also enables individual configuration of video streams for different scenarios, such as higher speed and resolution for visualization, and lower for recording, to save storage space.
With the use of the PoE (Power Over Ethernet) resource, the labor and materials for installation of the cameras have been significantly decreased, since the data and energy use the same cable. Seeking to increase the level of availability of the images, the cameras also have a memory card for recording images locally, if the network is not functioning, and portable no-breaks for autonomous functioning, in the event of equipment failure. For the external surveillance, the housings have IP66 protection, which makes them impervious to dust and rain.

Results
The initial results were considered by José Boileau to be satisfactory, "particularly due to the gains in image quality and the ease of installation, besides enabling basic support to be carried out by internal network maintenance team." In the Executive Manager's view, "the solution acquired by the Bank is in keeping with the latest market trends, which guarantees a prolonged useful life of the system, lower maintenance contracts, and flexibility of updating."

After the implementation of the project, all these resources have proven useful for serving the needs of Banco do Nordeste, confirming the hopes placed in the system before the implementation. "The main requirements for a good electronic security system", explained Jose Boileau, "are scalability and interoperability; the resources should be able to keep up with the growth of the client's needs, as well as enabling integration with other systems, such as control of physical access, perimeter alarm, building automation, and fire detection. And because these are major projects, they need to have a lengthy life-span."