Erste Bank uses Milestone IP video platform to ensure safety and better service in 139 locations across the Ukraine

1,300 surveillance cameras are managed through 140 servers running XProtect™ Enterprise software for both local and central control - Erste Bank Ukraine with 139 branches has installed a security system using Milestone XProtect IP video management software to manage over 1,000 network surveillance cameras from a mix of hardware manufacturers.

JSC Erste Bank was founded in 2006, after Erste Group (one of the leading financial institutions with 190 years of experience in Central and Eastern Europe) entered the Ukrainian market. Today Erste Bank Ukraine serves small to medium size businesses and large corporate clients in 139 retail branches spread out across the country. They provide a wide range of banking services and products, including deposits and current accounts, salary projects and credit cards, cash-settlement services, project financing and treasury operations.

Focusing on service quality and building long-term customer relations, the Erste Bank teams provide people with all the advantages of the largest financial groups in Europe. Erste Bank bases its successful business relations on the individual needs of every customer and constantly searches for solutions to help build financial independence. They also have chosen the best technology for their market-leading security system.

Since October 2007, Milestone XProtect™ IP video software has been in implementation across the Erste Bank Ukraine locations to manage a mix of network camera models from Axis, Sony, IQinVision, JVC, and other manufacturers. As of 2009, all of the 139 Erste Bank locations have been operating with the Milestone video software installed on local servers in operation with 1,300 cameras monitoring the building facilities that are anywhere from 100 to 250 square meters each in size.

“The video control systems have been mainly installed for safety and security reasons, i.e. to watch out for the safety of customers and to provide quality control in our business processes, insure against errors and fraud, and to improve service levels,” says Vadim Lazarev, Head of Technical Security, Erste Bank Ukraine.

The authorized and certified Milestone Partner LANIT – IV COM Ltd. won the tender on the video system installation for Erste Bank Ukraine, by presenting the Milestone software with a scalable, future-proof open platform. The software can be upgraded as new improvements and innovations come along, and scaled to the widespread locations, with both local and central management abilities.

“Milestone uses IP technology which is more convenient for us, and we know that this technology gives us the opportunity to advance in future. We work with LANIT – IV COM because their company has an excellent reputation all over the Ukraine,” explains Vadim Lazarev.

The LANIT IT – IV COM Deputy Director is Vladimir Stefanenko. He reports: “The software at the core of the system is Milestone XProtect Enterprise and XProtect Central, managing 1,300 network video cameras of all types. Milestone is built with an open platform that allows the widest choice in hardware or other technology support, so we could put together a best-of-breed solution for Erste Bank that fits their exact needs in every situation.”

He describes how each bank branch has its own local network – 140 servers are running Milestone in each of the 139 bank locations and the headquarters location, which has central access to each of these with excellent overview of the system operations and status at all times. Each branch location also has employees who are given access to the system, which is set up in the Milestone user access rights.

Altogether, almost 30 employees are working with the Milestone video management. The central headquarters access to each of the bank branches means that they do not have to travel to each branch as much – quite a distance in this widespread geography – which saves costs in travel and time.

“With the help of the Milestone video surveillance, the control over different operations and incidents has been improved,” says Vadim Lazarev. “Milestone recorded over 20 incidents. For example, a teenager who vandalized ATMs was revealed. One of the branches also got images of a fraud artist and sent his photo to other banks all over the Ukraine; as a result, the perpetrator was arrested in one of the commercial banks.”